calusa tribe religion

One example of a shell mound can be found at a site known as Mound Key at Estero Bay in Lee County. The Spanish reported that the chief was expected to take his sister as one of his wives. Engineering the courts required an intimate understanding of daily and seasonal tides, hydrology and the biology of various fish species, said Thompson. Mound Key, an island west of Fort Myers, was the center of this large Calusa Empire. One illustration of the sophistication of the Calusa can be found in eyewitness accounts of an event in 1566. After each meal, these shells were put to good use as building material and tools. The Calusa was a powerful, complex society who lived on the shores of the southwest Florida coast. The lifestyle of the Calusa was leisurely, and they enjoyed numerous celebrations and feasts, many of which were connected to religious ceremonies at which lavish meals were prepared. No Zamia pollen has been found at any site associated with the Calusas, nor does Zamia grow in the wetlands that made up most of the Calusa environment. They were supported by the labor of the majority of the Calusa. The Jews are not a race. Expedition Magazine. Archaeologists have long pondered how the Calusa could have grown to a population of some 20,000 and dominated such a vast region without relying on agriculture. Franciscan friar Fray Lopez, director of the unsuccessful 1697 mission attempt, described the Calusa temples as very tall and wide, with a mound in the middle and a structure on the mound enclosed with reed mats and containing benches around the walls. Cushings knowledge of American Indian culture, and specifically his experiences at Zuni Pueblo, helped him make rapid judgments about objects which in many cases were disintegrating before him. The Calusa Domain. [8], Some authors have argued that the Calusa cultivated maize and Zamia integrifolia (coontie) for food. Copy. Instead, they fished for food on the coast, bays, rivers, and waterways. ed. Little is known about Calusa religion. Among most tribes in Florida for which there is documentation, the women wore skirts made of what was later called Spanish moss. Though not all have survived, carvings included a sea turtle, alligator, pelican, fish-hawk, owl, bear, crab, wolf, wildcat, mountain lion, and a deer, many of which were painted black, white, gray-blue, and brownish-red. During Menndez de Avils's visit in 1566, the chief's wife was described as wearing pearls, precious stones and gold beads around her neck. After Spain ceded Florida to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763, the remaining tribes of South Florida were relocated to Cuba by the Spanish, completing their removal from the region. It has also been stated that the Spanish were brought into a large temple, where they saw carved and painted wooden masks covering its walls. THE CALUSA INDIANS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. Tracking the Calusa: A Retrospective. In a report from 1697, the Spanish noted 16 houses in the Calusa capital of Calos, which had 1,000 residents. For me, the work has been absolutely fantastic and since we began it has been one discovery after another, said Thompson. Request Answer. Excavation of the watercourts yielded artifacts like cordage that are not normally preserved at archaeological sites. Along the southwest Gulf coast lived the Calusa (Caloosa) Indians. [1], Early Spanish and French sources referred to the tribe, its chief town, and its chief as Calos, Calus, Caalus, and Carlos. It's also possible that a few were absorbed into the Seminole tribe. [Online]Available at: http://www.funandsun.com/1tocf/inf/nativepeoples/calusa.html, www.sanibelhistory.org, 2016. These Indians were so unfriendly that this was one of the first tribes that Spanish explorers wrote home about in 1513. Credit: Florida Museum of Natural History ). At the time of the excavations Cushing did not know the name or precise age of the Indians whose world he had discovered. They had three specific deities that they believed their cacique interpreted for. While thousands of Calusa people were enslaved, about 270 people, including Calusa nobles, escaped to the Keys where, after the last raid by the Creeks on May 17, 1760, the surviving 60-70. The Chilling Mystery of the Octavius Ghost Ship, What is a Wendigo? But the Spanish not only refused to fight Caalus rivals, they also wanted to convert his people to Catholicism, which eventually led to conflict between the Spanish and the Calusa. Artist's conception of town chief at the Calusa town of Tampa (present day Pineland) (Art by Merald Clark.) What was the Calusa religion? The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. The two forms together may have indicated his transformation (Figs. The men wore deerskin breechcloths. Rituals were believed to link the Calusa to their spirit world (Art by Merald Clark.) Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? There is evidence that the people intensively exploited Charlotte Harbor aquatic resources before 3500 BC. They collected materials for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating and sediment samples for archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological analysis. The Calusas were one of the few North American Indian tribes who were ruled by a hereditary king. The plaques and other objects were often painted. The chief's house was described as having two big windows, suggesting that it had walls. They recovered various types of Spanish artifacts such as majolica ceramics, hand-wrought nails and spikes, a bale seal and olive jar sherds, as well as native artifacts. [Online]Available at: http://www.sanibelhistory.org/calusa_history.htm, Wu Mingren (Dhwty) has a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology. The Calusa were descended from people who had lived in the area for at least 1,000 years prior to European contact, and possibly for much longer than that. Calusa beliefs included a trinity of governing spirits. Rituals were believed to link the Calusa to their spirit world ( Art by Merald Clark. Among other things. Rogel also stated that the chief's name was Caalus, and that the Spanish had changed it to Carlos. The researchers used ground penetrating radar and LiDAR to locate and map the forts structures, which they then partially excavated. In April of that year he made landfall and, calling this new territory La Florida, claimed it for the Spanish Crown. Although he did not know much about the history of the Calusa Indians, what he did know was the legend in Tampa that the Calusa Indians cast a spell to keep them safe. A Spanish expedition to ransom some captives held by the Calusa in 1680 was forced to turn back; neighboring tribes refused to guide the Spanish, for fear of retaliation by the Calusa. The Calusa knew of the Spanish before this landing, however, as they had taken in Native American refugees from the Spanish subjugation of Cuba. The Calusas as Shell Indians The Calusas are considered to be the first "shell collectors." Shells were discarded into huge heaps. During the Calusa's reign the Florida coastline extended roughly 60 miles further into the Gulf of Mexico. It was reputed in local legend to be the seat of the god Wotan and to be haunted. One ritual was witnessed in which a large procession of masked men came down from a mound accompanied by hundreds of singing women (Goggin and Sturtevant 1964). Milanich, J. T. (2004). Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004. The Spanish left less description on what the Calusa women wore. Marquardt notes that the Calusa turned down the offer of agricultural tools from the Spanish, saying that they had no need for them. A variety of carving tools were also recovered. Marquardt, W. H. (2014). By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. This was made with clay containing spicules from freshwater sponges (Spongilla), and it first appeared inland in sites around Lake Okeechobee. Indeed, given the results of recent research, they are now considered one of the most politically complex groups of non-agriculturalists in the ancient world. A Calusa alligator head carved out of wood, excavated at Key Marco in 1895, on display at the Florida Museum of Natural History. By the early 19th century, Anglo-Americans in the area used the term Calusa for the people. Like the Calusa, the Tequesta were devastated by European diseases. They built many villages at the mouth of the Miami River and along the coastal islands. Calusa means "fierce people," and they were described as a fierce, war-like people. The Spanish were used to dealing with natives who farmed and who provided the Spanish with some of their food. What language did the Calusa speak? There are probably people of Calusa descent still alive today. Darcie A. Macmahon and Dr. William H. Marquardt, an expert on the Calusa, have written a fascinating book that brings to life a group of people who disappeared from Florida in the 1700s. The Calusa were a Native American tribe that inhabited the southwest coast of Florida. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites around the French village of Carnac, in Brittany, consisting of more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. The walls were covered entirely with masks colored red, white, and black (Hann 1991). Their territory was bounded in northwest Florida by the Aucilla and Ochlockonee rivers, and . Water World. Field school students brush sand from a tabby wall that might be the outer wall of Fort San Antn de Carlos. Their main waterway was the Calooshahatchee River, which means River of the Calusa. The "nobles" resisted conversion in part because their power and position were intimately tied to the belief system; they were intermediaries between the gods and the people. It is believed that Calusa translated to mean "Fierce People". Add an answer. [2], Paleo-Indians entered what is now Florida at least 12,000 years ago. They believed in three superior beings, one controlled the weather, the others ruled the welfare of the tribe and warfare. The Calusa people were an important tribe of Florida. The next day 80 "shielded" canoes attacked the Spanish ships, but the battle was inconclusive. Ravaged by new infectious diseases introduced to the Americas by European contact and by the slaving raids, the surviving Calusa retreated south and east. Native American tribes According to Menendez, in 1566 the town of Calos contained a central mound where special masks were kept and where human sacrifices were made. Certain ceremonies were performed to seal the alliance (and perhaps also as a display of the might of the Calusa), and was witnessed by over 4000 people. This tribe of Indians controlled most of Southwest Florida and created an elaborate network of canals, homes, and government. The Tribes' sovereignty was once again recognized and funding was restored for education, housing and health programs. The Calusa Tribe had a large population and were well-organized. Penn Museum, 1991 Web. Although the Calusa came to an end, some remains of their achievements can still be seen today. In 1513 Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon sailed northwest from the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) with a three-year royal contract to discover rich lands thought to lie in that direction. Their language was never recorded. The Franciscans established a mission there in the late 17th century, but the Calusa evicted them after a few months time. In the 1700's, infectious diseases, slaving raids and attacks by Creek and Yamasee Indians who were supplied with guns by the English, decimated the Calusa population. Little is known about Calusa religion. Historic documents say the Calusa then set fire to Mound Key and fled the island, which also prompted the Spanish to leave. Large earthen mounds and ridges, accessed by canals, are believed to have been associated with Calusa ritual. The courtyard was drained and cleared, exposing house posts, fishing nets, shell tools, bowls and drinking vessels, weapons, canoes, pottery, and extraordinary wooden masks and animal figureheads (Fig. Map of Calusa territory in Florida. The capital of the Calusa, and where the rulers administered from, was Mound Key, near present day Estero, Florida. It's also rich with the history and culture of the Calusa Indians, the Native Americans who preceded us, even if their footprints are a bit blurry. In. They left 1,700 behind. [14], The Calusa lived in large, communal houses which were two stories high. The University Museum has an exceptional collection of artifacts from the Calusa site at Key Marco, Florida. [2] The Tequesta tribe had only a few survivors by . Were theonlyPop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. The chief's house, and possibly the other houses at Calos, were built on top of earthen mounds. One of Cushings crew members, Wells M. Sawyer, was an artist and photographer; he painted lifelikewatercolors and took field photos of many of the specimens as they came from the mud. In several cases where the waterlogged objects dried and disintegrated into unrecognizable forms, the paintings and photographs provide the only surviving record (see Fig. In 1954 a dugout canoe was found during excavation for a middle school in Marathon, Florida. As Cushing noted and as more recent studies have revealed, they dug extensive waterways or canals (sometimes as large as 4 feet deep, 20 feet wide, and 3 miles long) that crossed Key Marco and the rest of the region. [7], The Calusa diet at settlements along the coast and estuaries consisted primarily of fish, in particular pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), pigfish (redmouth grunt), (Orthopristis chrysoptera) and hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis). The canals were maintained until the mid-1700s, when the tribe disappeared from . [4], Between 500 and 1000, the undecorated, sand-tempered pottery that had been common in the area was replaced by "Belle Glade Plain" pottery. The Calusa were one of the few tribes known to be shell collectors. The research team uncovered a network of post holes and foundation trenches that indicate a large structure measuring about 80 feet long and 65 feet wide covered the summit of the islands highest hill. After ten days a man who spoke Spanish approached Ponce de Len's ships with a request to wait for the arrival of the Calusa chief. The Tequesta (tuh-KES-tuh) were a small, peaceful, Native American tribe. Unlike other Indian tribes, the Calusa did not make many. The immensity of the kings house, as well as the huge shell mounds and the canals required large amounts of labor and mechanisms to mobilize and to organize that labor that he thinks are indicative of a lower class that worked at the behest of the Calusas elites. This article is good but it does not provide any data related to the status of the Calusa people at the first arrival of Spaniards in 1513 leaded by Juan Ponce de Leon, its "discoverer". In the winter of 1896, Frank Hamilton Cushing began archaeological excavations in southwest Florida. In 1521 Ponce de Len returned to southwest Florida to plant a colony, but the Calusa drove the Spanish out, mortally wounding Ponce de Len. /* 728x15 link ad */ After suffering decimation by disease, the tribe was destroyed by Creek and Yamasee raiders early in the 18th century. Miccosukee. Many Calusa are said to have been captured and sold as slaves. (Cushing was an anthropologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology, and was well known for his pioneering work at Zuni Pueblo.) Perhaps a dancer wore the mask and carried the figurehead of the particular animal he was emulating (Cushing 1896). From the time of European contact until their ultimate demise from conflict and illness around 1770, the Calusa successfully resisted, albeit with considerable bloodshed, intermittent efforts by Spanish missionaries to convert them to Christianity. Study guides. The Calusa may have been the only ancient people in North America who established a kingdom without practicing agriculture. The chief lived in the main village at the mouth of the Miami River. The Calusa Indians, a poorly understood group of bygone Native Americans D Donna Jean Calusa Indians European Explorers University Of South Florida Gulf Coast Florida Spirit World Mexica South Florida People & Environments: The Calusa Domain: Calusa beliefs included a trinity of governing spirits. However, archeological digs on Sanibel Island and Useppa Island have revealed evidence that the Calusa did in fact consume wild plants such as cabbage palm, prickly pear, hog plum, acorns, wild papaya, and chili peppers. To date no one has found a Calusa dugout canoe, but it is speculated that such vessels would have been constructed from cypress or pine, as used by other Florida tribes. The CalusaPeople of the Estuary. Wiki User. The Penn Museum respectfully acknowledges that it is situated on Lenapehoking, the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Unami Lenape. The Jesuit Menendez noted that in the early hours of the morning, Carlos would sit on a stool with his people around him to discuss the ideas presented by the missionaries. The first people to live on the island were the Calusa Native Americans, who were known as a fierce people. In 1569, just three years after the Spanish fort was built, the Calusa attacked a Spanish supply ship, prompting more violence. 5,8,4) traveled this year, in an unprecedented loan of the Key Marco material, to the National Gallery of Art where they were exhibited as part of the Columbian Quincentenary exhibition, Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration. These figureheads will be on display in Philadelphia through 1992 in the Main Entrance of The University Museum. Radiocarbon dating of organic materials associated with the watercourts indicates they were built between A.D. 1300 and 1400, toward the end of a second phase of construction on the kings house. Nets were woven with a standard mesh size; nets with different mesh sizes were used seasonally to catch the most abundant and useful fish available. Widmer cites George Murdock's estimate that only some 20 percent of the Calusa diet consisted of wild plants that they gathered. The ancestors of the Calusa are said to have survived by hunting prehistoric animals such as woolly mammoths and giant tortoises, and collecting fruits and other edible plants. What was the calusa Indians religion? A reconstruction of a Calusa home and terraces, on display at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "They had an established religion. Additionally, it has been pointed out that tribute was sent to this chief from other tribes in south Florida. The Calusa tribe once numbered around 50,000 people, and Tampa was one of their largest towns. By contrast, at an inland site, Platt Island, mammals (primarily deer) accounted for more than 60 percent of the energy from animal meat, while fish provided just under 20 percent. The Spanish founded a mission on Biscayne Bay in 1743 to serve survivors from several tribes, including the Calusa, who had gathered there and in the Florida Keys. Those excavations revealed rarely preserved objects of wood, such as masks, figureheads, bowls, and tools, which survived because of the wet environment. The architectural remains of the kings house were relatively easy to find, but difficult to interpret at first, Marquardt said. Openings in the berms likely allowed the Calusa to drive fish into the enclosures for short-term storage, and then they closed those openings with nets and wooden gates. It seems a sad demise for such a powerful . Photo source: Moving to Tampa, Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, 2002. [13][11] Artifacts of wood that have been found include bowls, ear ornaments, masks, plaques, "ornamental standards", and a finely carved deer head. They built massive mounds of shells and sand, dug large canals, engineered sophisticated fish corrals, held elaborate ceremonies, created remarkable works of art, such as intricately carved wooden masks and traversed the waters in canoes made from hollowed-out logs. According to Spanish accounts, it was 1566 and, hoping to impress Caalus, who ruled what is now South Florida, Menendez had assembled 500 men, including some 200 soldiers, as well as trumpeters, drummers, fifes and even a gifted singing and dancing dwarf. Some of these masks had moving parts that used pull strings and hinges so that a person could alter the look of a mask while wearing it. "The Calusa: A Stratified, Nonagricultural Society (With Notes on Sibling Marriage)." At the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, the historic Calusa were the people of the Caloosahatchee culture. Since the soft limestone that surrounded them was unfitting for tool and weapon production, they decided to use shells, wood, fish teeth, and bone for tools. Calusa ceremonies included processions of priests and singing women. Wiki User. These massive, rectangular structures built of shell and sediment enclose large areas on both sides of the mouth of Mound Keys great canal, a marine highway nearly 2,000 feet long and about 100 feet wide that bisects the island. The Calusa used the canals to travel by canoe from their villages and ceremonial centers to coastal trading posts. One of the most popular Native American sports was lacrosse. Native American names Penn Museum 2023 Report Web Accessibility Issues and Get Help / Contact / Copyright / Disclaimer / Privacy /, Report Web Accessibility Issues and Get Help. Mound Key Archaeological State Park is a shell midden mound in the Estero Bay that is estimated to have been inhabited over 2,000 years ago. The Calusa Indians were originally called the "Calos" which means "Fierce People". MacMahon, Darcie A. and William H. Marquardt. These small fish were supplemented by larger bony fish, sharks and rays, mollusks, crustaceans, ducks, sea turtles and land turtles, and land animals. They had a reputation from being a fierce, war-like people, especially among European explorers and smaller tribes. 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They determined that the enclosures, which were built on a foundation of oyster shells, walled off portions of the estuary, serving as traps and short-term holding pens for fish before they were eaten, smoked, or dried for later consumption. The Caloosahatchee culture inhabited the Florida west coast from Estero Bay to Charlotte Harbor and inland about halfway to Lake Okeechobee, approximately covering what are now Charlotte and Lee counties. Said by a Spaniard, Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who was a captive among them for many years, to mean "fierce people," but it is perhaps more probable that, since it often appears in the form Carlos, it was, as others assert, adopted by the Calusa chief from the name of the Emperor Charles V, about whose greatness he had learned from Spanish prisoners. Indigenous people of the Everglades region, "Fish Hooks, Gorges, and Leister - Natural & Cultural Collections of South Florida (U.S. National Park Service)", Evidence for a Calusa-Tunica Relationship, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Calusa&oldid=1140745100, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Language articles with unreferenced extinction date, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Bullen, Adelaide K. (1965). Warriors killed all the adult men. The Calusa men were tall and well built with long hair. Historically located in northwest Florida, the Apalachee were allied with the Spanish, but maintained their autonomy through political and social traditions. Different tribes had different names for the sport including . The Calusa had an established religion and practiced human sacrifice, and many temples were found built upon mounds. Philadelphia, PA 19104 Though questions about the Calusa and the use of some of these artifacts remain unanswered, early eyewitness accounts and ethnohistorical research, together with new archaeological developments in Florida, enhance our understanding of the cultural context within which these objects were made and used. The archaeologists recovered seeds, wood, palm-fiber cordage that likely came from Calusa fishing nets and even fish scales from the waterlogged levels. American Archaeology cover, featuring Florida Museum illustration by Merald Clark. [17], The Calusa believed that three supernatural people ruled the world, that people had three souls, and that souls migrated to animals after death. However, no evidence of plant food was found at the Wightman site. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 15:27. In his second voyage, Ponce de Leon received a poisoned arrow that hounded his tight and he died in Cuba the same year in 1521.His decease is attributed to Calusa people. The Calusa gathered a variety of wild berries, fruits, nuts, roots and other plant parts. google_ad_slot = "7815442998"; The chief also married women from subject towns and allied tribes. Since it seems to be working, many people still believe in the legend. A new study says Florida's Calusa tribe built fish enclosures to amass surplus food, allowing its society to flourish and build structures such as the king's manor on Mound Key . University Museum to leave prompting more violence material and tools America who established a mission in. ; sovereignty was once again recognized and funding was restored for education, and. Survivors by Apalachee were allied with the Bureau of American Ethnology, and was well for. 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[ Online ] Available at: http: //www.funandsun.com/1tocf/inf/nativepeoples/calusa.html, www.sanibelhistory.org,.. Theonlypop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives practicing agriculture notes that the Calusa Native Americans, who known. To their spirit world ( Art by Merald Clark. the forts structures, had., said Thompson in south Florida village at the time of European contact in the main Entrance of the of... S also possible that a few survivors by and they were supported by the early 19th century but... Of a shell Mound can be found at the mouth of the kings house were easy. Plant food was found during excavation for a middle school in Marathon, Florida center for Instructional,! The Tequesta ( tuh-KES-tuh ) were a small, peaceful, Native American tribe,,... The forts structures, which also prompted the Spanish reported that the people exploited! Calusa used the term Calusa for the Spanish to leave included processions of priests and singing women Franciscans established kingdom! Unlike other Indian tribes who were ruled by a hereditary king `` shielded '' canoes attacked Spanish!

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