Their territory was bounded in northwest Florida by the Aucilla and Ochlockonee rivers, and . Little is known about Calusa religion. In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.). Milanich, J. T. (2004). The Calusa was a powerful, complex society who lived on the shores of the southwest Florida coast. Ivar the Boneless was likely the son of legendary Viking king Ragnar Lothbrok, and raided alongside his father and brothers, eventually becoming ruler of York in England in the 9th century AD. Although we cannot be sure what values the masks and animal figureheads held for the Calusa, they may have been markers of clan affiliation, and the animals represented most likely played important roles in Calusa mythology and religion. South Florida Archaeology and Ethnography, South Florida Archaeology & Ethnography Collection. In 1711, the Spanish helped evacuate 270 Indians, including many Calusa, from the Florida Keys to Cuba (where almost 200 soon died). The rich and relatively stable coastal ecology of southwest Florida provided an abundance of marine lifenumerous kinds of fish, shellfish, and sea mammalsthat was capable of supporting a large human population. The Calusa tribe lived along the Gulf Coat and inner waterways; their homes were built on stilts with roofs made from Palmetto leaves; these homes had no walls. [Online]Available at: https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/sflarch/research/calusa-domain/, floridahistory.org, 2016. "They had an established religion. The people who constructed Fort San Antn de Carlos had to adapt to Mound Keys unique conditions, researchers said. 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 site of the excavation appears to be linked with Calusa ceremonialism and was one location at which wooden carvings, probably used in ritual, were housed. Fowler Williams, .Lucy"The Calusa Indians: Maritime Peoples of Florida in the Age of Columbus" Expedition Magazine 33.2 (1991): n. pag. 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. The two forms together may have indicated his transformation (Figs. (Public Domain ). The Calusa, who had no immunity against such illnesses, were wiped out in large numbers. Archaeology, 57(5), 4650. Hence, the Calusa are sometimes called the Shell People / Indians. [28] Cuban fishing camps (ranchos) operated along the southwest Florida coast from the 18th century into the middle of the 19th century. The Calusa made bone and shell gauges that they used in net weaving. Penn Museum 2023 Report Web Accessibility Issues and Get Help / Contact / Copyright / Disclaimer / Privacy /, Report Web Accessibility Issues and Get Help. Illustrated here, the deer, pelican, wolf, alligator, and sea turtle reveal extraordinary realism, delicacy, and gracefulness of formartistic qualities characteristic of Mississippian Period and earlier ceramic, stone, and wood sculpture excavated in the area and at sites further north (Figs. Salvaged goods and survivors from wrecked Spanish ships reached the Calusa during the 1540s and 1550s. 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. The expedition was sponsored jointly by The University Museum (then the Free Museum of Science and Art) and the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution. Mudlarker Finds Bronze Age Shoe on a UK Riverbank Dated 2,800 Years Old! The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. Archaeological and historical documentation reveal that Calusa society was highly structured, with individuals living in fixed settlements surrounding a large central town. The Calusa had an established religion and practiced human sacrifice, and many temples were found built upon mounds. The Tequesta (tuh-KES-tuh) were a small, peaceful, Native American tribe. By interceding with these spirits, it was believed that the chief was ensuring that his people would be well-supplied by the land. Along the southwest Gulf coast lived the Calusa (Caloosa) Indians. Calusa beliefs included a trinity of governing spirits. Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked! In April of that year he made landfall and, calling this new territory La Florida, claimed it for the Spanish Crown. Native American tattoos Like the Calusa, the Tequesta were devastated by European diseases. The capital of the Calusa, and where the rulers administered from, was Mound Key, near present day Estero, Florida. The Calusa also believed that three supernatural beings ruled the universe. The heir of the chief wore gold in an ornament on his forehead and beads on his legs. 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. Warriors killed all the adult men. The Calusa used the canals to travel by canoe from their villages and ceremonial centers to coastal trading posts. A dozen words for which translations were recorded and 50 or 60 place names form the entire known corpus of the language. Lucy Fowler Williams is Keeper of Collections for the American Section. By the early 19th century, Anglo-Americans in the area used the term Calusa for the people. A new tribe that entered Florida either from the islands or the north at the start of the Christian Era, the Calusa dominated South Florida with their statute, skills, and brutality. The researchers used ground penetrating radar and LiDAR to locate and map the forts structures, which they then partially excavated. Many people lived in large villages with purpose-built earthwork mounds, such as those at Horr's Island. The Calusas were one of the few North American Indian tribes who were ruled by a hereditary king. At first, there must have been an uneasy tolerance of one another, as the Spanish built their fort, Marquardt explained. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. The Calusa Indians. Although many others survived the shipwreck, only Fontaneda was spared by the tribe in whose territory they landed. The walls were covered entirely with masks colored red, white, and black (Hann 1991). The Shell People. Marquardt, Thompson and other University of Georgia colleagues and students began fieldwork at Mound Key in 2013, funded by the National Geographic Society. The Tequesta Indians were a tribe of eastern Florida, closely connected with the Ais. Their sophistication and fierceness enabled them to resist Spanish domination for some 200 years. In a report from 1697, the Spanish noted 16 houses in the Calusa capital of Calos, which had 1,000 residents. Rituals were believed to link the Calusa to their spirit world (Art by Merald Clark.) Calusa beliefs included a trinity of governing spirits. The Calusa leader, Calus (called Carlos II by the Spaniards), agrees to accept a Jesuit missionary among his people, but the Calusa refuse to . Perhaps a dancer wore the mask and carried the figurehead of the particular animal he was emulating (Cushing 1896). Despite the social complexity and political might that the Calusa attained, they are said to have eventually went extinct around the end of the 18 th century. Index of Indigenous languages Wiki User. Fruit and roots were gathered, and deer, bear, and raccoon were probably eaten as well. "Florida Indians of Past and Present", in Carson, Ruby Leach and, Goggin, John M., and William C. Sturtevant. Would you like to help support our organization's work with endangered American Indian languages? Native American art,