calusa tribe religion

The Calusa (said to mean fierce people ) are a Native American tribe that once inhabited the southwestern coast of Florida. Large earthen mounds and ridges, accessed by canals, are believed to have been associated with Calusa ritual. Marquardt quotes a statement from the 1570s that "the Bay of Carlos in the Indian language is called Escampaba, for the cacique of this town, who afterward called himself Carlos in devotion to the Emperor" (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor). This now makes three southwest Florida sites with wet-site preservation of such items as wood, cordage and netting: the Pineland Site Complex, Key Marco and now Mound Key.. They arrived in seven vessels and climbed to the peak of Mound Key, a 30-foot-high, human-made island of shells and sand, to greet the king. Water World. There are probably people of Calusa descent still alive today. It is recorded that in that year, the Calusa chief formed an alliance with the Spanish governor, Menndez de Avils. The Iroquois, on the other hand, placed the shaman at the head of all things spiritual. What language did the Calusa speak? The Calusa tribe once numbered around 50,000 people, and Tampa was one of their largest towns. [8], Some authors have argued that the Calusa cultivated maize and Zamia integrifolia (coontie) for food. The Spanish reported that the chief was expected to take his sister as one of his wives. The first recorded contact between the Calusa and Europeans was in 1513, when Juan Ponce de Len landed on the west coast of Florida in May, probably at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, after his earlier discovery of Florida in April. [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 Calusa was a powerful, complex society who lived on the shores of the southwest Florida coast. During the Calusa's reign the Florida coastline extended roughly 60 miles further into the Gulf of Mexico. [14], The Calusa lived in large, communal houses which were two stories high. Expedition Magazine. The Calusa men were tall and well built with long hair. After the outbreak of war between Spain and England in 1702, slaving raids by Uchise Creek and Yamasee Indians allied with the Province of Carolina began reaching far down the Florida peninsula. The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. 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. They had the highest population density of South Florida; estimates of total population at the time of European contact range from 10,000 to several times that, but these are speculative. They believed in three superior beings, one controlled the weather, the others ruled the welfare of the tribe and warfare. When Pedro Menndez de Avils visited the capital in 1566, he described the chief's house as large enough to hold 2,000 without crowding, indicating it also served as the council house. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004. Reagan restored the Tribes to federal recognition by signing Public Law 98-481. Pine tree legends This class was supported by commoners, who provided them with food and other material goods. Judging from the email I get, there are a lot of people out there trying to learn about traditional Native American religion and spirituality these days. Little is known about Calusa religion. [24][25], In 1566 Pedro Menndez de Avils, founder of St. Augustine, made contact with the Calusa. Tabby, also called tabbi or tapia, is made by burning shells to create lime, which is then mixed with sand, ash, water and broken shells. 6 Advanced Ancient Inventions Beyond Modern Understanding, Built to Last: The Secret that Enabled Roman Roads to Withstand the Passage of Time, More than a Dozen Mysterious Prehistoric Tunnels in Cornwall, England, Mystify Researchers, 4,700-Year-Old Tavern Serves Up Surprises in Ancient Lagash, Iraq, Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera Part I, Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations, The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures Part I, Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures Part I, The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription, Chinese Votive Sword Found in Georgia suggests Pre-Columbian Chinese travel to North America, First humans in Florida lived alongside giant animals, Rare coin hoard worth $1m discovered by treasure hunters off the coast of Florida, Juan Ponce de Len and his Search for the Fountain of Youth, http://www.sanibelhistory.org/calusa_history.htm, Archaeologists Verify Location of Elusive Spanish Fort at Florida's Mound Key, Ingeniously Engineered Watercourts Fueled Floridas Calusa Kingdom, Grand Ceremonial House of the King of the Calusa People Has Been Located in Florida. They were descendants of Paleo-Indians who inhabited Southwest Florida approximately 12,000 years ago. Some of the survivors were sent to Cuba by the Spanish, while others may have merged with other Floridian Indians and eventually joined the Seminole tribe. These small fish were supplemented by larger bony fish, sharks and rays, mollusks, crustaceans, ducks, sea turtles and land turtles, and land animals. What did the Calusa tribe believe in? Their territory was bounded in northwest Florida by the Aucilla and Ochlockonee rivers, and . At the time of the excavations Cushing did not know the name or precise age of the Indians whose world he had discovered. 9). The Calusa had an established religion and practiced human sacrifice, and many temples were found built upon mounds. [19], Little is known of the language of the Calusa. google_ad_height = 15; Many Calusa are said to have been captured and sold as slaves. These Indians were so unfriendly that this was one of the first tribes that Spanish explorers wrote home about in 1513. Are there any Calusa people left? ( Public Domain ). It has been proposed that as fishing was a less time-consuming means of obtaining food than hunting and gathering, the Calusa were able to devote more time to other pursuits, such as the establishment of a system of government. The Calusa Indians, who live in southwest Florida, are weakened by epidemics. In 1987, the Tribe approved a constitution and began to lay the groundwork for a self-sufficiency plan. Calusa means "fierce people," and they were described as a fierce, war-like people. The story of the Calusa during the Spanish occupation of La Florida is a complicated one, said Thompson. Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked! Additionally, it has been pointed out that tribute was sent to this chief from other tribes in south Florida. The Legend of the Calusa Many people believe that the Calusa made a trip to Cuba in their canoes and traded with the Mayans. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. The Carolinan colonists supplied firearms to the Creek and Yemasee, but the Calusa, who had isolated themselves from Europeans, had none. Thegoal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. The Tequesta (tuh-KES-tuh) were a small, peaceful, Native American tribe. Seeking Native American Spirituality: Read This First! 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. The Iliad can provide new insights on the role of motherhood among the ancient Greek gods, and by extension, amongst ancient mortal Greek women themselves. 4-8). The Caloosahatchee Region". Many smaller tribes were constantly watching for these marauding warriors. The archaeologists recovered seeds, wood, palm-fiber cordage that likely came from Calusa fishing nets and even fish scales from the waterlogged levels. Artist's conception of town chief at the Calusa town of Tampa (present day Pineland) (Art by Merald Clark.) The Calusa have long fascinated archaeologists because they were a fisher-gatherer-hunter society that attained unusual social complexity, said William Marquardt, curator emeritus of South Florida Archaeology and Ethnography at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The Calusa Indians were descendants of Paleo-Indians who inhabited Southwest Florida approximately 12,000 years ago. ( Public Domain ), Featured image: Calusa people fishing. Those excavations revealed rarely preserved objects of wood, such as masks, figureheads, bowls, and tools, which survived because of the wet environment. 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". They were occupying this land and engaging in commerce, culture, religion, politics and family life . When Pedro Menndez de Avils visited in 1566, the Calusa served only fish and oysters to the Spanish. Many people lived in large villages with purpose-built earthwork mounds, such as those at Horr's Island. The finds tell us of Calusa fishing techniques, of the tools used to produce their wooden carvings, of architecture, ceremonialism, and daily life. The Jews are not a race. The University Museum has an exceptional collection of artifacts from the Calusa site at Key Marco, Florida. Hostilities erupted, and the Spanish soldiers killed Carlos, his successor Felipe, and several of the "nobles" before they abandoned their fort and mission in 1569. However, they would suffer the same fate as many of the other Native American tribes. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years. Montauk When the chief formally received Menndez in his house, the chief sat on a raised seat surrounded by 500 of his principal men, while his sister-wife sat on another raised seat surrounded by 500 women. The drove back multiple conquistadors and had control of nearby tribes. The Calusa king, or head chief, was an absolute ruler. Then, two things happened: either Chaos or Gaia created the universe as we know it, or Ouranos and Tethys gave birth to the first beings. Marquardt and Victor Thompson of the University of Georgia are co-directing research at Mound Key, which has a complex arrangement of shell midden mounds, canals, watercourts and other features. Historic documents say the Calusa then set fire to Mound Key and fled the island, which also prompted the Spanish to leave. It seems clear that while the Spaniards wanted strategic control of the region, the Calusa territory provided them with little economic incentive for serious pursuit; they and other Europeans explored more promising regions to the north. However, no evidence of plant food was found at the Wightman site. They were supported by the labor of the majority of the Calusa. The Calusa lived from at least A.D. 1000 up to the middle of the 18th century in what are now southwest Floridas Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years. [2], Juan Rogel, a Jesuit missionary to the Calusa in the late 1560s, noted the chief's name as Carlos, but wrote that the name of the kingdom was Escampaba, with an alternate spelling of Escampaha. Menndez married Carlos' sister, who took the baptismal name Doa Antonia at conversion. The Calusa may have been the only ancient people in North America who established a kingdom without practicing agriculture. We do not fully understand the complexities of what happened to them. Artifacts related to fishing changed slowly over this period, with no obvious breaks in tradition that might indicate a replacement of the population. Southeastern Archaeology, 33(1), 124. 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. An anonymous account mentions an autumn ceremony in which dancers wore animal masks (Coggin and Sturtevant 1964). . By 880, a complex society had developed with high population densities. In a feat of organized labor that was also suggestive of their expansive trade network, the Calusa appear to have brought pine wood to the island from elsewhere in Florida to build the dwelling. "They had an established religion. The mission was closed after only a few months. THE CALUSA INDIANS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. Before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, Indigenous peoples who lived in the same region developed similar cultural traits based on their shared natural environment. Milanich, Jerald. 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. Uniquely, it was powered by fishing, not farming. In 1569, just three years after the Spanish fort was built, the Calusa attacked a Spanish supply ship, prompting more violence. They were one of the first tribes in South Florida and they settled near Biscayne Bay in the present-day Miami area. The Calusa Domain. [5] A few leaders governed the tribe. Native American art,