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Letter from Alexa Lambros

Dear Alexa,

The Calusa Indians have helped make southwest Florida what it is today in several ways. They and the Indian people who lived on the coast before them were able to figure out how to make a good living by fishing. They were so good at fishing that they didn’t even have to farm. They hunted deer and other animals, and they gathered wild plant foods, such as fruits, berries, and roots, but their main food was fish and shellfish (like clams and oysters).

By studying the things we have dug up, we now know that people were living on the southwest Florida coast as long as 6,000 years ago. That’s older than the Roman empire, or the Greek civilization, or even the pyramids in Egypt! The Calusa people fished by using nets that they made from the fibers of cabbage palms. People who came after them, such as the Spaniards and Seminoles, learned to fish the same way, though later the nets were made of other fibers, such as flax. In the early twentieth century, people were still fishing much as the Calusa Indians had. This didn’t change a lot until motorboats and modern nets were invented

We know that the Calusa were powerful because Spanish writings of the 1500s and 1600s say that the capital of all of South Florida was on an island near what is today Fort Myers, and that all the people of South Florida had to bring food and gifts to the Calusa king, who lived right in what is today Lee County. As you already know, they built mounds to put their houses on. They also dug canals to connect their towns. Some of the Calusa were fine artists, and the Calusa had a rich religion, language, and traditions. Sadly, since they didn’t write anything down, we can’t be sure about a lot of the details. That’s why archaeology is so important, and why it’s good to protect the places where Calusa Indians and other early people lived. By digging carefully and studying what we find, we can learn a lot about the Indians and about what it was like to live in southwest Florida many centuries ago.

I hope you enjoy reading the materials I am sending to you. Please show them to your teacher. Thank you for writing to me. I am glad to know that you are studying history and that you are interested in southwest Florida’s Calusa Indians.

Sincerely,

William H. Marquardt,
Project Director

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PO Box 117800
Gainesville, FL 32611-7800

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*Good Questions*



		Dear Alexa, The Calusa Indians have helped make southwest Florida what it is today in several ways. They and the Indian people who lived on the coast before them were able to figure out how to make a good living by fishing. They were so good at fishing that they didn’t even have to farm. They hunted deer and other animals, and they gathered wild plant foods, such as fruits, berries, and roots, but their main food was fish and shellfish (like clams and oysters). By studying the things we have dug up, we now know that people were living on the southwest Florida coast as long as 6,000 years ago. That’s older than the Roman empire, or the Greek civilization, or even the pyramids in Egypt! The Calusa people fished by using nets that they made from the fibers of cabbage palms. People who came after them, such as the Spaniards and Seminoles, learned to fish the same way, though later the nets were made of other fibers, such as flax. In the early twentieth century, people were still fishing much as the Calusa Indians had. This didn’t change a lot until motorboats and modern nets were invented We know that the Calusa were powerful because Spanish writings of the 1500s and 1600s say that the capital of all of South Florida was on an island near what is today Fort Myers, and that all the people of South Florida had to bring food and gifts to the Calusa king, who lived right in what is today Lee County. As you already know, they built mounds to put their houses on. They also dug canals to connect their towns. Some of the Calusa were fine artists, and the Calusa had a rich religion, language, and traditions. Sadly, since they didn’t write anything down, we can’t be sure about a lot of the details. That’s why archaeology is so important, and why it’s good to protect the places where Calusa Indians and other early people lived. By digging carefully and studying what we find, we can learn a lot about the Indians and about what it was like to live in southwest Florida many centuries ago. I hope you enjoy reading the materials I am sending to you. Please show them to your teacher. Thank you for writing to me. I am glad to know that you are studying history and that you are interested in southwest Florida’s Calusa Indians. Sincerely, William H. Marquardt, Project Director


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