Calusa
The Calusa (kah LOOS ah) lived on the sandy shores of the southwest coast of Florida. These Indians controlled most of south Florida. The population of this tribe may have reached as many as 50,000 people. The Calusa men were tall and well built with long hair. Calusa means “fierce people,” and they were described as a fierce, war-like people. Many smaller tribes were constantly watching for these marauding warriors. The first Spanish explorers found that these Indians were not very friendly. The explorers soon became the targets of the Calusa attacks. This tribe was the first one that the Spanish explorers wrote home about in 1513.
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The Calusa Indians did not farm like the other Indian tribes in Florida. Instead, they fished for food on the coast, bays, rivers, and waterways. The men and boys of the tribe made nets from palm tree webbing to catch mullet, pinfish, pigfish, and catfish. They used spears to catch eels and turtles. They made fish bone arrowheads to hunt for animals such as deer. The women and children learned to catch shellfish like conchs, crabs, clams, lobsters, and oysters.
GREAT READ ON CALUSA TRIBAL HISTORY.
INFO
Steel: 8670 HC
Handle: Aged Oak
Pins: Copper
OAL: 11 1/4”
Weight: 10.6 oz
Sheath: Buckskin wrapped around vegtan leather, fringe in the front flap, the lace throughout is waxed linen cord, belt loop is overlayed with fish skin and fancied with a shark tooth.
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