Everglades National Park

History 🦎

Long before being discovered by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, the region which is now known as the Everglades was populated by several distinct indigenous peoples including the Calusa, Tequesta, Jega and Ais communities, who were all non-agrarian and fed off the land by fishing and foraging. These people, who were understood to have been dominated by the Calusa, and were living in the area for some 15,000 years before the colonialists arrived, almost completely disappeared with the arrival of the Europeans due to the spread of western illnesses, but they were recognized for their intricate and sophisticated shell work, the uses of which are not known or documented. It is, however, understood that the Calusa made not only objects with shells, but also architecture and borders between terrorities with bits and pieces of shells from the water. They are also known to have espoused sophisticated religious traditions and social hierarchies.

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