Where are the Calusa today?

Perhaps the saddest thing about the Calusa tribe is the fact that they have disappeared. This successful tribe that controlled most of Southwest Florida, and probably more lands, for at least hundreds of years, simply no longer exists. There are no Calusa reservations, nor are there even any people claiming to be of Calusa descent.

When I visit the historical sites in SW Florida and walk over the ancient shells mounds and along the routes of their now filled-in canals, the sad silence always gets to me. These places were once vibrant, healthy communities filled with people skilled in hunting and engineering. They mastered the Florida landscape with none of today's machines or technologies.

Mound Key, once the home of the Calusa Kings, is one of the most striking examples. Unless you know what it is, it looks no different from an y of the other islands in Estero Bay. You can't see the two large shell mounds, approximately 30 feet high, in the center of the island. In fact, the entire island is manmade. At some of the other sites, people have destroyed the Calusa shell mounds, using the sand and other fill materials for their own construction projects. Sadly, some of these mounds are barely noticeable as raised plots of ground.

In 1763, the few remaining Calusa families and their king left Estero Bay and never returned. Some reports state they went to Key West and even as far as Cuba, but historians seem unanimous on reporting that most of the tribe died during this period. Other reports claim some of the Calusas joined the Seminole tribe and that their descendants were recognizable by their height. I do wonder if today's advancements in DNA detection could identify people with Calusa blood. That would really be something.

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