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 Ewat; the Calusa Indian Boy

The southwest coast of the peninsula, eventually named Florida by explorer Ponce de Leon, was covered with every type of flora and fauna that grew in the sub-tropic environment. On the coast were grasses on the sandy beaches, Mangrove trees anchoring the land, tall pines and live oaks. Inland, the swamp dominated in the rainy season when dry land was at a premium. Along fresh water streams, the bald Cypress trees flourished. It was a paradise for native animals, yet a very challenging environment for humans.

The indigenous inhabitants of the southwest portion weren't nomadic. They built permanent structures out of shell and sand and clay. Over hundreds of years, the Calusa Indians flourished despite the hurricanes, harsh environment and invasive northern Indian tribes. They became known as the 'Fierce People' among friend and foe.

The Calusa flourished among a bounty of trees, some tall with leaves and and others shorter with peeling bark. The Cypress was the most proficient while the Pines hugged the coast competing with the Mangrove trees. The barrier islands were anchored by the Mangrove trees, many said they could walk across the land because their roots grew up and out of the water. The pines, especially the giant type were prevalent on the barrier islands middle ground. Gumbo Limbo trees flourished just inland and were very salt resistant. They we used by natives for firewood, building foundations and canoes because they were easy to carve out with Conch shell tools.

The everglade grasses were 3 to 5 feet tall, sharp and slender. They rooted in marsh land and spread far and wide. Known as Saw Grass because of the spiny edge that some species sported. Palmetto palms grew to five to eight feet and they provided cover for many species of wildlife. Every species was salt tolerant and thrived in the heat. For ten thousand years or more, trees grew tall and grasses spread out across the swamp.    

The Calusa tribe occupied all of the southwest Peninsula. They lived on or near the saltwater shore. They had no calendar or written language but to the Europeans the year was1513, a year of big change.     

The Calusa people were tall and handsome warriors and slender maidens due to their protein rich diet of fish, Venison and shellfish. They used vine nets and hand lines for fishing from dugout canoes. Mollusk rakes for the shellfish and sharpened bamboo spears and bows with arrows for the land prey. They were hunter/gathers, not farmers except to harvest natural occurring plants such as cabbage palms. Their natural enemies were the bear, alligator and panther which the skilled men also hunted.    

Their summer villages were a group of small islands along the coast, most built by their forefathers but in need of constant tending because of thunderstorms and hurricanes. They had piled up discarded shell and then mixed clay and sand to build enormous mounds. The Calusa were industrious and innovative. They terraced walkways around the mounds and developed a cistern system for a rudimentary septic system. Clay lined ponds were built to store fresh water, some filled naturally from the high water table while others collected rain water. The Calusa encouraged small fish in those ponds to eat mosquito larvae.

The entire Calusa village spread over a hundred square miles. Many sub-villages were connected at low tide by sand bridges. The summer villages were on the saltwater coast while the winter villages were inland. The Calusas excavated canals to help their canoes navigate around narrow passes when the tide ran too swiftly. The seas provided food, a means of travel and a temperate climate. They excavated harbors and fish weirs. They used bamboo and palm frond to build their huts and great meeting buildings.

The varying elevation of the mounds allowed them to escape many insects and catch the summer breeze during the long summer days. The Calusa's outlying lower mounds were used to bury their dead. Their places of worship were on top of the largest mounds adjacent to the Kings residence and their reinforced stockade. They had many Gods, but the Sun and Moon gods were the most prevalent.  The average Calusa male grew to least six feet. Nearly a foot taller than other tribes they battled. Their stature was intimidating, and their fierceness was legendary but they were considered a rich people and were probed by marauding bands. Their leadership was a hereditary King who was always named King Calos.  

As the dawn broke on a beautiful warm spring morning, the sea birds flew, and the Ibis hunted along the water’s edge. The village woke up slowly. The fire watchers, families whose only duty was keeping the village fire pit burning, piled on more wood in anticipation of villagers coming for their daily fire. Woman carried deer skin bladders full of fresh water from the ponds to their huts and cooks fires filled the villages with cook smoke.

Ewat was a thirteen-year-old member of the Calusa tribe. His given name was 'Watana' but friends and family shortened it to Ewat. He laid on a bed of palm leaves and moss inside near his family’s spacious hut entrance. His family occupied a, multi-room dwelling fit for the status of his Father/Patriarch, Wisloc. The 32-year-old father slept entwined with the Ewat's stepmother, Aeiou in deep peaceful sleep. Neither were aware of the arrival of the dawn. Aeiou's parents were in the back of the dwelling sounding like rooting bears as they snored. Ewat's two half Sisters patiently watched Ewat's every move. None of them would leave the hut before Wisloc awoke.

Ewat, sat crossed legged and gazed at the distant western clouds changing colors from Grey to pink as the Sun rose in the East. He listened to the singing of birds growing ever louder and he was certain he would join his best friends, Ipoga and Cubaco for another day of adventure. Morning was stirring and Ewat thought the clean, orderly lines of the village was beauty. The thatched dwellings were lined up very neatly, the terraced paths were clean and sturdy, and the beautiful water stretched as far as anyone could imagine.

He watched the morning mist and smoke from the community fire pits below mingle and dance on the slight breeze at the water’s edge. Young boys were chasing the 'ghosts', the mist that the insignificant shamans claimed were long departed loved ones.