Florida Native American Heritage Trail - (Page 27) Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, Big Cypress Reservation Clewiston, Hendry County 863.902.1113 www.ahtahthiki.com Indian Mound Park (Paulsen Point) Englewood, Sarasota County 941.474.3065 or 941.861.5000 explain the lifeways of the people who built the mounds as well as nature trails to the top of the mounds. This is the official museum of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Exhibits depict the lives of the Seminoles in south Florida during the late 1800s. Additionally, there is a 600-squarefoot changing exhibit gallery and a nine-mile boardwalk through the cypress swamp. The Legends Theater portrays how storys were passed down from generation to generation. is site, now a Sarasota County park, was a site of regional authority occupied from approximately 3,000 to 650 years ago. Ancient people were attracted to this particular area of land because of the abundance of seafood, the mainstay of their diet. Nature trails provide various views of the mound. Everglades National Park, Sandfly Island Canoe Trip Everglades City, Collier County 305.242.7700 www.nps.gov/archive/ever/visit/canoe-gc.htm Mound Key Archaeological State Park Boat accessible only. Estero Bay, Lee County 239.992.0311 www.floridastateparks.org/moundkey/ default.cfm Billie Swamp Safari, Big Cypress Reservation Clewiston, Hendry County 800.949.6101 www.seminoletribe.com/safari Billie Swamp Safari offers firsthand experience of the wildlife and environment of the everglades. Overnight guests sleep in a native-style chickee hut. ere are also day and evening swamp tours, and campfire stories about the history and legends of the unconquered Seminoles. Mound Key is believed to have been the ceremonial and political center of the Calusa Indians when the Spaniards first attempted to colonize southwest Florida. Archaeological investigations indicate that Mound Key was occupied at least 2,000 years ago. In 1566, the Spanish governor of Florida established a settlement on the island with a fort and the first Jesuit mission in Spanish Florida. Accessible only by boat, the island features outdoor exhibits that Everglades National Park protects a large portion of the Everglades, the largest marsh estuary in the United States. Native Americans took advantage of the vast resources it offered and sought refuge there from U.S. attempts at removal. Interpretive displays on Sandfly Island tell of the island’s long human history. e island itself is a shell mound created by Calusa Indians, who lived in this area over 2,000 years ago. Museum of the Everglades Everglades City, Collier County 239.695.0008 www.florida-everglades.com/evercty/museum.htm Native American exhibits display artifacts from 2,000 to 500 years ago and tell the story of southwest Florida’s first inhabitants. Education programs, lectures, and events are presented throughout the year. Vandalism of Florida’s Native American Heritage Florida’s Native American heritage sites attract attention from many individuals and groups interested in their protection, preservation and interpretation. Unfortunately, many sites also attract unscrupulous people interested in removing artifacts for personal gain. Sites on public and private land are systematically targeted by looters who collect or sell Native American artifacts. State land managers, archaeologists, law enforcement officers and prosecutors work together to stem this tide of destruction, which ruins both the intrinsic and scientific value of archaeological sites. Section 267.13, Florida Statutes provides misdemeanor and felony penalties for vandalizing sites on state land. Many looters dig at night or target remote sites, making them difficult to catch. Despite this, five to ten people are prosecuted every year. Please visit sites responsibly, leave exposed artifacts for others to observe and learn from, never dig into a site, and report signs of vandalism to state law enforcement authorities. Ryan J. Wheeler (Image courtesy of Florida Bureau of Archaeological Reserch, Tallahassee) 27 http://www.ahtahthiki.com http://www.nps.gov/archive/ever/visit/canoe-gc.htm http://www.floridastateparks.org/moundkey/default.cfm http://www.seminoletribe.com/safari http://www.florida-everglades.com/evercty/museum.htm
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