By Marcy Shortuse, photos provided
Hundreds of years ago, when Florida was more swamp and alligators than it was people, there was
a tall, proud tribe of Native Americans who roamed the earth where our feet tread today. Some
knew them as the “Calos,” others knew them as the “Kalos,” but we most commonly refer to
them as the Calusa. These Native Americans who lived primarily off the bounty of the sea occupied the
lands and waters around the Cape Haze peninsula for thousands of years. Today around Charlotte Harbor
there remain a considerable number of shell middens and other historical sites through which archeologists
are piecing together the lifestyles of the Calusa and Timucua tribes who controlled this area until the
arrival of European explorers.