Who Were the Calusa and What Made Them Special?

“The Calusa are one of the few examples of this level of political complexity not supported by large agricultural surpluses, but rather the bounty of the sea.” – Victor D. Thompson

The Calusa were a tribe of Native Americans known as the "Shell Indians" and some of the first Floridians. They were a fierce, independent tribe that lived in southwest Florida as early as 2,000 years ago. Their territory ranged from Tampa Bay south to the Ten Thousand Islands and as far east as Lake Okeechobee. The Calusa Indians were a complex society of advanced political and religious hierarchies ruled by King Caalus and his family. Their territory was composed of villages scattered along the gulf coast with the center being Mound Key near Ft. Myers. Mound Key is estimated to be the largest, single shell midden site in North America numbering 18.6 billion harvested shells. It is also estimated their population reached 20,000 tribes’ people at its peak.

The Calusa was the only North American, indigenous tribe that was a “fisher-gather-hunter society” meaning they subsisted without traditional staple agriculture like corn, squash, and beans. They were excellent fisherman catching most of their food supply from estuaries along the Florida Gulf Coast. The Calusa created a system of canals and walled aquatic pens called watercourts. Complex engineering went into the construction of these fish traps and storage pens which were built atop shallow oyster beds. These watercourts could be as large as seven NBA basketball courts and were used to catch schooling fish during large tidal flows. Once fish were caught in these pens the openings were netted closed. The Calusa used a combination of the pens and shore side drying racks to manage the fish surpluses. Travel and trade were also important to the Calusa nation. They used 15-foot dugout canoes to travel and were known to venture as far as Havana to conduct trade.

We couldn’t be prouder to celebrate their historical existence by naming our company after them.