Caloosa people

E826728

The Caloosa people were a powerful Indigenous group of southwest Florida known for their complex chiefdom, maritime culture, and resistance to early European colonization.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Caloosa people canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Indigenous people
pre-Columbian culture
affectedBy European diseases
alliedWith some Spanish missions (temporarily, in later period)
archaeologicalSitesInclude Mound Key
Pineland Site Complex
Useppa Island
built artificial islands
raised platforms for structures
shell mounds (middens)
capital Calos (near present-day Mound Key)
linked to: Mound Key
conflictWith Spanish colonizers
cultureType complex chiefdom
maritime culture
declinePeriod 17th century
economy control of coastal trade networks
encountered Spanish explorers
ethnicGroupOf southwest Florida
linked to: Southwest Florida
firstContactPeriod early 16th century
firstContactWith Juan Ponce de León
knownFor canal systems
complex political hierarchy
large shell mounds
resistance to early European colonization
wooden carvings
languageFamily Muskogean languages (possibly, uncertain)
mainTerritory Calusa Island region
linked to: Calusa

Charlotte Harbor region
linked to: Charlotte Harbor

Estero Bay region
Ten Thousand Islands region
southwest coast of Florida
neighboringGroup Ais people
Tequesta people
linked to: Tequesta

Tocobaga people
politicalOrganization hereditary chiefdom
region Gulf of Mexico coast
religion ancestor veneration
polytheistic belief system
socialStructure stratified society
someMembersRelocatedTo Cuba
subsistenceStrategy fishing
hunting
limited horticulture
shellfish gathering
transport dugout canoes
usedMaterial bone
shell
wood

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Caloosahatchee River namedAfter Caloosa people