Precolumbian People of Big Cypress 

Big Cypress

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Big Cypress 

National Preserve

 Humans have made the Big Cypress Swamp their home for almost 3,000 years. Teeming with life, the unique ecosystem of the 

Big Cypress Swamp provided a bountiful source of sustenance for the first peoples to call it home. Evidence of seasonal and even 

permanent settlement, albeit limited, has been found deep within its large expanse. Ongoing research may yet yield even more 

fascinating clues. 

Who were the “Glades People?” Within the wetland region of South Florida these were peoples living on 

the margins of the Big Cypress Swamp who supplemented 

their economy with food and other products from the 

swamp and coastal waters. Among these diverse tribes were 

the fierce Calusa of Southwest Florida and the Tequesta, a 

people inhabiting what is now Miami. Although the region 

was rich in nutritional and material resources, heavy rainfall 

and seasonal flooding prevented permanent settlement in 

most places. The earliest inhabitants, about 4,500 years ago, 

created middens, or piles of refuse, that provide clues to 

their diet and way of life. Shell tools and weapons, along 

with simple and sometimes decorated pottery have been 

found on many of the naturally elevated “islands” in the 

swamp. There is no evidence, however, of agriculture. What 

archaeologists termed the “Glades culture” was almost 

entirely based on hunting and gathering, with extremely 

limited use of farming. Throughout the Prehistoric period, 

(500 B.C.E. to A.C.E. 1513) settlements in the Big Cypress 

were largely transient, with camps being used mostly for 

hunting, fishing, and food-processing. 

A Wetland Cornucopia

How did these people survive in the swamp? The Big 

Cypress Swamp was rich in food and material resources for 

the peoples living in and around it. Game, including whitetailed deer, marsh rabbits, and all kinds of fish and reptiles 

were plentiful. Evidence from prehistoric trash middens 

suggests that both fish and reptiles made up the largest part 

of the Glades diet. A vast array of plants served the Glades 

people as food and medicines. Hog plums, coco plums, 

prickly pears, and palmetto berries were all consumed by 

the Glades people. Most sites within Big Cypress seem to 

have been devoted to processing food, and one can imagine 

large amounts of fish, shellfish, and other animals being 

cooked and preserved in what would appear to be large 

hunting or fishing camps. This kind of activity carries on 

today in seasonal camps used by today’s hunters, sport 

anglers, and in modern Miccosukee and Seminole villages.

Material Culture

While much of the culture of the early inhabitants of Big 

Cypress remains a mystery, archaeology has provided a 

Interpretation Through Art

We know very little about the people that once inhabited the Big Cypress Swamp. 

Scant written records and archaeology provide pieces to the puzzle, which also 

provide inspiration to present-day artists. While we will never know exactly how 

these people appeared or lived, based on solid research, art can help us better 

understand and connect to the first Floridians. 
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A

glimpse of how these people survived in the swamp. Shell 

was the most common material used for making tools. 

Perforated shells were used as weapons and tools, made by 

cutting holes in large shells and securing them to rods. 

Fishhooks were carved from bone or antler, and arrowheads 

and other projectile points made of bone or mineral were 

also used. Shark teeth and stingray spines were used to make 

cutting tools and weapons, and palmetto fiber was used to 

weave nets. The fronds could be used as thatch for roofing. 

What Happened to the Glades People?

In the two centuries after contact with Europeans in the 

early 1500s, the Glades peoples went into decline. War with 

the Spanish and other American Indian tribes, slave raids by 

Europeans, and most devastating disease caused the rapid 

decrease in native population. By 1763, when the Spanish 

ceded Florida to Great Britain, many of the remaining 

South Florida tribes had already settled in Cuba in the hills 

overlooking Havana, where many are said to have eventually 

died of disease. While a small amount of aboriginal Indians 

might have remained in South Florida into the 1800s, they 

were probably absorbed by the incoming migration of 

Seminole and Miccosukee tribes from further north.

A Stolen Heritage

Treasure hunters have stolen many artifacts—erasing our 

heritage. Many times archaeologists prefer to leave sites as is 

to preserve artifacts. 

What You Can Do to Help

• If you find pottery shards, arrowheads, or other artifacts, 

it is best to leave them in place and notify a ranger. This 

helps archaeologists determine the characteristics of the 

site.

• Report the theft of artifacts. Looters and “treasure 

hunters” can do irreparable damage to archaeological 

sites. When artifacts are taken, we lose potentially valuable 

knowledge about our shared heritage.

References

Gannon, M. (1996). The New History of Florida. Gainesville: University 

Press of Florida.

Milanich, J. (1994). Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. Gainesville: 

University Press of Florida. 

Schwadron, Margo. Big Cypress National Preserve Archaeological 

Assessment, 2000.

CALUSA

The Calusa were the most powerful tribe in the region 

holding sway over all of South Florida and beyond. 

They were one of the few American Indian cultures to 

develop a complex society based almost entirely on 

fishing and harvesting marine life. Due to the richness 

of the neighboring marine estuaries, they were able 

to project their power far beyond their homeland. 

Spanish records and modern archaeology confrim a 

powerful society on the southwestern frontier of the 

Big Cypress Swamp.

Learn More!

Miccosukee Cultural Center 305-223-8388

Ah-tah-thi-ki Seminole Museum 863-902-1113

Florida

Lake Okeechobee