Art, Music and Dance

The beautiful paintings created by Florida´s First Natives have, unfortunately, not survived the ravages of time and the subtropical climate. Painted on interior, clay daubed walls of council houses or on tanned hides, they were reported to be as fine as any created in Europe in the early 16th century.

They depicted scenes of great importance and honor or animals so lifelike as to appear real. Painted masks were used in ceremonies by the Calusa of south Florida.

Music and dance were an integral part of the native's everyday life, but these enchanting sounds and graceful movements were lost along with the people themselves. We have only tiny glimpses into that culture, such as the use of gourds for rattles, a drum created by beating on a large rock with a club, and flutes made from reed, cane or bark. The women were reported to have donned shell belts, formed themselves into a large circle, and danced withe a side stepping motion around a central fire at a certain ceremony whose meaning is now lost. We can imagine, however, the haunting sound of those tinkling shells in the night.