October 14, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Florida’s Indigenous People Exhibit On Display until January
October 2009 to January 15, 2010 * Collier County Museum * 3301 E. Tamiami Tr. * Naples, FL
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(Naples, FL) – You have the unique opportunity to learn about Native cultures at the Collier County Museum with its newest exhibit Florida’s Indigenous People. The exhibit includes a mysterious fired clay “adorno” or human figurine that was found locally.

    No other artifact of this kind has ever been unearthed in the Collier County area. Fired clay figurines are occasionally found in association with pre-Columbian cultural material from the islands of Hispaniola and Cuba. The two-and-a-half-inch-tall seated effigy is missing its head, one arm, and both feet. A deep cavity in the back served some unknown purpose. The presence of this artifact may indicate some cultural exchange between the Calusa in southwest Florida and the native societies of the islands to the south.

    The enigmatic object is part of the Florida’s Indigenous People exhibit at the Collier County Museum through January 15, 2010. The exhibit outlines the various Native cultures in Florida prior to the arrival of Europeans in 1513.

    Other items that are part of the exhibit include Calusa pottery fragments, shell tools, stone projectile points, and reproductions of weapons and fishing technology. The exhibit presents the sophisticated Calusa fishing culture in contrast to their neighboring agricultural Mississippian societies to the north. None of these indigenous peoples survived past the nineteenth century, and except for a few shell mounds, there are few signs of their existence.

    For more event information, the public should call the Collier County Museum at (239) 252-8476.

Media outlets should contact the Public Services Division Public Information Office at (239) 252-5326.