The Calusa Indians, as previously stated, were first contacted by the Spaniards through Ponce de Leon in the spring of 1513 (MacMahon, pg. 115). From the beginning the Calusa did not want to have any real contact with the Spaniards. Ponce de Leon and his men were met by Calusa warriors in canoes. However the warriors were outnumbered and were forced to retreat, some were killed, and still others were captured by the Spaniards. The Calusa did not give up and the next day they sent more warriors, “in eighty shielded canoes” and eventually the Spaniards did take their leave (MacMahon, pg. 116).
While the Calusa did not want to associate with the Spaniards, they were able to have some sort of contact with them in a different way. Because the Calusa lived so close to the ocean (their diets contained a lot of fish) they were able to have “contact” with the Spaniards when they would sift through shipwrecks for loot they found appealing (MacMahon, pg. 116). They also found captives among the shipwrecks. These captives were forced to be slaves, forced into marriage, or even used as human sacrifices to the Calusa gods (Reilly, pg. 398). According to Fontaneda (one of the Spanish captives that lived among the Calusa) there had been over 200 Spaniards that were found by the Calusa and their subjects and only a few remained living when he was reunited with the Spaniards (Reilly, pg. 398). However this appears to be the only ways in which the Calusa had contact with Europeans until they were driven away during the war over Florida between the Spaniards and British.
 |
| One of the meetings between the French and the Iroquois. Retreived from: Becker, pg. 7. |
The Iroquois were also able to receive guns when they traded with the Europeans. This was a great advantage in their hunt for furry animals (Martin, pg. 4). Fur trading was one of the most important trades among the Iroquois, as it was with the tribes surrounding them. Calvin Martin explains that the fur trading was so intense that by 1648 the Iroquois, among other tribes, were facing a severe depletion of these small animals in their land (pg. 3). With more advanced weaponry they were able to kill more animals in the pursuit of their furs so that they might be able to continue their trade with the Europeans (Martin, pg. 4). The downside to this type of trade was the fact that the very source of their trade with the Europeans was very rapidly being depleted. Their trade with the Europeans would continue until their demise at the hands of their Ojibwa neighbors came about.
Based on this information one can conclude that the Calusa essentially remained distant from the Europeans. The majority of their contact with the Spaniards was through the victims from shipwrecks whom the Calusa kept as captives. The European artifacts the Calusa did have were also taken from shipwrecks and perhaps even traded with neighboring tribes. The Calusa remained distant until forced to flee during the war between the Spaniards and English. The Iroquois, on the other hand, had frequent contact with the French. So much contact that their access to advanced weaponry encouraged their fur trade which led to a severe depletion of furry animals in their region. Their frequent contact meant the spread of disease and so encouraged the Iroquois to continue their habits of “adopting” fellow Indians into their tribe until the loss of their final war against the Ojibwa Indians. Based on these differences it is plain to see that trade with the Europeans was indeed viewed differently among the Calusa and Iroquois tribes. This is just another way in which the Calusa and Iroquois differed.
Finally, did these Native American tribes also have different views in regards to the religion introduced by their European contacts?
Click here to see whether or not the Europeans religious views had any effect on the Native American Calusa and Iroquois tribes...
