Celebrate Calusa Days March 23 - 24 at Everglades National Park’s Gulf Coast Visitor Center

Date: March 12, 2013
Contact: Susan Reece, 239.695.3405
Contact: General Park Information, 305-242-7700
Contact: Mary Plumb, Public Affairs Officer (Acting), 305-242-7714

Celebrate Calusa Days at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center of Everglades National Park.

NPS photo

EVERGLADES CITY, Florida - Celebrate Calusa Days and Florida Archaeology Month on March 23 and 24 at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center of Everglades National Park. Visitors will enjoy a unique opportunity to learn about the prehistory and archaeological resources in the Ten Thousand Islands of southwest Florida. Highlights include visits to the Turner River and Sandfly Island Indian Shell Mounds to learn about how the Calusa Indians lived. Participants will also be able to step into the past as they try atlatl throwing, pottery making, mask painting, and more.  Activities are free except for the boat tours to the shell mounds.

Free events include craft demonstrations and exhibits on basketry, pottery, shell tools, atlatl spear throwing, an archaeological dig site, and lots more. Demonstrations and exhibits will be open all day.  Everglades National Park rangers will lead 45-minute Calusa Nature Walks on Saturday and Sunday to explore how the Calusa Indians lived in the Ten Thousand Islands. Walks start at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.Events with a fee include boat tours to the Turner River Mounds, scheduled for Saturday, March 23. Boat tours will leave at 9:00 and 9:15 a.m., and 11:00 and 11:15 a.m. and will include a twenty-minute stop and walk at the Turner River Complex site.  The ninety-minute tours cost $40.00 per adult (the regular boat tour price). Reservations for these tours should be made at:  www. evergladesnationalparkboattour sgulfcoast.com  (select "Mangrove Wilderness" tour).

Special boat tours to Sandfly Island on Saturday and Sunday (at 1:00 p.m.) include a stop and short walk to a prehistoric shell mound site. The ninety-minute tour costs $30.00 (regular boat tour price).  Reservations can be made at:   www. evergladesnationalparkboattour sgulfcoast.com (select "10,000 Islands" tour).  

All are invited to come enjoy this unique opportunity to explore the lost world of the Calusa Indians at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, 815 Oyster Bar Lane, Everglades City, Florida 34139.  For more information, call 239-695-3311.

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 395 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more atwww.nps.gov.

www.nps.gov