Tequesta Topics – Access Genealogy

Tekesta People

The Tekesta were an indigenous maritime people, whose primary villages were near the mouths of rivers along the Atlantic Coast of what are now Miami-Dade, Broward and southern Palm Beach Counties. At certain periods in the past, they also occupied the Florida Keys, but Calusa artifacts outnumber those of Tekesta in Florida Key archaeological sites, 4:1. This suggests that most of the time, the Keys were occupied by people related to the Calusa. The Tekesta were closely allied to their immediate neighbors to the north, the Jaega. Tekesta is also written in its Spanish form of Tequesta. The Castilian alphabet … Read more

The Miami Circle

The Miami Circle was discovered in 1998 during excavation for the construction of a luxury condominium at Brickell Point in Downtown Miami near the Miami River and Biscayne Bay. The developer, Michael Baumann, tore down an existing apartment complex in 1998. Prior to initiating construction of the new tower, he was required to retain archaeologists to carry out a brief field survey the site by the city’s historic preservation ordinance. However, Baumann did not do this until pressured by the Miami-Dade Historic Preservation Division Director, Bob Carr, pressured him to do so. The survey was actually carried out by municipal … Read more

Tequesta Indians

Tequesta Indians or Tekesta Indians – Meaning unknown. Tequesta Connections. The language of this tribe was probably connected with the languages of the other peoples of the southeast coast of Florida and with that of the Calusa, and may have been Muskhogean. Tequesta Location. In the neighborhood of Miami. Tequesta Villages. Besides Tekesta proper, the main town, four villages are mentioned between that and the next tribe to the north, the Jeaga, to whom some of the villages may have belonged. These were, in order from south to north: Tavuacio, Janar, Cabista, and Custegiyo. Tequesta History. The Tekesta do not … Read more

Tequesta Indian Tribe

Of the Tequesta people on the southeastern end of the peninsula we know still less than of the Calusa Indians. There was a tradition that they were the same people which held the Bahama or Lucayo Islands, and the local names of the Florida coast given by Fontanedo may partly refer to this nationality. They obtained their name from a village, Tequesta, which lay on a river coming from Lake Mayaimi (Fontanedo in Ternaux-C., XX, p. 14) and was visited by Walter Raleigh (Barcia, Ensayo, p. 161). The lands of the Aïs formed the northern portion of the Tequesta domains, … Read more

Basket House of the South Atlantic Coast

When the Spanish arrived on the coast of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, they observed small houses near the beaches which were woven like baskets. In, what is now South Carolina and Georgia, these basket houses were only used in the warm months as fishing camps. However, the Tequesta People living in the coastal areas of far southeastern Florida lived in them year round. The houses were literally woven from dry palmetto fronds like they were over-sized baskets. They functioned much like a screened porch today – air could circulate, but insects and rain drops couldn’t penetrate the walls. Very … Read more