Fish Fuddle! Jamaican Me Crazy!! | Fishing Technique of Seminole Indians
What is that you may ask? Well come along to find out!
@mountainjewel smiling with @birdsofparadise
Today was another wonderful family day.
We visited Collier-Seminole State Park in Southwest Florida for a 3 hour guided canoe adventure. Now I have canoed many times during my life, but I haven’t done a 3 hour canoe trip! For those who visit state parks you know the volunteers who lead any of the interactive educational experiences are so well educated about the flora, fish and wildlife within the park.
We began promptly at 9:30 am paddling down through the mangroves. Such a beautiful day!
I know, what does this have to do with the Florida Fish Fuddle? Do you know what a Florida Fish Fuddle is?
Okay, first a little history. In case you didn’t know Collier Seminole State Park is located in the Everglades in Southwest Florida. During the 1700’s the Creek Indians who were enslaved in Alabama and Georgia fled to Southwest Florida to live as free people. At that time Spanish settlers encouraged the Creeks to move south creating a buffer against the British. Southwest Florida was home to many. This is when the Creeks Indians became known as the Seminoles. Seminole meaning wild-ones.
source
So what does this have to do with the Florida fish Fuddle?
The Seminole Indians farmed corn, beans and many other crops. They were also avid fishermen. They fished the many bays and tributaries throughout the mangrove forests native to Southwest Florida.
The bark from this tree was used when fishing in the bays where large numbers of fish would congregate. The bark was placed in mesh nets and dipped in with the fish. The bark paralyzed the fish and allowed the fishermen to capture large quantities of fish!
The bark was
Jamaican them crazy!
The net filled with bark was then removed and the remaining fish would wake up, none for the worse and swim away.
(Today this is illegal and cannot be used when fishing.)
Red Mangrove
Certainly amazing to consider as we paddled through the rest of the trip... hundreds of years ago, Seminole Indians capturing baskets of fish and canoeing home in the very mangrove bays we were paddling through!
I've tried busy before - during the hack attack a number of months back. I wasn't a fan....but I had just gotten used to Steemit and if you knew me you'd know I have a hard time with new anything :)
I loved this story and sure would have enjoyed joining you on this canoe trip.
I also enjoyed the history!! It's ironic that you mentioned the natives in Florida. I was watching Designated Survivor (great show) and one of the stories involved Florida natives losing their land due to big builders and politics of course. I forget the native name but it was similar to the one you mentioned.
Also, I wondered about the fish being paralyzed by something in the bark....wouldn't that have been ingested by the people who ate the fish?
Interesting how anyone figured out that it affected the fish.
Glad to see you're still enjoying time with your family. And sun burn? In Florida?? Who knew .....lol
Well, as you can see I am very new to Steemit, my daughter is leading the way on this endeavor. She suggested busy so I am trying it. The canoe trip was fun and the history was amazing. One of the guides was a history teacher so needless to say he had lots to share which we loved. As they shared about this tree I thought I would share as well. I researched this story and found that the fish gills would be affected by the poison but only temporarily. Interesting I thought. I thought it a bit inhumane but I guess when you are trying to survive you would try anything to get food for your families and tribes. Baron Collier was the big land owner you have probably heard about. He purchased millions of acres in southwest Florida but donated most of it back to the state for preservation. The wars though were a true tragedy. You'll just have to make a trip to the area some time!
amazing photography you look really gorgeous, the places are wonderful.
So sweet! We had a lot of fun! Thank you for your kind words!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by birdsinparadise from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
Congratulations @birdsinparadise! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP