convert native americans to christianity. and another tells about the little shell tribe of chippewa indians of montana and their struggle to become a federally recognized tribe. c-span's american history to her continues. hearing about the colusa indians who lived along southwest florida's coast for 1500 years. tame're here at the site of pa. we are standing 150 miles south of modern day tampa. there is a well known map that shows the native place name. the largest of

the colusa towns. it was one large big community including one in a sterile day and the other at big mound key. the coastal -- colusa were controlling many other towns but there was a mapmaker in the name tempe and the got shifted to where it is presently located. highland onhere at the shore of an estuary. it is placed wherever freshwater saltwater mix. this is to the north of the peace river and the myakka river .

the produce one of the most productive habitats. it supports mangrove and seagrass systems. it was the system that the colusa and their land -- ancestors used to achieve great success. by understanding the natural history of the estuary and the natural history of the organisms about live their archaeologists have been able to understand the pass of the people who first settled here i want hundred a.d. and there is no written record from the xhosa until the 1500 tossed. as far as we have they had no written language. of that first 1500 years life, in order to understand the people and know about their culture and preserve their legacy, we excavate and what are

known as maidens -- middens and the landscape features. archaeologists have had 75 excavations in over 30 years to understand this place and these people. means debris of life. so essentially garbage. are indicatordens of environmental change and artifacts that were left high and. these are eastern oysters and these are crested oysters. crested oysters exist in higher salinity waters. to get higher salinity at various points but also when periods ofrolonged

droubt. that indicates higher salinity waters. this is some of the clues or indicators to where people were going to collect food, particularly when they are in assemblage, in a mix with other species. -- by detailed analysis we began to understand the resilience of the people here and parts of their culture. they endured an long-term cld.of the abandoned the site around a three years.

when they returned was when they began to use the middens and buildingd to be massive structures as well as excavating a canal that took the wast -- the route with what likely to be a freshwater stream. it was 30 feet wide eight to 12 feet deep and went all the way .cross this island as has for that kind of as menction work is also mounds. going as the 1600s, they established a posse-using. colusa awaycap the from the conflicts.

began myriad -- when they , it set the stage for the people who became professionals and were equipped with guns and elusivetake south area people as slaves. in the 16 90's there numbers had in reduced to about 2000 people. -- they only had their basic tools and no guns. in 1711 then known as a group of ship toding: 701 by cuba. there were others

who did not have spaces on the ship. and-a-half headlands out of their towns and 401 -- other neighbor -- native people flee into florida and there began to be an amalgam of cultures that founded -- it is possible that the listener does part of that is groups and there is a saying -- if you'rethe still speaking of them they are not gone. shared the trailer and the red recent -- research -- peopleth the hope had families here, they had the [indiscernible]

when they leave here they will understand they were people living in a place, living well, developing art and music and a there werey, and times of conflict. if we can take lessons from that about how we relate to other people from around the world that is important and special -- we canfeel understand a bit more and they can look at our southwest or to environment and understand it the great deal more as well. >> more american history to her on native americans here on c-span. 1704,656 to