left here by people. even today, where less than five miles from the reservation. a large amount of the community in billings or native people. we bring a lot of school groups here and a large amount of educational programs that we offer to teachers to tell the story so that montanans can get a sense of what what people were like thousands of years ago before there was a montana. we continue our look at native american history here on c-span. next month the cola set indians of florida. a look at the spanish mission to convert native americans to christianity. after that, ancient rock drawings of pueblo people. 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. the colusat to heritage trail. about the colusa indians who lived along southwest florida's coast for 1500 years. >> we're here at the site of tampa. we are standing 150 miles south of modern day tampa. there is a well known map that shows the native place name. this was one of 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 early 1700s and the name tempe

got shifted to where it is presently located. we are also here at highland on the shore of an estuary. it is placed wherever freshwater and 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. for that first 1500 years of 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. a midden means debris of life. so essentially garbage.

within the middens are indicator 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 there are prolonged periods of droubt. there are holes that indicate 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. the acre near -- by detailed analysis we began to understand the resilience of the people here and parts of their culture. we know they endured an extreme period of long-term cld. the abandoned the site around a three years. when they returned was when they began to use the middens and mounds and to be building massive structures as well as

excavating a canal that took the right -- the route with what was likely to be a freshwater stream. it was 30 feet wide eight to 12 feet deep and went all the way across this island. as has for that kind of construction work is also as men mounds. going as the 1600s, they established a posse-using. what do you cap the colusa away from the conflicts. with a myriad -- when they began, it set the stage for the people who became professionals and were equipped with guns and came to take south area elusive people as slaves.

in the 16 90's there numbers had in reduced to about 2000 people. when -- they only had their basic tools and no guns. in 1711 then known as a group of 70 including: 701 by ship to cuba. it is thought 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 that to live the -- if you're still speaking of them they are not gone. you people shared the trailer and the red recent -- research chamber with the hope -- people had families here, they had the tear [indiscernible] when they leave here they will understand they were people living in a place, living well, developing art and music and a spirituality, and there were 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 and we do feel -- we can understand a bit more and they can look at our southwest or to environment and understand it the great deal more as well. >> today's look at the people, atces, and events looking native american history as part of c-span's city tour. you can see more at our website, c-span.org. more american history