Saving Tuna Street by Nancy Nau Sullivan

Author:Nancy Nau Sullivan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery;journalist;drugs;kidnapping;hurricane;beach;Florida
Publisher: Light Messages Publishing
Published: 2020-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Five —

Well, Once Upon a Time…

“There was a small band of roving Miccosukee who settled in the sand dunes on Gull Egg Key, which as you know is now uninhabitable except for short walking tours. The water had overtaken most of the island but at one time it was like a stepping stone from Tampa to Santa Maria Island, and stopover for the Miccosukee. It was the perfect place to rest between the large mainland where they gathered mangoes, bananas, and coconuts and Santa Maria where they camped when the hurricanes came and washed over Gull Egg. It was an ideal life,” Cappy began.

“The Miccosukee are a nomadic mix of southern Native American tribes who fled to the southern tip of Florida after the Spanish invaded Florida in the mid-sixteenth century. The natives were a handsome, talented lot and masters of living off the land and inventing ways to survive. They fled to the Everglades ahead of the Spanish and disappeared onto the hummocks—those tiny islands you see today where the white pelicans roost. The Spanish struggled in the chase, but they could not catch up. Most of those hummocks in the River of Grass are barely more than mounds of sand. Nothing grows on them but scrub, and they are great hiding places, unsuitable to foreign invaders.

“The tribes were able to divide and conquer, something that Caesar and Alexander the Great and later Napoleon mastered. The practice was cultivated among the Miccosukee who were survivors. And conquerors. The Spanish were never able to subdue them.

“The Indians vanished into the Everglades and other parts of Florida, living off the fish, alligator, snakes, and fruit. And they used everything they caught or harvested—skins for clothing, coconut shells for bowls, fish bones for utensils, shells and shark teeth for arrow heads, palm for shelter. Because the diet was so fresh and healthy, they grew strong and lived long lives, that is, if they could stay away from the Spanish who carried the insidious weapon of disease.”

Blanche knew some the Native American history, but Cappy filled in the blanks. “What about Gull Egg?”

“I’m getting to that.” Cappy’s clock was set on island time; he didn’t know the definition of hurry. Blanche sipped her beer.

“The Miccosukee worked and rested on Gull Egg. Half the year the heavy rain and hurricanes stayed away, so in the late fall and into early spring they planted and the harvest ripened fast. The small island had oaks and palms, kumquats and temples, and hibiscus for tea. The natives had taken care to insulate themselves in small huts and even plant gardens of flowers and keep pets of rabbits, lizards, and cats. They made clothing from woven plant fiber. They were among the first to grow oranges and lemons on the barrier islands after the Spanish brought citrus plants to Florida around 1500.

“And, so. It’s hard to keep a good thing a secret, and the Spanish and English settlers who had moved to Tampa and were developing the area came upon Gull Egg Key.

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