Native American History Along The Florida Trail

Historical Byrd Hammock by Adam Fryska, Panhandle Trail Program Manager environments and subtropical scenery. No other National Scenic Trail offers anything like it; hikers encounter cypress domes and moss-draped live oaks, rolling wiregrass savannah and pine flatwoods, dark swamps and emerald gulf waters. Hiking along the FT, it's easy to imagine that you’re exploring a landscape untouched by people, and a key part of our mission is protecting these places from further human development. But the idea of a primitive Florida, a wilderness without people, is a myth. For thousands of years before European colonization, the Native people of Florida lived in these environments. They built their homes and villages, hunted and fished, and practiced their religions. While the history of these civilizations can be difficult to trace—we have no written record or oral history to rely on—the archaeological record can be surprisingly illuminating. A key to understanding this history has been the excavation of Native American villages. One area in particular—the Byrd Hammock site near Wakulla Beach in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge—has emerged as an important place along the Florida Trail to highlight this history. The Byrd Hammock site consists of two adjacent villages dating back to 400-850 AD. Both villages were laid out with a large central plaza surrounded by wooden shelters, with ring middens encircling the living areas and a burial mound nearby. A midden is the accumulated debris left behind by human activity. The inhabitants of these prehistoric villages would carry out shells, bones, pottery fragments, and other waste to pile up along the outskirts of the village. These dumping sites would eventually take the form of a ring surrounding the homes

Potsherd from the Byrd Hammock site

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

and plaza. Even after a village was abandoned and its structures had decomposed, the midden rings and burial mound would remain. Over time they would slowly be covered by vegetation and soil, and then weathered by wind and rain. From an onlooker's perspective today, the Byrd Hammock site appears as a series of low scattered humps of earth within a hardwood hammock. On an otherwise flat forest floor, these mounds offer the first clues that this landscape has been impacted by human activity. Looking closer, one can see other signs: rich, dark soil stands out from the surrounding white sand, a sign of decomposed organic material. Within the soil are accumulated bits of shell, bones, and pottery fragments. These fragments provide hints about what the lives of these people were like; what they ate, the tools they used, even their

NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY ALONG THE FLORIDA TRAIL Exploring the Byrd Hammock Archeological Site

The Florida Trail is well known for its unique natural religious and cultural practices.

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

Layout of the Byrd Hammock Archaeological Site

Photos courtesy of the National Park Service

Stone tools recovered from Byrd Hammock

By examining the artifacts found within the Byrd Hammock the 40s and 50s, making discoveries about the middens and their mounds and other sites throughout the Southeast, archaeologists have significance. Unfortunately, these early excavations also helped to concluded that they actually belonged to two separate cultural groups, popularize the location of these sites to people less interested in the Swift Creek People and the Weeden Island People. One seems academic discovery and more invested in making a profit. Over the to have superseded the other, although for a time the villages existed last hundred years, looters and pothunters have repeatedly pillaged the side-by-side. The Swift Creek people came first; their pottery features site, searching for burial pottery and stone tools such as arrowheads. a prominent stamped pattern created by repeatedly pressing a carved Without protection by state or federal authorities, the site was wide wooden paddle into wet clay. In contrast, the Weeden Island people open for exploitation. would directly inscribe their pottery, creating more intricate designs. To safeguard the future of the Byrd Hammock mounds, the The burial mounds of the Weeden Island people also suggest a change FTA has partnered with the US Forest Service, the St. Marks National in religious practices. Their mounds have a solar alignment; a person Wildlife Refuge, and the U.S. National Park Service's Southeast standing within the plaza of a Weeden Island village would see the Archeological Center (SEAC) to develop a plan to protect and share sun set directly over the mound on the winter solstice. While there’s this site with the public. This is an exciting development for the much we don’t know, these clues hint at social changes within these Florida Trail; in St. Marks alone, there are four prehistoric village sites communities, as one village was abandoned and new cultural practices directly along the FT, none of which have been opened for public emerged. interpretation. Like any large conservation effort, the project has The Byrd Hammock site was first excavated in 1918 by an taken many years and the combined efforts of many partner groups. explorer named Clarence B. Moore. Moore traveled throughout the In 2013, SEAC first began working with county officials and local southeast on a mission to document and excavate prehistoric Native partners to acquire the land containing the Byrd Hammock site. The American villages. He correctly theorized that many of the structures land was ultimately purchased and then donated to the U.S. Fish and he found were burial mounds. Archaeologists built upon his work in Wildlife Service to become part of the St. Marks Refuge. 38 Florida Trail Association FloridaTrail.org

Close View of some Byrd Hammock Pottery

Photos courtesy of the National Park Service

As a first step in developing this site for interpretation, the FTA was awarded a grant from the State of Florida’s Division of Historical Resources to coordinate the creation of an interpretive website about the Byrd Hammock site. SEAC collaborated with the Florida Center for Interactive Media to create the website. This portion of the project was recently published and can be viewed at byrdhammock.floridatrail. org. SEAC also created 3-D scans of many artifacts recovered from the site, along with a virtual reality artifact explorer program to allow users to interact with the models. Owners of virtual reality (VR) headsets can download this software from the Byrd Hammock website, and the FTA will be showcasing a VR headset with this software at future outreach and tabling events. Of course, these digital resources are only the first step in a larger plan to open this historical site for public access. Our next step will be working with the St. Marks Refuge to build a short spur trail that will connect the Florida Trail to the village site. National Park Service (NPS) archeologists will help us to prepare the site, both to Examples of Swift Creek Pottery

ensure future protection of the resource and to maximize visibility of the mounds and middens. Some of the trees and undergrowth from the plaza sites will be cleared, allowing visitors to imagine the scale of the vanished settlements. We'll also work to create signage, kiosks, and other interpretive tools to help tell the story of the people who lived here. Once all of the improvements are complete, the FTA is looking forward to collaborating with SEAC and the St. Marks Refuge on school programs and educational trips to the site. With its close proximity to the Wakulla Beach Trailhead, we anticipate that Byrd Hammock will become a popular landmark along this section of the Florida Trail. Stay tuned to our Eblaze newsletter for further developments!

Leave No TraceTM

Volunteer Spotlight

ANGIE VASQUEZ

Angie volunteering with the FTA for her first time during the first Girls Who Hike FL work party in Green Swamp West.

Our experiences in nature build on themselves—each adventure contributing to more lessons learned and each immersive experience feeding a growing curiosity and sense of wonder. As we set off on adventures, some of us carry with us distant memories of being introduced to the outdoors from a young age. Glimmers of the past enter our minds like dappled light shimmering through tree canopies. Those who have identified with being in the outdoors for a lifetime often walk these natural paths with confidence and ease. While many are bestowed an early gift of familiarity and belonging to outdoor spaces, there are many who are bravely working to blaze those paths and shed that light for themselves and for others. Angie Vasquez is one of these trailblazers. A California native who grew up in San Diego, Angie relocated to Florida as an adult to attend culinary school for restaurant 40 Florida Trail Association management and later, a graduate degree in business. Prior to moving to Florida, she served three years in the army before she was medically discharged due to a meniscus injury. After completing her MBA at the University of Phoenix, she briefly pursued a career in hospitality management in Las Vegas. It was there in Nevada that Angie began actively hiking. She explored Red Rock Canyon and other trails outside of Las Vegas as a mental and physical escape and form of exercise for her and her dog. As a novice hiker, Angie did not hesitate to form a hiking community, seek out advice and learn from others. To accomplish this, she started a Meetup group called Angel’s Excursions.

“It was great because I was able to learn a lot from many of the seasoned hikers who joined the group, but I was disappointed that it was mostly men and barely any women who participated.” by Van Tran, Community Outreach Manager

FloridaTrail.org In 2017, after moving back to Florida and settling in Deland, Angie created the Meetup group, Girls Who Hike FL (GWHFL), to get more women out on the trails in Florida. The goal of Girls Who Hike FL (meetup.com/GirlsWhoHikeFl/) is to unite women of all ages and backgrounds who love to hike and explore.

“We believe each member has something to offer the group; whether it’s your first time or hundredth on the trail. Together we can show one another how to face our fears regardless of what the fear may be. Our community is more than a Meetup group, we are family.”

In the initial months of the group’s formation, Angie led all of the GWHFL events on her own. The events were based throughout Central Florida, spanning from Ocala National Forest down to Blowing Rocks in Jupiter. What started as group sizes of just

Hiking the loop trail in Blackbear Wilderness Area. Sanford, FL.

a handful of women has now grown into a community of roughly 20 to 25 regular participants, some of whom have stepped into leadership roles to coordinate and host trips alongside Angie. In 2019, GWHFL hosted a total of over 120 Meetup events. In addition to hiking trips, the events also included camping trips, kayaking tours and even participation in a 5k run. In response to COVID-19 this year, Angie and the other group leaders have been holding many Zoom calls to brainstorm how to continue staying active as a group while navigating COVID-19 concerns. She was relieved that COVID-19 arose in late spring at a time when their trips were starting to wind down in frequency. This allowed the group time to rethink and revise their safety protocols to prevent exposure and spread of the virus during their Meetup events. Angie is grateful she can refer to the FTA and other organizations as resources for developing these new COVID protocols. Beyond bringing together hikers of all skill levels, Angie also felt inspired to form Girls Who Hike FL as a way for women to help each other overcome any anxiety or fear they may have of the outdoors. Liz “Snorkel” Thomas, a Japanese American long-distance hiker who held the unsupported speed record for the Appalachian Trail from 2011-2015, wrote in an article published in Adventure Journal: “Real change happens when women go out and take that first step in the woods. The real empowering education and confidence comes from showing yourself that you can do something that previously seemed impossible.”

Hiking the Trillium Falls Trail in California Redwoods National Park.

Angie and GWHFL group members standing among the beautiful oak hammocks in Green Swamp West.

Group photo at the end of a successful collaborative work party with Girls Who Hike FL and Outdoor Afro. Ocala National Forest Western Corridor.

Photo courtesy of Angie Vasquez

Hiking in Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan, Alaska. Assisting previous GWHFL co-leader, Eva Algermissen, in sawing and removing a downed limb from the trail in Green Swamp West.

In creating a welcoming environment and an empathetic community that embraces vulnerability as one of the first steps to overcoming obstacles, the women of GWHFL are encouraged to push outside their limits, defy stereotypes and reclaim the outdoors as a space where women can be as equally competent and capable as anyone else. She recognizes that her organization is among a vast network of others that are working to close the gender gap and bolster equity and inclusion in the outdoors, and encourages the members of GWHFL to join other groups including

Women Who Hike and Hike Like a Girl.

“It is so fulfilling to me to be able to support and groom these women to become more comfortable and confident with being on trails and in the outdoors. I love seeing them continue to hike, even if it’s not with the group.” Through her learning experiences and development as a hiker, Angie has felt inspired to teach outdoor skills to others as well as share the joy of discovering Florida’s diverse and abundant public lands. In 2018, a REI Winter Park outreach coordinator reached out to Angie and invited her to a tabling event at the store where she shared hiking information and ways to get involved with GWHFL. After that, she was asked to begin teaching workshops for REI Winter Park. Since then, Angie has been teaching monthly workshops at the store and in outdoor settings. The topics have included: hiking basics, how to plan and lead hikes, and top hiking destinations and trails in Florida to explore. Although she was initially intimidated by the task, Angie has discovered a newfound passion as an outdoor educator and has formed meaningful connections with many participants who have attended her classes.

Her classes through REI Winter Park have been on pause this year due to COVID, but she hopes to soon start back up with teaching once new safety guidelines are established at the store. When Florida Trail Association (FTA) staff heard about the Hiking 101 workshops Angie was instructing at REI, we invited Girls Who Hike FL to host a series of similar workshops at the National Trails Festival in October of 2018 in DeLand. The FTA hosted this three-day event in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Trails System. Angie and two other GWHFL co-leaders, Eva Algermissen and Summer Elcock, led their classes with sincere and welcoming energy throughout the weekend of the festival. Since then, GWHFL has gone on to table and speak at our past three annual Wild & Scenic Film Festivals. Our partnership with Girls Who Hike FL continues to blossom. In addition to GWHFL’s dynamic participation in the FTA’s outreach events, we have also hosted two collaborative work parties with the group. Our first work party with them was in March of 2019 in Green Swamp West. It was a fun and successful maintenance event and a new volunteer experience for many of the members of GWHFL who were able to gain a sense of ownership and responsibility for the land after taking part in maintaining it.

“I love volunteering with the FTA. I try to encourage people to volunteer with the FTA as often as I can and enjoy sharing how great it is that you get to gain new skills, learn how to use different equipment, camp out, discover new places... and get fed good food! I didn’t know before how much work it took to maintain a trail and I think it’s important that other people realize that as well and take part in giving back to the trail.”

Last December, we hosted a joint work party in the Western Corridor of Ocala National Forest with both GWHFL and Outdoor Afro, another tremendously valuable partner organization we have worked closely with over the past few years. Outdoor Afro (outdoorafro.com) is one of the nation’s leading networks that celebrates and inspires African American connections and leadership in nature. Both of these partner organizations help us to introduce new users and stewards of the Florida Trail and bridge gaps for greater representation and inclusion on the trail and in Florida’s public lands.

Hiking to a waterfall in Ketchikan, Alaska.

“I feel there is a need for more representation of brown people in the outdoors. I’m usually one of the only people of color on the trail or at a park. I’m a Black Puerto Rican American and can identify with so many others who have felt marginalized in different landscapes and parts of society. I can see how people of color would feel intimidated about being in the outdoors because they don’t feel like they belong. I think there needs to be more education to encourage more underrepresented groups to explore the outdoors. For me, being able to teach first hand has been one of the ways I’ve felt I can help to promote change and more inclusiveness within the outdoor community.”

For Angie, finding healing and a sense of identity in nature has steered her to new horizons. Last summer, she served as a hiking guide in Ketchikan, Alaska where she led an array of tours in Tongass National Forest, the second largest rainforest in the world next to the Amazon. From leading bear tours along the salmon run to guiding an interpretive forest walk for a group of sight-impaired friends, Angie felt continually affirmed that connecting people from all walks of life to nature was her calling. She had originally planned to return to Ketchikan this summer as a tour manager, but the tours were canceled due to COVID-19. Disappointed but steadfast with ambition and a thirst for adventure, she saw this as an opportunity to pursue another dream. This summer, Angie retrofitted a camper van (which she named after her pitbull, Peter Parker, who passed away in 2017) and set off at the beginning of August on a cross-country tour. Currently, her van-life adventures are being spotlighted on the Youtube channel for Black Nomads Meet (blacknomadsmeetup.org), a project designed to connect Black van-lifers and welcome black people to learn more about the nomadic lifestyle. However exceptionally isolating this year has been for many across the globe, Angie has continued to build community and expand her influence by becoming active with virtual networks that work to build representation and amplify the narratives of people of color in the outdoors. She recently joined Latinxhikers (latinxhikers.com) and participated as a panelist in a Latinxhikers Fireside Chat that Florida Trail Association (FTA) and Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) Latinx Partnerships Coordinator, Luz Lituma, hosted in October in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. She also partnered with Luz and others in developing a virtual toolkit, “Solo Road Trip Safety Tips for Black & Indigenous Women of Color .” Angie is dedicated to making the outdoors a safe space for all to enjoy and thrive in. If we want future stewards to be moved to protect our public lands, we need to ensure that they can see themselves reflected in that landscape. Whether it be helping a new hiker overcome their fear of banana spiders by encouraging them to take photos of their intricate webs, or guiding a blind person to touch moss and lichen as a way of “seeing” a rainforest, Angie is continually showing people that they are a part of the landscape.

Girls Who Hike FL & Outdoor Afro FT Maintenance Weekened. Ocala National Forest Western Corridor.