Tequesta

Developer To Preserve Ancient Tequesta Village In Heart Of Miami : NPR: "..."The Tequesta were the native people of southeastern Florida," Carr says. "They were certainly here when the Europeans arrived. They probably encountered Ponce de León, who apparently did land somewhere near the Miami River." The discovery of the village was a major archaeological find, one that rivals the discovery of a related site 15 years ago on the other side of the Miami River. Development there uncovered a much larger ceremonial site dubbed the Miami Circle. Preservationists raised money to save it, but little has been done since then to improve that site or interpret it for visitors. The developer of the new site, MDM Development Group, recently reached an agreement with historic preservationists that will preserve the village and also interpret some of the most important elements...Miami is one of America's youngest cities, just a little more than a century old. This new archaeological find is a reminder that Florida is also home to some of the oldest settlements in North America."This will give you the opportunity to see both sides of the story, that we're one of the oldest human habitation sites and we're the youngest major metropolitan area," says historian Arva Moore Parks. Parks is hopeful that the planned museum and Tequesta village display could help bring new attention and money to the city's other important prehistoric site — the Miami Circle."

Tequesta area in the 16th Century

The Tequesta (also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos) Native American tribe, at the time of first European contact, occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely disappeared by the middle of the 18th century. The Tequesta tribe lived on Biscayne Bay in what is now Miami-Dade County and at least the southern half of Broward County. Their territory may have also included the northern half of Broward County. They also occupied the Florida Keys at times, and may have had a village on Cape Sable, at the southern end of the Florida peninsula, in the 16th century. The central town (also called Tequesta) was probably at the mouth of the Miami River. A village had been at that site at least since 1200. The tribal chief was also called Tequesta. The Tequesta arrived in the Biscayne Bay area before the beginning of the Current Era. The Tequesta situated their towns and camps at the mouths of rivers and streams, on inlets from the Atlantic Ocean to inland waters, and on barrier islands and keys. (FLMap-Tequesta-tribe2.PNG - Wikipedia: Map Modified by Donald Albury en:User:Dalbury from :Image:FLMap-Jaega.PNG. GFDL.)