Clay Landing Days

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Clay Landing Days

Mangrove Sunset

Manatee Springs State Park hosts this 2 day celebration of the history of this part of life along the Suwannee River (Stephen Foster misspelled Suwannee and he never saw the river.) The fresh water springs provided sustenance for Native Americans for thousands of years and continued on into the 1800s with the arrival of white settlers. The demonstrations are done by volunteers depicting both settler and native cultures. Between the two encampments there is a short tram ride with a ranger discussing local wildlife and plant life as well as the efforts being made to return the forest to its natural state, primarily by the use of prescribed burns.

Pinus palustris

The long leaf pine is indigenous to the area, but has been largely crowded out by the faster growing loblolly pine. Also, it requires periodic fires to release its seeds, so fire abatement over the years has decreased the number of new pine growth. The tree is interesting because of its shape and its strength. In the Florida Keys houses made of this wood are very strong and withstand hurricanes much better than other woods. The shape, long and thin with a tuft of needles at the top, is designed to withstand low ground fires.

Peg is discussing looming with this volunteer. The wool came from a sturdy breed of sheep which had the interesting ability to prevent any parasites from taking hold in its intestines. This made the meat very clean to eat.

Spinning

The Seminoles were traders. The shirt worn by this man is traditional dress for the Seminoles. After the arrival of white settlers they took to fabric for clothing instead of traditional hides. The yellow shirt he is wearing is copied from an English shirt. The multi-color clothing was a matter of necessity rather than style. Since fabric was difficult to come by pieces were saved and sewn together to make a large cloth.

The pumpkin by the fire has been hollowed out and is being used as a vessel to bake a cake in. The pumpkin is turned to face the fire every so often so the cake will bake evenly. The “Indian” volunteer confided that she used a mix. The woman on the left is weaving a hinged holder out of palm. The natives would use this to hold meat before the fire. The meat would cook without the palm burning.

This reproduction of a Seminole dwelling was built in the 1990s. It was only recently re-roofed with palm, a testament to the longevity of the material used and the way it was woven.

Woman selling Kettle Corn

Since we had to leave the park by 1 p.m. we had to cut the demonstration visits short. There was a lot to explore with eager and knowledgeable volunteers. I wish we'd had more time.