We were still in Florida, waiting for the dealership to fix our van. This forced vacation took us up and down the west coast of plenty. We explored some towns and barrier Island and it will take us some time to catch up and post about it all.
This post takes us to Bradenton, “Florida’s friendly city.”
One of the first places in Bradenton that caught our eye was the De Soto National Memorial Park. This park is home to a living history project reenacting Hernando de Soto’s arrival at “La Florida”.
There were no reenactments when we visited the park, but there were surprises along the trail.
Life-size, realistic looking cutout figures of Native People and colonizers were strategically placed along the trail.
They appeared as we walked onto the boardwalk,
On the beach,
on horseback, sinking into the deep sand just like the Spanish horses did when they first came on shore.
Others, were just judgingly eyeing us as we walked along the path.
It was a bit weird and slightly eerie, but effective, and accompanied by a variety of plaques and storyboards, the brutal history of De Soto’s time in Florida revealed itself.
The trail at the De Soto National Memorial was varied and snaked through bush, over boardwalks, and by white, sandy beaches. Towards the end of the trail were two monuments; one “for the 12 priests that accompanied the Spanish expedition and for the Native American people who inhabited these shores.”
And the other commemorates all priests, past and present, serving in Florida.
But a small, unassuming plaque along the way made the biggest impression on us.
What a history.
You’re right. It really does make a big impression! How sad for those people.
It does! It was very strange to read these mixed messages on the boards!
The size of that last very sad sign speaks volumes about how self righteous and entitled the new settlers were / still are.
It seems as if someone insisted that it will be included and they reluctantly agreed.
The cutout figures is an interesting way of showing the natives. I would like to get inside the heads of both the Spanish conquistadores and the natives to know what they were thinking when they first saw and met each other.
That would probably be a very scary experience if you could get into their heads. Things were a bit gory back then.
Thank you for sharing these photos. Looks like an interesting trail. It’s a shame that countries have labeled invaders and captors as “discoverers.”
Exactly! And being a discoverer allowed you to torture, enslave, and kill. And we are still reluctant to say it like it was.
Sadly, I’m sure that’s not all the indigenous people were “used” for. If you’ve heard anything about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada, a lot of sexual abuse was inflicted on innocent Aboriginal children by priests, and the graves of hundreds of murdered indigenous children uncovered leaves a lot for the Catholic Church, the government and all of us here in Canada to answer for.
Exactly! There are still people in Canada that don’t think any wrong was ever done unfortunately. It’s the small plaque…
What an interesting memorial that you got to visit. I am glad that these places exist to tell the history of the early settlers. The plaque is also very sobering and I’m glad it’s there to remind us that the blessings enjoyed today had a bloody beginning as well and to never forget and to do our part for reconciliation.
This is a good way to look at this. I felt as if I was witnessing a bit of signage-schizophrenia
Terrific stories and beautiful photos as well!
Thanks for stopping by!
The small plaque in the last photo should be the largest memorial of all. Thank-you for sharing this.
I very much agree!
Your forced vacation wasn’t only for relaxing by the beaches, but also for educational purposes, it seems! While I was aware that Native Americans have lived/are living in Florida, I forgot that the Spanish had come in and decimated them. Not to forget that the US government in the 19th century uprooted them during the Trail of Tears. A dark time in Florida’s history, but an important one to learn about.
Indeed! We had the same reaction, at first immersing ourselves in re-learning the history, and then realizing it was horrible and why.
I’ve always wondered who comes up with these town slogans and how this place landed on “friendliest city” given its history.
I’m glad you noticed this. It’s actually the friendly city, I miswrote it as friendliest, but still…to be fair, it seemed to be one of the more tolerant cities in Florida with a noticeable large number of mix-race couples and LGBTQ, so perhaps inclusiveness is what they were going for.
A brilliant way to bring history to life; thanks for reporting it!
It was a very interesting park with a rather unique display. Thanks for coming along!
We did the same thing here in Australia. But I don’t think we would have ever made such a statement as that which is made by the juxtaposition of the huge dramatic cross with the names of ALL priests past and present and the tiny little addition of the story of the one hundred they captured in chains. The two massive memorials are so modern that it seems to say that not much has changed in the way of attitudes. I could go on and on but I won’t. Not now.
It was a schizophrenic experience to see all of the cutouts, large monuments, and the sprinkled horrific descriptions of enslavement and torture. It reflects a schizophrenic past, and perhaps touches on the present as well.
I would have left out the word ‘perhaps’.
The horrifying things that happened in that time have yet to be fully acknowledged. That plaque gives a tiny glimpse into a history that has been one-sided and glorified. Thank you for sharing this in the way you did.
Thank you for understanding what I was going for! However, by describing it as I did, I probably had a bit of a one-sided review myself…
You described it perfectly!
❤️
Sadly, we Europeans never respected those who lived and owned these lands. It must not have been easy for you to be there. All the best, Muriel
It was! On the one hand there was this beauty and obvious appreciation to history, but on the other, there was this…
What an odd place. The cutouts are truly weird. I guess they are supposed to help you imagine what it was like but it just comes off as kind of creepy and I don’t think the still images can really convey the situation – at least not pictures of them.
And the cross serves as a memorial for the priests and the Native Americans? How does the cross represent the Native Americans?
I think so often people forget that Native Americans populated this continent long before Europeans did – so I appreciate them being represented. And the mention of their enslavement. But unfortunately it doesn’t seem like their tragedy is given enough recognition.
Yes, all of that! It was one of the strangest parks I’ve been to and I couldn’t help but think of the difference between this park and our visit to Whitney Plantation that is dedicated to telling the story of the slaves instead of telling the story of the plantation owner. https://backroadsandotherstories.com/2020/01/29/whitney-plantation/
I’ve been to that park and recently moved here to Bradenton. I found it interesting to learn of the wild pigs that came over on the ship and are still wild here – I recently saw a huge black wild boar not far from my new gated community. Crazy!
Oh, neat! We really liked Bradenton and some of the parks around it!
That was dramatic when you put the last memorial at the end. I was wondering to myself, “Is there something more here?” And then boom! But I do wonder though if there was some sort of protest to make that happen
Yeah, either that or maybe there were different interpretations over time. It’s hard to tel, but the juxtaposition is very real!
It sure sounds like it. Good luck with getting your van fixed too!
Thank you! All fixed now 😊
Awesome!!
It seems so inappropriate to have just that little plaque to commemorate the native people who lived there and how they were treated. Especially after all the detail (and strange cutouts) about the invaders.
I agree. I wish I could get into their heads when they made these decisions…the cutouts were a bit creepy, but I can see what they were going for and it was effective in a way. The interpretation of the site needed some work on the cohesiveness of the story they were telling.
I’m guessing that plaque was an afterthought. A lot of these older historical sites did not consider the native point of view.
My home base is Fort Myers FL. I will be checking that out on my return this winter. Great posting as I would suggest researching Eatonville, Florida. It is the author Zora Neal Hurston birth city. The town was incorporated on August 15, 1887, and was one of the first self-governing all-black municipalities in the United States
Thanks for the suggestion, we’ll try and check out Eatonville next time we are in Florida!