Calusa Warrior

"They were civilized, really. They weren't hostile, just defending their homeland against the invaders."

- Willie Johns, European explorer

The Calusa were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years.cAt the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, the historic Calusa were the people of the Caloosahatchee culture. They are notable for having developed a complex culture based on estuarine fisheries rather than agriculture.

Calusa territory reached from Charlotte Harbor to Cape Sable, all of present-day Charlotte and Lee counties, and may have included the Florida Keys at times. They had the highest population density of South Florida; estimates of total population at the time of European contact range from 10,000 to several times that, but these are speculative.

Battle vs. Rapa Nui Warroir (by Kazanshin)
A man dressed in banana tree fiber walks along the seashore, weapons in hands. With war paint covering his face, he is on patrol duty sent by his village. A Mata Toa warrior of this land that is Easter Island. Ever since rumors started spreading that bizarre men landed on the shores, the village has been on high alert. If these strangers are here to destroy their Moai and steal their possessions, they will be punished.

It has been a whole week since his fishing party strayed too far away from the shores and were caught in a storm. Even though they managed to land on this beach, this Calusa Indian warrior and his fellow tribesmen had no idea where they were or what to do. First off, they decided to find some food and wood to repair their ship. He was sent to look for the former. So, with a net and some weapons in hands, he walks across the beaches to look for a good fishing spot.

As the Mata Toa keeps walking, he spots a strange man casting some sort of string-cape in the sea. There’s no doubt, he must be the stranger. The warrior quickly grabs his spear and, getting close to the man, throws it. It’s only with sheer luck that the calusa turns around to see the spear coming towards him and manages to roll aside. The Indian grabs his arrow thrower and tosses an arrow at the Easter Islander, who sidesteps, then runs at the Native American, brandishing his war staff. The latter throws another shark tooth arrow, which the native manages to move out of the way again. As the Moai maker gets about 10 meters away from the American, another arrow is thrown, which grazes its target’s cheek. The Rapa Nui feels the blood on his face, then angrily charges again. Seeing his foe approach, the Calusa grabs his shark toothed saber and runs at his enemy. The Mata Toa swings his staff, which the Calusa parries with his saber. The Indian then swings his sword upwards, which the islander sidesteps before swinging his staff at his foe’s feet in an attempt to trip him. The American jumps over the attack and swings his saber down, but the attack is blocked with the staff. The fisherman is then struck in the thigh with the other end of the staff, making him grunt in pain and back off a few feets. Angered, he throws a flurry of swings with his blade, which the Pacific Islander keeps dodging until he parries a swing with his stab and bashes his foe in the lower jaw with an upward swing. The Indian is knocked on his butt, and the Rapa Nui swings his staff aiming at his opponent’s head. The Native American ducks under the attack and gets back up before swinging another time, only to be backstepped by the Mata Toa, who swings his staff horizontally yet again. The North American is getting sick of this, and blocks the attack before swinging at his foe’s head. The Islander manages to move to the side, but his shoulder is struck. The Calusa then pulls his blade back with a sawing, ripping motion, lacerating the man’s shoulder grievously. The Rapa Nui screams and jumps away, looking at his shoulder, before roaring and charging at the man once again. The Pacific Islander grabs his staff by its “face” and blade is knocked out of his hands and goes flying into the sea. The Easter Island native then proceeds to bash his foe across the face with the staff, sending him barrelling and landing on his back. The Calusa gets back up, albeit with immense pain in his jaw, and grabs his weapon of choice: the seashell war club. The Island habitant is intrigued by this bizarre weapon, doubting the lethality of a mere seashell, but the Indian, confident in his weapon, charges forth and swings at his enemy. The Rapa Nui blocks with his staff and throws a kick, but the Calusa sidesteps and kicks the Island man’s foot, causing him to fall on his ass. The Native American then throws a powerful kick in his downed opponent's face, knocking him on his side and making him lose his grip on his staff. He then attempts to bash his head in with his club, but the Easter Islander rolls away in the nick of time. The latter gets back up and takes out his mata’a knife and ducks under another swing before slashing at the Indian’s thigh. The Native American screams and swings once more, but the Mata Toa jumps away. The two warriors catch their breath, keeping their distance and circling each other. The Calusa then lets out a war cry and charges forth, with the Rapa Nui sidestepping two swings of the seashell war club and slashing at the shell indian’s cheek with his mata’a. However, the Calusa quickly turns around and bashes his foe across the face with his war club. The Mata Toa is thrown on the ground, and gets up holding his face in pain. He then angrily throws his mata’a to the ground and grabs his papoa hand club. The calusa jumps into the air, holding his club with both hands, and brings it down, but the Rapa Nui jumps aside and swings his club. The American Indian backs away from the swing and throws another downward swing, which the Easter Islander blocks with his hand club’s flat side before uppercutting the American, who stumbles back. The Mata Toa then bashes his foe’s head with the face pommel of his club and finishes the combo with a sideways swing across the face, knocking the Calusa on his side. As the Rapa Nui closes in to deal the finishing blow, the Native American manages to grab his knife and throw it at the Island Native’s arm, which makes him hold his wound in pain. As he struggles to pull the knife out, the Indian closes in and tackles him to the ground. The American punches his enemy twice across the face, the rips the knife out of his foe’s flesh and slashes at his enemy’s face again, blinding his right eye forever. As the Mata Toa screams, he spots his mata’s lying next to him. The Calusa prepares to deliver the final blow, but the Rapa Nui grabs his knife and slashes at his foe’s throat, slicing the jugular and the windpipe. The Native American holds his neck in pain, and collapses. The Mata Toa gets back up, and raises his mata’a in the air.

“Ku-kio-á te taûa i a Rapa Nui! (The war was won by the Rapa Nui!)”

Expert's Opinion
The Mata Toa's superior training, weapons and physicality let him achieve victory over the Calusa. While the Calusa did possess a better long range weapon, the Mata Toa's dominance in close range combat was ultimately the reason of his victory.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.