Using materials that you can find in Florida today, you can learn how to throw spears and darts, make pottery & weave baskets.

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Product Description

Ages Ten and up.

There were people living in Florida for 12,000 years before Columbus got here, living all over the state. Before hardware stores and shopping malls, these people managed to get food, make clothing, and cook their meals. In The Crafts of Florida’s First People, Robin Brown asks,

How did they do it?

And to answer his question, he actually learns to do things the way that they did. Using materials that you can find in Florida today, you can learn with him how to throw spears and darts, make pottery, weave cloth, mix paint, build traps, and even how to start a fire without matches—just the way Florida’s first people did it for thousands of years.

Each chapter has easy-to-follow, fully illustrated directions. Even if you don’t have the natural supplies available in your area, the book includes suggestions for alternative materials so you can still learn their crafts. As you work, you will experience some of the daily life of the ancient peoples of Florida. You will find out not only how to make a spear, but what its construction tells us about how the first people hunted and what animals they ate. The last true Florida native died 200 years ago, but you can help keep their culture alive.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1200423 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 63 pages

About the Author
Robin Brown grew up in Tampa and received his M.D. degree from Tulane University. He practiced medicine in Fort Myers for thirty-six years, retiring in 2000. A lifelong interest in the early history of Florida led to his first two books for Pineapple Press: Florida’s Fossils and Florida’s First People. He has written The Crafts of Florida’s First People for young people because so many of them asked him to.

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Customer Reviews

Fantastic book!
Here's a "must have" book! Anyone who has kids who what to know how Native Americans did things will love it. Great materials lists, clear instructions. This book will add years to the life of Scout leaders, teachers or anyone who has to entertain kids. There's plenty of interesting stuff for adults, too. Nice going, Dr. Brown!

Crafts of Florida's First People
I bought this book on line while doing research on weaving with palm fronds and other natural materials. It depicts a pretty broad range of natural material crafts and I certainly learned a few things I did not previously know....but unfortunately for me it did not go in depth in the specific area of my interest. Otherwise, it is interesting and informative.