Spain’s Pain in 16th Century Florida: French, Afflictions, and the Ais

Sacred Kashi is hosting Dr. Barbara Purdy as part of their Visibilty + Voices lecture series. Dr. Purdy will share archaeological evidence about the indigenous communities who lived in the area prior to historic contact (nearly 13,000 years ago) as well as the interactions of the Ais with the French and Spanish during the historic period beginning in the 1500s AD. Dr. Purdy’s research on the Paeloindian period was the first of its kind, and she was involved in “the Vero Man” archaeological dig that revealed some of the early human habitation in North America. The Ais, pronounced Ah-es, were one of many tribes that lived in Florida prior to first contact with the Spanish in 1513. The Ais were hunters and gatherers, not farmers, and lived in what is now Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and northernmost Martin counties. Many lived along the shores of the great lagoon they called “Aysta-chatta-hatch-ee” (the river of the Ais Indians), also called Rio de Ais by the Spanish, currently known as The Indian River. This presentation will be present in person at Sacred Kashi (Shiridi Studio), and will be streamed live on Sacred Kashi’s Facebook page for those who would like to tune in virtually. Funding for this program is provided in part through a Florida Humanities Community Project Grant in partnership with Sacred Kashi.