to colonization and attacked any explorers who came into their territory. Calusa Indians built their houses on stilts without walls. They wove palmetto leaves together to build roves (twisted strands of fibers). The Calusa Indians fished for food on the coast, bays, rivers, and waterways. They did not farm. "The Calusa Indians did not farm like the other Indian tribes in Florida. Instead, they fished for food on the coast, bays, rivers, and waterways. The men and boys of the tribe made nets from palm tree webbing to catch mullet, pinfish, pigfish, and catfish. They used spears to catch eels and turtles. They made fish bone arrowheads to hunt for animals such as deer. The women and children learned to catch shellfish like conchs, crabs, clams, lobsters, and oysters." The Calusa Indians used the shells on the island for utensils, jewelry, tools, weapons, and ornaments. By the late 1700s most of the Calusa Indians had died out. Many were captured and sold as slaves while others died from diseases such as smallpox and measles. An Austrian named Binder (b. 1850) was on a German freighter headed to New Orleans when the ship crashed and he was shipwrecked off Boca Grande. He then washed up to shore on what has been since 1921, Upper Captiva. "He lived for several weeks on what the unoccupied island had to offer, built a makeshift raft, and got himself to Pine Island, where he was helped to return to his home. By 1888, due to his having fought with the U.S. Army, he became naturalized, and was allowed to homestead on Captiva in 1888, when he was 38 years old. For 10 years he was Captiva's first and only inhabitant. He died in 1932." Notable residents Captiva was the full-time home of artist Robert Rauschenberg. His home still stands there. Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist, also had a home on Captiva. In media In the 1997 movie G.I. Jane, Captiva Island is the location for the S.E.R.E. (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) training for the fictional U.S. Navy Combined Reconnaissance Team. References External links Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce Official website for Sanibel and Captiva Island businesses. Census-designated places in Lee County, Florida Census-designated places in Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico Beaches of Lee County, Florida Beaches of Florida Captiva Island Calusa