MIAMI — Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board has unanimously approved the preliminary designation of a portion of a 2,500-year-old ancestral site belonging to the Native Tequesta people that was found during the construction of a luxury hotel in Brickell. The decision gives a section of the site temporary protection from further demolition and any ground-disturbing digging by the real estate development firm Related Group for at least 6 months while the city preservation office prepares a detailed study concerning its status as a legally protected archaeological zone.
If the site is designated as a historical landmark in the future, Related, the company founded by Pérez Art Museum namesake Jorge Pérez, would have to undergo a process of approval from the board for any building project, including how to handle the public display and interpretation of the findings. The board could also impose requirements for preserving portions of the site, anticipating further clashes or even a lawsuit with one of South Florida’s biggest developers, which can also appeal any board decisions.
The approximately 100 archaeologists who have been excavating the area for the past two years continue to unearth tools and ornaments made from animal bones and shells, cultural objects, and artifacts pointing to a thriving trade network. They also found fragments of human remains under the ground, which were reburied elsewhere in consultation with Seminole tribal leaders. Bob Carr, the county’s archaeologist, shared new findings such as “shell eyelids,” discs of shells representing eye pupils.
“This seems to be a type of Tequesta ornament which has never fully been documented before,” Carr said during a recent City Hall meeting. “Eyes are very important in Tequesta and Native American cosmology.” With a 6-0 vote, all board members agreed the site merits designation.
Currently, the thousands of excavated prehistoric tools, artifacts, and ornaments are “stored on-site” inside boxes in a temperature-controlled environment housed inside the same building at Brickell 444, according to city archaeologist Adrian Espinosa-Valdor’s report. Where they will be housed in the future has not been decided.
Although the decision is a step forward toward preserving Miami’s history, neighbors don’t want to be left in the dark regarding any future decision-making by Related.
“There should be more participatory workshopping with facilitators and all the stakeholders involved, instead of just a board meeting once every few months,” Nina Jean-Louis, a structural engineer and heritage advocate based in Miami, told Hyperallergic.
“What story does this site tell?” she continued. “I think there is the story the developer sees, that this is standing in the way of their profit and construction, and the story the community sees: that this is a part of our heritage.”
When it comes to protecting Indigenous sites considered sacred to some Native American people, advocates say better preservation policies are needed. Robert Rosa, chairman of the American Indian Movement in Florida, asked the city to leave any other Indigenous objects in the ground untouched and not to disturb them with further digging. “I commend the city on this step for preservation, but we need to take this further,” he said. Anthropologist Traci Arden also requested that the city include Native artists in any future displays or interpretations of the findings.
Historic preservation boards and committees in the United States can be traced back to the 19th century, when they were established to protect the homes of America’s “founding fathers,” such as George Washington and John Hancock, from being torn down. Policies later incorporated cemeteries, farms, infrastructure, and European-style buildings, mostly belonging to White owners, reflecting who gets to decide what gets preserved and what doesn’t.
But much of Miami’s Indigenous history and many of its archaeological sites are under the ground, unseen. Preservationists continue to advocate for the Tequesta site in the hopes of holding developers accountable. In an interview with Hyperallergic, Florida Atlantic University Professor and Florida Public Archaeology Network Southeast/Southwest Regional Director Sara Ayers-Rigsby laid out some of the most challenging quandaries facing the Brickell project in the coming months.
“What does what we do with this site say about our values? Is it adequate to document everything and then build a high rise over it?” she questioned. “Are we being respectful of the past? And how does this interact with Miami’s current development policy?”
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