Florida Humanities Council Visits Cedar Key

Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge was the destination for the Florida Humanities Council for a study in cultures: the ancient ones, the pioneers, and the families whose names we still see and hear in the culture-rich village of Cedar Key.

Local resident, Florida Master Naturalist John Lohde began the day's event with a paddle over to the historic Atsena Otie. The colorful boats made their way to the "cut" where a dozen or so roseate spoonbills preen daily and Lohde addressed how the dynamic island had reshaped itself over the centuries due to erosion and human activities. After beaching the kayaks, he encouraged the group to observe debris of earlier cultures that was scattered across the beach due to the attrition over the centuries. His specialty being flora and fauna, he wove the thread of common use of natural resources by various cultures that have occupied the Cedar Keys.

Florida Master Naturalist John Lohde shares his passion for paddling, plants and people of the past and present.

Lohde said of his theme "Times may change; cultures and how we use our resources may change, but our basic needs as humans remain constant and predictable."

When on the island trail, once Main Street to the incorporated town of Atsena Otie, the group gathered around soft-spoken Eric Brogren, active member of the Cedar Key Historical Society and volunteer extraordinaire. He explained what a bustling industrial city this first port on the Gulf had been. Eyes widened as he recounted the number of residents and industries established on the small island.

Erik Brogren, center, a member of the Cedar Key Historical Society Board of Directors, tells of newly discovered gravestones and vandalism.

Brogren has spent several years caretaking the nineteenth century cemetery: mending broken headstones, seeking out missing stones, and replacing mysteriously returned head and foot stones to their proper place of rest. He shared with the group his appreciation for the sincere verse inscribed on the more than century old memorials to the pioneers of the Cedar Keys.

The Cedar Keys and Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuges work with partners to renew peoples' ties to their cultural heritage by viewing ancient and historic sites within the refuges.