Ciboney Tribe Museum

Address:8614 SW 148 Pl.
Miami, Florida
Tel: (305) 387-0114

We have to admit – we've been had. There is no Ciboney Tribe Museum, no place in Florida to pay money and see some Ciboney art. Nowhere to learn about Ciboney tribal history. In the list of Native American peoples who existed in the United States, the Ciboney does not exist. It seems that there has been some effort to create this tribe on the internet. They have a facebook entry (with no content), they appear on many websites, including Miami.com, which you would expect knows better and they even have a Wikipedia entry. Travelers looking for Native American attractions in Southern Florida will find what they are looking for in various locations in the region, including Mound Key Archaeological State Park, where the native Calusa tribe built an artificial island out of shells and bones. The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum in Clewiston is a good place to learn about the Seminole Indians and is located close to the Big Cypress Reservation.

Now back to the Ciboney Tribe. They lived in caves (another indication that they did not live in Florida) and may have been the ancestors of some Cuban and Haitian natives. In any case, they were extinct even in those areas several hundred years ago. So, we question anyone who claims to be a Cuban Ciboney in Florida – there seems to be no record of the Ciboney in Florida and very little is known about them prior to their extinction as a tribal people. But on the internet, they do seem alive and well. And – there is no museum. Sorry.