Oct. 12 was Indigenous People’s Day — or what some call Columbus Day. It’s a reminder of the magnificent indigenous civilizations that flourished in the Americas before the European conquest that began in 1492.
It’s also a reminder of the important need to preserve the historical memory of those indigenous civilizations. And in Miami’s case, that includes the ancient Tequesta civilization — whose remains have been found right beneath downtown Miami, in Brickell.
The decades-long drama to save the Tequesta’s artifacts, and the human remains, from Miami’s rampant high-rise development is the subject of a new WLRN original documentary that premieres on WLRN-TV on Oct. 21.
Broken Ground: Unearthing the Tequesta Trail asks the question: "Who owns Miami’s history?" It's a history our young city is only lately beginning to appreciate.
Scott Barnett directed Broken Ground, and Bob Carr, Miami-Dade’s first ever County Archaeologist and director and co-founder of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy, was featured in the film. Barnett and Carr joined Tim Padgett on WLRN’s South Florida Roundup on Oct. 9 to discuss the film.
PADGETT: Scott Barnett, Broken Ground is a fascinating narrative about an argument for cities like Miami finding, as the documentary emphasizes, compromise between the forces of development and preservation when such an important piece of our past, like the Tequesta archaeological remains, are discovered. What made Miami's particular drama in that regard so compelling for you and WLRN to make a film about?
BARNETT: Miami's obviously a special place because of the people that make up its population and the diversity. But what you find when it comes to preservation is that there are very divergent priorities - whether it be the indigenous side, whether the academic side, even the developer side of the equation- you have different people with different priorities about what can be done with these sacred places for some people that need to be preserved.
And pulling all those stakeholders together, that had to be challenging as a filmmaker.
This kind of started from attending some of the historic preservation board meetings at the city of Miami, where people are debating between -essentially, developers go there to get permits to dig to start their building projects. And obviously there was a particular project here on the Miami River that some land - it is an archaeological zone. And lo and behold, when they start digging, they're gonna find things. But what's interesting about the past is that most of the development of early Miami - and I'm talking about the '70s and '80s and later, they were surface developments. So they didn't go deep into the ground.
READ MORE: Broken Ground: Unearthing the Tequesta Trail
Bob, remind us why this Tequesta find at the mouth of the Miami River, especially the circle settlement that's been unearthed, why does it remain so important to our understanding of our past here, and why that connection it represents between Miami's aboriginal and modern life matters so much?
CARR: I think what our listeners need to understand is that Miami has suffered a serious case of amnesia in terms of understanding and even being aware of its history. And this is because of its rapid development after Flagler arrived in the, in the late 1890s. And at that time, uh, what Archaeological sites, indigenous mounds. There were many mounds at the mouth of the river. They were basically destroyed. Almost everything was destroyed that was above the ground. And this lack of concern or connection, permeated right up until the 1970s when finally, there was a systematic attempt to document these archaeological sites and to collect and protect as best as possible what could be preserved in Miami.
Broken Ground premieres Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. on WLRN-TV. It will also become available simultaneously on WLRN’s YouTube channel and WLRN Passport. WLRN-TV is available over the air on Channel 17 and through cable and satellite providers. The livestream is available on WLRN.org, PBS.org as well as the PBS and WLRN apps.
Listen above to the Oct. 9, 2026, interview with Bob Carr and Scott Barnett on WLRN's South Florida Roundup or wherever you get your podcasts.
