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The
artist and amateur archeologist lives in a single-family home in
Brickell, a rare property in Miami's financial district.
Bermudez, alongside community groups and professional
archeologists, is pushing for more preservation in Miami as new
developments unearth historical relics.
"It's up to us, the people, to make sure that this don't get
destroyed," said Bermudez. Developers cannot "come here and
intimidate us with their money - they have to work with us," he
said.
Bermudez's home in Brickell, just south of downtown Miami, is
painted with a multicolored seascape of fish and underwater
plants. Tropical birds sing in his garden, an uncommon sound in
the fast-growing neighborhood dominated by the floor-to-ceiling
glass of high-rise developments.
After excavating under his home, Bermudez discovered fossils -
and even human remains, which were given to local authorities.
Earlier this month, community members called for building work
to be postponed at 444 Brickell Avenue so that archeologists
could preserve prehistoric artifacts found there, including
bones, pottery and tools.
Related Group, the real estate developer, did not respond to
requests for comment. The City of Miami's Historic and
Environmental Preservation Board did not respond to a request
for comment.
Modern-day Brickell, which sits near the mouth of the Miami
River, was once the site of a vibrant settlement called
Tequesta, according to William Pestle, an archeology professor
at the University of Miami. Spanish explorers encountered
Tequesta in the 16th century, yet its history is not widely
known.
"Something old by Miami standards is from the 1970s or the 1960s
- you don't see the history of the city presented" as it is in
Boston, New York or Philadelphia, Pestle said. "As a consequence
of that, we come to think that there is no history."
(Reporting by Maria Alejandra Cardona in Miami; Editing by
Lananh Nguyen and Kenneth Maxwell)
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