Florida June 15, 1675 To His Majesty D. Pablo de Yta Salazar hereby renders account of the investigation made in regard to the most suitable places in these Provinces for settlement by Spanish families. All are agreed that the town of Apalache and the surrounding territory is best because of the great fertility of the […]
Plans for the Colonization and Defense of Apalache, 1675 Read More »
Long before the Seminole reached central Florida the peninsula had been the home of other native tribes who have. left many mounds and other works to indicate the positions of their villages. The northern half of the peninsula, from the Ocilla River on the north to the vicinity of Tampa Bay on the south, and
Not much can be gathered from our French informants regarding the social organization of those people, but there is enough to show that they had a class of chiefs to whom great respect was paid, indicating resemblances to the oligarchic system of the Creeks. Ribault says: It is their manner to talk and bargain sitting;
The aristocratic nature of Timucua government is apparent from the statements of the French already referred to as well as from the information regarding their social organization recorded by Pareja. From Pareja’s Catechism it appears that chiefs were allowed to exact tribute and labor from their subjects, and that by way of punishment they sometimes
The following regarding burial customs is from Laudonnière: When a king dieth, they bury him very solemnly, and, upon his grave they set the cup wherein he was wont to drink; and round about the said grave, they stick many arrows, and weep and fast three days together, without ceasing. All the kings which were
The skill displayed by these Indians in debate is testified to by Spark. Laudonnière and Le Moyne describe at considerable length their method of holding councils. Laudonnière says: They take no enterprise in hand, but first they assemble often times their council together, and they take very good advisement before they grow to a resolution.
The native institution with which the authorities which we depend upon had most to deal was, not unnaturally, war, and 10 of Le Moyne’s 42 sketches deal with it in one way or another. Some of these do not bring in native customs and need not be referred to, but the remainder give us our
According to our French informants the sun and moon were the principal objects of adoration among these Indians, particularly the former. This probably means that their beliefs were substantially like those of the Creeks and Chickasaw. A side light on their cult is furnished in the following account of a ceremony by Le Moyne: The
The Florida Indians lived partly upon the natural products of the earth, but depended principally upon the chase, fishing, and agriculture, Laudonnière says: They make the string of their bow of the gut of the stag, or of a stag’s skin, which they know how to dress as well as any man in France, and
There are not many special descriptions of Timucua houses. Ribault says, in speaking of the dwellings of those Indians whom he met at the mouth of the river which he called the Seine and which was probably what is now known as the St. Marys: Their houses are made of wood, fitly and closely set
Ribault describes the Timucua as “of good stature, well shaped of body as any people in the world; very gentle, courteous, and good-natured, of tawny color, hawked nose, and of pleasant countenance.” They were good swimmers and could climb trees with agility. The only invariable article of apparel worn by males was the breechclout, which
Utina Indians or Timucua Indians. The first name, which probably refers to the chief and means “powerful,” is perhaps originally from uti, “earth,” while the second name, Timucua, is that from which the linguistic stock, or rather this Muskhogean subdivision of it, has received its name. Utina Connections. As given above. Utina Location. The territory
Timucua Tribe, Timucua Indians. The principal of the Timucuan tribes of Florida. The name is written Timucua or Timuqua by the Spaniards; Thimagoa by the French; Atimaco, Tomoco, etc., by the English. They seem to be identical with the people called Nukfalalgi or Nukfila by the Creeks, described by the latter as having once occupied
In the sixteenth century the Timucua inhabited the northern and middle portion of the peninsula of Florida, and although their exact limits to the north are unknown, they held a portion of Florida bordering on Georgia, and some of the coast islands in the Atlantic Ocean, as Guale (then the name of Amelia) and others.
Sign Language Among North American Indians – Once Probably Universal in North America
Once Probably Universal in North America – Sign Language Read More »
Stark changes occurred during the mid-1680s in the Southeast. There were many movements of population as the intensity of attacks on the Spanish mission by the Westo, Chickmawka’s, Yamassee and pirates intensified. The Rickohockens were completely pushed out of their stronghold at the Peaks of the Twin Otter by Iroquois raids. The Iroquois had obtained
Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry. Often very little information is known or they no longer exist. We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Apohola (buzzard). A Timucua phratry which included the Nuculaha, Nuculahaqus, Nuculaharuqui, Chorofa, Usinaca, Ayahanisino, Napoya, Amacahuri, Hauenayo, and Amusaya clans. They were prohibited
