Part II.

The Indigenous Worldof 16* Century Florida

-rpter 1. The ImmensitY of Florida;Inhabitants as Seen by the Conquistadors

'I remember thtise steep mountains as if it u-ere yesterdal"

th6se cyerlasting spring scasons, thoss sereuc rivers' sels

and hills, and the beautiful trees that seetnecl alrvavs to be

bedecked u'ith reci ancl Yellou'flou'ers' (Ocampo)'

j -, .rst stretch of lantl lvhich came to be kno$'n as Florida

- .: 16"'centurv inclucled all that lav bctu'een Labrador

- ),lerico, as u'ell as the peninsula rvhich bears its natne

* . The lach of clear criteria defining its frontiers and

- - ntradictions cotnmon to the period's geographers

-:.cribing the area, rnake it very difficult or almost

.sible to give an overall accoullt of the natives' their

. : life and social behavior. 'Ihe Spaniards considered

- ir to be as described bY Herrera:

"fl-re Province of Floricla, close to the Aurliencio ol

I{ispaniola. cotlprises all that is benveen the rivcr of Las

P.rlmas, u'hich reaches Panttco and drat's the frontier $'ith

\cu' spain and from there T3" north\\"'lrds and all thzrt has

bcen cliscttvereil on the coast and inltrnd' 'I'he coast has

leen follou'ed from tl-re river of Las Paln-ras up to Santa

Elena, u'hich is some 600 leagues distant'''

--i -rn example of the diff'ere nt critcria emploved to dcfine

- :rr-:.1. Acosta,v Sol6rzano considered that:

'rlie borders of Florida are unstlre becaltse its territtlrl' runs

ro lltllch to the \orth ar-rd to the West that its limits are

.in-rplv not knou'n'.'

'Herrera. Hisnrit. r II.' -lbstimonv of Diego dc

Acostl 1'Soltirzano quotcd in

Serlano Sanz (er-I). Dotunutlrts

rfu la Florirla v /1 !'xi5ixPn. ;i3/os

Xl'l al Xl'lll. \laclricl: LibreriaGeneral clc \rictoriano Su'ircz.

1c)12, pp 171-172.

r40

GULF OF

MEXICO

-l'sr Ixorc;nr.'ot s \\roltt-Il or t6'" Cs\r'LRr FlonItl'r

Geographical texts even talk of various different

Floridas, tire Spanish, the French and the English' rvithour

actuallv being ablc to agree rvhere each ends and another

bcgins. Toclay ir can be said that Florida in the 16'" centttrr-

consisted of the present states of Georgia, Florida' Alabar-ni'

Nlississippi, part of Louisiana, part of Texas and the south

of Carolina. Whcn the Spanish, le d bv Juan Ponce de Le6n'

got there in 1513, they dicl not realize that it rvas a lvhole

"ontin"nt, or rather a peninsttla on a contincnt''lhey even

described it as the 'island of Florida'' For them it rvas just

another island in the Caribbean'

An exhaustive analYsis of the human and physical

makeup of Florida u'ould leacl to the detailed description oi

thc hunclrcds of diff-erent societies and cultures thac could rr;

found in rhe vast region that stretched from the l\4ississippi

to the Atlantic coast. The greal diversity tncans' holvever'

that it is important, and indeed interesting' to look at thc

O-z>o<l---luFO

CH EROKEE

fi4\,a-a\-o1) oc\\-t/

\U;

-I'he nativc s'orlcl

',.]

u

Trrn llrrtl..'sIT\ oF f'LoRID\l Il s l\II\BI'fA\rs \s Sllx sr' rHl Corqr lsl \DOR.-i

. 1 roots ancl to underlinc the differences only when

- :.' particlllarlY outstanding'-r:l esscssing the Spanish experience in Florida ancl

- -;trlties encountered, it is important to stre ss the

-,r e rsit-v of sn'rall tribes rvho so disconcertecl the

- . explorers. The fact that thc Indiar-rs rcferrcd to

-:-r cs indiscriminatel-v by the names of their villages'

: Ceciclr-res complicates the identification process

- -:ther.- :stimated that about 350 different langttages u'ere

- - rn the area. This came to be a problem for thc. - ls s-ho, having no fixed settlement until 1565' had

- i io learn to comlnunicate properly rvith the Indians'

,-. olthc torvns they visited they captr'rrecl lndian girls

: -- - is gr-rides, lvhom they referred to as 'tonglles', to

- - :n)" them and put them in tor-rch rvith the people

- --|rouring provinces. The Spaniards lt'ere' after all'

. - 'r need of foocl and clothing' As the expeditions

- ' lreas u,here the guicles \\rere no longer useful since

- : j no knou-ledge of the othe r dialects spoken there'

lic- generally set free, ancl replaccd by others' As in

:ler parts of the Nerv World, the 'tongttes' came to

- :-.3\ part in the conqllest.

:::c chroniclers describe Florida as having abundant

---:. rn. that u'as often too tnuch even for the horses'

j:c sometimes ttnable to fbllor'v the paths' There

- - <uriant forests and many marshv areas' drenched in

- - -: carue to be impossible to pass these areas r'r'ithout

:-rq the indians of the vicinitl', 'nvho obviottsl-v kner'r'

- - -: i-s'ell horv to get about in their ou'n enr-ironlnent'

. , -irble help of the 'rongucs' has alreacly been

- re d. although on occr'tsion thel turned against the

' - is. There were moments lvhen thel' cieceived the

- . : . b)' leading them alvay from their own towns' or by

- - :hctn get lost and even taking them to dangerous

- - .r irere ambushes hacl been prepared' T'his 'betrayal'

; j r gre at \\raste of energl, particularly u'hen it

: j ihe death of some men and the Spanish Governors

I

r42

'Robert S. Cotterill. Z/rSautlttt Inrliats. Tfu Storl'

o;f r/te ()ixi/iztrl T'ilrs Bdott:Rtnot'al. \orman: L,nivcrsitv ofOklahon.ra Press. 19-5-1, p 7.

'The battlc of \etn'ila tookplace on lS" Octolrcr 1540.

Trrl Irnlclrols \\'onlo or t6 Cls't t tll liLcltlltl'r

pLlnished the offendcrs severel)'. As regards its name, Floric-was kno\\'n as Cautio bv thc indigenous peoples until the

arrival of the Europeans. 'I'he narne Florida $'as besto\\'ed :Ponce de Le6n u'ho glimpsed the place for the first time olEaster Sundav ot Pos(tlo I'-/orir/a as it is knou'n in Spanish.

It rrust have seetnecl an appropriatc name in other u'ays,

because hc also rcf-erred to the land as being'the most flori:place he had ever set eyes on'.

The prirnitive population of Florida arrived in thenorthern part of the Arnerican continellt over thc BeringStrait from Siberia. Thc first to do so \\'ere three differentgrollps, the Sandia, the Clovis and the Folson, rvho later

moved south. It lr,as the Folson ll'ho \l'ent to thc south-

western and central parts of North America. Thking into

accollnc that Florida u'as relatively far fron'r the BeringStraits, it nnst have becn populated later, particularlv thcarea r.l'hich is the peninsula today.

In the 16''' centur1,, at the time of the arrival of theSpaniards, rvhilc there was a multitucle of peoples and

languages, thcre u'ere a nlrmber of larger tribes. An-rong

thern u,ere the N'luskogee, lvho u,ere made up of the Creek.

the Cl'roctalv and the Chickasar,r', ancl r'vho had arrived in

the area via the Nlississippi. 'I'heir zone of influence u'ent

as far as the Atlantic coast. It scems that the Chickasarv and

the Choctau'did so at the same time, and \\'ere aftenvards

separated. The latter settled in the lorver Nlississippi,'rvhile the Chickasau', a tnuch smaller group and much morc

dispersed, established themselvcs higher upriver. Thev both

calne into contacc rvith the Europeans for the first time u'ith

the expedition of Hernando de Soto, after the disirstrotts

defeat he sLrffered at the barttle of Nauvila.u

Tlre second large group wcre the Timucua or Seiior,

lvhose territory extended up the Aclantic coastline to Santa

Elena. In fact, they occupicd almost the entire peninsula,

exccpt for the vcry sollthcrn reaches u'here the Calusa

lived. These two groups, the Calusa and the Timuctta, are

particularlv interesting because they lvere the first peoples

the Spanish encountered on arriving in the regi<-rn that is che

rt

THs lrtrtEssIrl ol F LontoA: I rs Ir-IlARIl'\\'fs '\s Sr:s:.' g\ rrtl Oorpt IST\l)oRS

:.\tiar.:lc to san:-:e ninstil'.r.

C-rlusa

.:il-lCtta. arC

-:.t peoPlc.

. ,n thilt is i.

--.:-da-vFlorida.TheCalusawereundoubtedlythefirst: rlet by the conquistadors' They are the best knorvn

, - ' - io the account of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda'

,, :S their captive from 1551 to 1566' The Timucua' for

r - r-1rt. were made up of many tribes of differing sizes'

rr -:ng the Fresh Water, Nlococo, Ocale, Ocita' Saturiba'

..ba ancl Utina, among others' It was in their midst that

' --\: mission was set up at the time of Pedro Nlen6ndez

,,.:,-is.Beforetheendofthecentury,in1594'therervas- -'. .r dictionary of their lrnguagc''

,l: LIFII: ,\(lItICt-l I-TLlltE'. i\G .\ND ITISIIIN(;

:-: societies rvere basically agricultural in spite of.-::sremarkthat'...neitherbreadoru'inelvasproduced

r - ,:i the luxuriance of the land was not conducive to

-: :ing or maturing process''6 The staple diet lvas maize

,, - . .li'ter a drying process' was stored in special barns

.. - - ;'ttrbacoas' where it was then ground and use d' These

iii ,/-r' w€te usually installed next to the house of the

,, . - --. or head of the tribe in a shady place' in order to

, :ne clamaging influence of the heat and the sun' It- : only grain that u'as kept here' There was also meat'

-:-i other foodstuffs. They enjoyed at least two harvests

---. ,rne in Nlarch and anothcr in June, even though it

: be emphasized thac they did not reap very much

:liher. When they had finished eating the produce

.-i]edinJune'theytendedtomoveawayfromthearea

l,lrrch. IVIaize was therefore the Spaniard's basic food

" -- : journeys through Florida, together with the biscuit

- -,,r.tght from Spain. This lvas perishable' horvever' and

. . ,n ihort supply. They did of course try to find other

-' tut they were never able to move far from the maize

':. :tld they found nothing they knerv they would have

: - - rndemned to hungei and starvation'- . js a rudimentar-v sort of agriculture' Ic combined all

: diff-erent activities from the collection of raisins'

' H 0 tt rl|tozk o,f )-o t'li -l n, n t u tt

J n rl i a n s. Cltic tgo. Ch ic'tstr

I'nivcrsitv Press. Snlith'oni:nInstitution. 197,9 (2() r t. r II' pp

7 52-7 53.

Ilcrrerrt. Hi.rluritt r l. 1r ltt'' In other areis of the

,\r-nerican contincnt. the s ord

lttrlaua nle:ll.lt ln ldobe rir cn'

,\ fire rrotrld be lit s ithin ;nd'once thc o\ cn \\':l\ hot. * ould

bc taken oltt end nlcat Plrcedinsicle. irraPPcd or cor ercd

t ith sand. so thrt it could keeP

Irot longer.

r44 TsE Ixorcnxols \\'onr.o on r6'" Crxrr:nr. Iilonru,t

fruit, palm marrow, beans, pumpkins, vegetables, driedfruit and sunflower. In addition the Indians gre\tr tobaccorvhich they smoked, as evinced by the srarrled observationof one of the chroniclers: 'all over the area people getdrunk on smoke, and they give whatever thev have for it'.'Though the Spaniards suffered from hunger in Florida,it does nor seem that it was poor land. In fact, it offereda variety of agricultural products, and there was muchmeat and fish available. But their inability to create anypermanent setrlements, which might have allor,ved themto cultivate the land, and their scant knowledge of theareas they r,vere moving in, meant that the winter tookthem by surprise in uncongenial areas, and hunger thusset in. Hence the desolation that so often cranspires from

'Feclerico Dausl Francisco dc\pericio. I t t rodtr ri i n ;, uqni lirn

.y h.r altorigtttes rle Any'rica rlelltorte y Any'rica Cutml. InRicrrdo Le r ene llir.). Histutinde Any'rira. Buer.ros Aires: \\I. \1.Jackson (1 1 r'), v I, pp 2.{9-2.53.

+.F;:f,

*G

a':.:,1

Florida: native Americans tilling and planting. I-ine engrar.ing b_v Theodor de Bn1.591, after a nori losr clras.ing b-v Jacqucs Le \lo_vne de \Iorgues

:,.' :tf']i, ,;j*1

-tr\

;'f,e .,1*

:tn9''

-9,,.

l'Hn Irrrrrxsrrr or Iilonro.l; r'rs I:-H.\Brr,\r'-'I's AS Srl-- g'- rul Coxpulsr.\DORS

' : --roniclers' accounts of the expeditions. This was not,:-. e r, the real Florida.

e fields were so\4/n by the women. It u'as a tribalrl -,-ilire, in the sense that property was comlnunal. The,,. - - rest to the small to$'ns r,r'ere cultivated by all, men

rtt]er, even though the latter had the more ardllousl Tliey rarely came away lr,ith a surplus and, in any

. j :rev never sold or cxchanged it. When it came to' : - ::ribution of grain, it seems that there never were

- rflicts between members of the same tribc. On the-,:r'. in fact, a great solidarity seemed to reign, and

'' - - re enjoyed a roughly similar economic status, rvith^' r : ,--e ption of the Cacique and the shamans.

-- .:-ir subsistence agriculture compelled them to be: - -r rmadic. This was the case not only rvhen their lands

: :rhausted and they rvere forced to seek a livelihood:: - :ere, for they also moved in accordance r.vith the

:-.. They generally went inland for hunting or towards"' r - :i[ to fish. Ferv could avoid moving. It rvas for this

: :hat Florida had no stable population until very late

- :'\- so\yod and rambled in search of food; thcn, r.vhen

i:'rllrned, they harvested and stayed in the village. -ipplies had been exhausted once again. This u'as

:,iod u'hen the most important social activities rvould

- : :ce. There rvere feasts, games and rites. It lvas the: le s'hen they rvcre able to stay in their homes, and

r - :re\- \yere therefore all together. In addition, it r'vas the" -:-r u'hen they had abr-rndant sr-rpplies of food alchough

.. only temporary, of course.- -

=ir dependence on hunting in certain areas at specific

= - :ccording to the seasons, searching for r'varmer

.- Cabeza de Vaca described them thus:

> rmetimes thev have to carry u'ater and n'ood u'ith thern.- iheir pursuit of deer, since the,v are often in areas l.hich,r'e neither, and they must carry boch u'ith them...'."

I

u

i#tr

$-: - -: : -

" Cabeza de \:rca. '\auli;rgros(1 1537-.+0)'. In Rt.rbcrto

Ferrando. I'inju 1 titticrrt.:.x i 1i ts p o r No rt.o n I ri ca. \Iatlrid:Qu(rrum, 1987 (2 r'). v I.pp 1 1-59.

r46 'I'Hr: Irorcr:rous \\'onlo or r6'" Crrrunr Fl.onrn,r

It rvas a life of hard labor, to which they u'ere forcedthrough hunger.

Nevertheless, even though the majority of peoples had r

lead a kind of non-radic life, they did so to differing extents.The Indians living in the peninsula had the sea surroundinqthem and therefore had less need to go trekking afterthe hunt, contrary to those r,vho lived further inland. Theclimate gave them no motive for doing so; it was warm insllmmer and cool in the ll'inter and temperatures were neve:extreme.

Such an unstable life rvas inevitably reflected in thetype of dwellings they built, that u,ere never long-lasting.The houses of the Timucua were irregularlv laid out in thcvillage. They r,vere round, rvich a single door, lolv roofs and

no u'indor,vs, and surrounded by a wooden palisade. Therer,vas only one gate to the village, next to lvhich \\'ere twolvooden huts covered in branches, with many gaps in thewall through rvhich to observe outside r,r'ithout being seen.

This kind of protection shorvs that there was a permanentpossibility of attack and frequent conflicts betr.l'een

neighbouring villages.The houses were made of wood or mud and were covere:

u,ith leaves and branches. The Cacique's house was thelargest and generally had balconies and windows and was

located in the centre of the village. Next to it were theborbacoas for storing the grain paid as tribute by the othermembers of the tribe and by other dependent villages.

In the north there rvas a different kind of dwelling or.ving

to the harshness of the climate. The summer houses weremuch the same, but they built houses out of clay for thewinter. When a fire was lit within they would warm up likean oven. Another kind of house was made of matting bored

through with wooden stakes. These could be moved fromplace to place and were therefore widely used rvhen theyroamed around in search of food.

The most outstanding aspect as far as the dwellings andlayout of the villages of Florida are concerned, holvever,were the mounds, which lvere found all over the region

'l'nr: Irtrtrxsl.tl ol FLrtnrrr,r: Irs Iru.lutr.\NTS As SlEr sv rur: OoxptISI,\DoRs

r.n the Atlantic to the \Iississippi, including part of the-..ula. These \verc man-made hills on rvhich drvellings

- ..uilt, either for clefencc or against the flooding that- :d st-r regularll'. The humps rverc heaped up by

- .ncl then trodden clor'vn so as to be flat on top. Here. iiilt the orclinary houses and the Cacique's quarters.

::imes the latter rvere placed on a second mound, close' -' nrst, u'hich u'as for the exclusive use of the chief and--lilr-."'-----ss to the du'ellings \\ras up sonte vertical steps, some- -Jtres long, u'ith cross-planks embedded in the soil

- -.,irs. The rest of the mound r,vas made steep to avclid

- -: clirnbecl from another direction, thereby making it'- -:.rcure. Sometimes the top of the mounds u'ould be

-rded by a r.vooden palisade."

:ir shape varicd enormously; but mostly they'uvere

-.:. Sometitncs they u,ere elongated, aud in these cases,

rked likc u,alls six to 12 metcrs thick and about

- -'iicr high. Others had the shape of lou' quadrangular- :ls. frequently supcrimposed in the form of terraces.

'--:sion the-v: rvere shaped like animals, ll'hose

-ism is unknorvn but rvhich are frequently found- :.i peoples drvelling near rivers."-: Creek tribes to the north located their torvns by

- - ,:cs or on small islands. T'heir dwellings were feu'and-: :d. For furniture they used a kind of bench lr'hich

: , iroth as beds and seats and lvere arranged around the- :lc r-niddle of the abode. For the Indians, a house lvas

: - rrn just a hornc, it r'vas a refuge against the inclernent

- - - :r lnd a placc to sleep in. Life happened outside and

- oking ancl eating took place in the <tpen air."': r'i1lages !\,ere generally small; sometimes they

- -.)ccl no more than 75 to 20 houses. The settlements

- . -iire f'ar apart from one another, as much as several

,Lrrne-ying, u'hich made communication or commercial

rs difficult. F-or chis reason therc rvere a large' - :': ol different dialects. Holt'ever, in spite of this, the

- -lcrs all agree that there rvas a certain sirnilarity in

"\tege. Florirla, p 169.

" Daus; Aparicio. Intrurlatti,jtt.' l)rrusr.\prrricio. I ntt,'r/t,, i'itr.

Quoted bv Crrus'l homrs.'['lronras. IIb rk i n,ll r, u n r/E xplo ra ti o tt rlf t/tt, B r rcn u

of Etlnohg'. \\ asl.rington:

Smithsonian Institution.Bureuu of Iithnologr, 198-1.

"Cotterill. Sout/rcrn. pp 13-10.

r48 Tgr: I--nrcasor;s \\'onLo ol r6"'(lrxrunr Fr.onrrtr

the structure of these villages. And even r,vith the lack ofcontact betrveen them, \vhen strangers appeared (such as

the Spanish), they swiftly alerted one another by means ofa string of bonfires which were lit from village to village. Inthis way, the other indigenous communities were u,arned oiany impending danger.

Other important activities in the Indian economies u'erehunting and fishing, since their subsistence agricukurecould not guarantee food throughout the year. They had n,

domestic livestock and meat, that r,vas so important a parrof their diet, came exclusively from hunting. Birds, whichu,ere frequently consumed, lvere shot from trees lvith grel:skill. They also made use of the feathers. Hunting was

more common amongst the Indians in the north, wherethere was little grain available, and where thev r,vere farau,ay from the sea. In the south they were alu'avs able torely on fishing.

The most commonly hunted animal ll'as deer, whosecarcasses provided much more than just meat: hides, winterclothes, blankets, moccasins, bones for tilling the fields as

lvell as adornments for the hair, bracelets and even leatherballs to play with during their moments of leisure. The horn.were boiled to make glue and, mixed u'ith pigments, wereused for painting the skins. The gut u'as use d to make cord.but primarily for strings for the Indians' main weapon of u'ar.

the bou,. They even used the heads, suitably emptied out,for hunting, placing them on top of their or,vn for camouflagcin the undergrowth. In that way they were able to get closeto the herd u'ithout the trick being noticed. Horvever, thiswas not the most widely-used hunting method, for theyrarely stalked the animals; they preferred to use rraps, someof which were highly ingenious, such as this one describedby Ocampo:

'They prepare one of their strongesr and most flexible pole:r.vhich they place in an arch betu'een two trees, srrapping irup wich string and leaving a lose rope hanging. Then chevseek out a small animal like a bunnv rabbit or a bird to sen.e

-I.Hr: Irrrrnxs|rr Or FLonrn.l; r.r.s I)irr,rrrT,\NrS AS sltl sr rttl coxputsTADORS

as bait. As the n'ild animal goes to take the little animal, he

makes the arch shake; the latter has a heavy rock placed on

it rvhich then falls on lhe anin-ral and stuns it. The Indian

then jurnps out and kills the beast...'.'n

-f-he-v also hunte d bison, rvhich \vas a source of much

- .rnre products as deer. Wornen used the hair to make

. tbr their o$rn hair and to make bracelets and other-::rents. -fhey also hunted rabbits, snakes and birds,

- - iuck and doves as u'ell as turkeys rvhich they greatly^-ricd for their beautilul feathers.

-'. Florida there u'ere many different kinds of animals.

. nq the u,ild ones there rvere panthers, bears, rvild

--:- {setS, hares, rabbits, beavers, otters, foxes and a great

--:j:\'of birds: partridge, doves, turtledoves, ravens'' -:: rri'harvks, herons, cranes and ducks.t'f'here lvere

,rrndS of insects, above all rnosquitoes, which were the

-:i:rr of the Spanish explorers and u'hich the Indians--.:rted bv burning a particular r,vood u'hich they used

: '. tor that purpose.

Iunting was a necessarY means of obtaining food for

. -etlians. It rvas never a sport or a trading activitY. They

---- not trying to procure surpluses; they merely lvanted

-r-.Lrre their food supply r'vhen grain stocks were running

li ri'as only later that the Indians traded their prey- ,, L- products the Europeans had brought lvith them.ro

-i :rn activity for tnen, and alr'vays collectivelr'-' The--:n end the men rvho did not kno\\' hou' to hunt scayed

-: r illages to r'r'atch over thc fields, to \\reave baskets

rrepare the fire for the mcac that the hunters rvould

- ::nqing back. The tnen u'ho did not hunt u'ere poorly' - jcred by the rest of the group' 'lheY u'ere thought to

- -:=rlinate and rverc often subjecr to cruel jokes.

--:-,-,ther staple in the Indian diet in Florida u'as fish' This

,- ::rticularlv the case u'ith the Timucua Indians r'vho

- - rn the peninsula and on the coast as far as Santa Elena.

-' ilere expert fishcrmcn and obtained all kinds of fish,

- :>. snails, tuna, seal, shellfish and u'hales' all in great

'' Juan de Ocampo. 'La gran

Florida'. In Juan de Ocampo.

F ral Salcedo -v Ord6iiez &Dicg,r Albdniz dc lr Cerrud:t.

La grnn Florirlrt Por el unesln'

Jatn rle OunnPo; los ChiaPa.s (r1o:

dt: La Pllla y PartgraY), Por F.

Salrer/o 1' Otdditz; los rlesierto-;

de 'Iriugns (lkrnas rle I'enezur/n)

pr't'Diego 'l/biniz

de kr Ccrrnrla.

\ladrid: Ddiciirn Am6rica

[1920], p 120.

'' Roberts Nilliam. lzArt:ottnt of tltc F irct Disroterl,and ]'rrtaral Historl' of Florirla.

Gainesville: Universitv Press

of Florida, 1()7 6 (1" cd. 1 763),

PP'+-5."'Cottcrill. Sttutlern, p 11.

Tirn IsoIr;rsot's \\ionlo or r6 'Clsrlnv Fr-onlD{

quantities. 'lrout, according to Hernando de Escalante, \\'erc

'as large as a man';r7 this, of course, is an exaggeration, btllthey must have been of a considerable size all the same.

They also ate clams, mussels, crabs, sole, snails and oyster:

The bones of some fish were Llsed as fish hooks, darts, small

spears and needles. Otherwise, they might be colored and

used as jervellery by the women. 'Ihe sea was the Indian's

natural environurent. All chat he extracted from it, or fron th-rivers, rvas useful. Nothing was strange, even the roots on the

coast or the rivcrbanks wcre pulled out to make bread.

It is noc exactly known how they fished but one u'oulcl

suppose they u'ould have used hooks made from fish

bone. They may even have done so by hand, for they u'ere

excellent swimmers. Ocarnpo provides an example of this.

though one cannot be sure that the practice rvas u'idcspreai.for there is no other reference:

'... for fishing, they rnade use of a bitter plant rvhich sent ti:.fishes rvild. They crush the leaves of the 'llantt, they pull iiout, ruffling the rvater rl,ith it r'vhile the fish begin to jumplike drunkards. and fall back on their backs in the u'ater.

T'hat is r'vhen they fish thern...'.''

Around the Nlississippi. they made use of the salt of the

river that rvas deposited on the sand. It u'ould, holt'ever, be

inevitably mixed up u'ith the sand when they collected it sc -

to separate it, they r-rsed special baskets that the1, attached

to a tree r,vith a vessel beneath. They poured r,vater over itr,r'hich dripped into the vessel; they filtered it and put it toboil, reducing the quantity of u'ater little by little until onh

salt u'as left ac the bottorn of the pan.'n The fish of this aree

rvere obvionsly rather different from those found on the

coast. Fidalgo de Elvas describes them in this rvay:

'There rr,as a fish rvhich the Indians callecl Bugrcs, lvhose

head took up a third of its body and that had large sharp

spines on both sides of irs gullet and gills. There r.vere

otlrers similar to a mullet and another like the C/topa tvith "head like a sea-bream. Another *'as knorvn as the Pez Palti

'' Escalante Fontaneda.'Nlenroria', r'\, p 53-1.

'' Ocampo. 'Gran'.pp 121-122.

"\iega. F /orirla, p 115.

'['Hs Irrur:rsrry ol lir,onrrrr; r ls Ixu.e.nrr{-\Ts 'rS Sll\ sl rns (]oseltsrrDORs T qI

and had a snollt a yard long pointing up\\'ards like a spade.

There $.as a fish the size of a pig u'hich n'as knou'n as a

Pereo, and it had teeth... '.tu

'l'his latter description is surprising because it comes

"" :-i an author rvho is not generally given to exaggeration,' rgh such excesses are often found in the pages of other" - niclers; it must have re ferred to an example i,l'hich

- -rtless had impressed the Spaniards.

The Indian peoples seemed to be absolutely fearless of: -- iea; they lvere so at ease r,vith it that thcy even captured, -.-es. Oncc more, Hernando de Escalante described, in- :Jcount reproduced by Jackson, the spectacular u,ay in

' - -h u'hales \\.ere captured. Thev formed parc of their,,1 diet:

'They rvould close in on them in small canoes, and hurla sharp pole r.r'l-rich n'ould fit into onc of the ir openings(the blowhole). The Indian then hits it repeatedly u,ithinother pole, causing it to sink. The u'hale crinvulses halfmaddened. The Indian u,aits until ic cahns dou,n and u'henit does, he stabs another pole into the other cavitl', leavingthe animal unable to breathe. FIe then retLlrns to his canoe

and waits for the n'hale tri die. Once it is captured, it is cutup in pieces'.''

3.rrh fish and meat r,vere laid out in the sun to dry on, :d of rvooden grid and finally roasted or boiled, never

r-:-r ra$.. If any was left over, it would be preserved salted' - . ir picklcd. They had small dogs r,vhich they did not use- .rnting. On occasion, the Spaniards lr,ould feed on them

, - -: hunger set in, but the Indians never did so. They had

: :=i set eyes on a horse. This has often been r,r-ritten about,,,.

- , r.rrticular attention has been dralvn to the fact that, at-: reginning, this animal inspired great fear amongst thc- - :oS. 'fhey had believed that the rider rvas joined to the:--: in a single body. D6vila says it all in these ferv words: '...'. -:qht of a single horse brought more fear to the Indians,

, - - :ndeed was better in war, than the hands of two men...'.22

'' Elvis. Eryediririn, p 106.

''\\iilliam R. Jackson. Erz'l.t

Florida tltrough Sprtnislt E.tcs.

NIian.ri: f I r.rir,ersity of \lian'riPress, 1954, p 6.5.

" Ddvila Prdrlla. Hi.storia.p 206.

r52

'Si,r'anton. Indians, p 445.

Tns INorcr:\ot's \\roRLD oF r6"'Cs:qr.r:ny Flonrra

PHYSIQL]E: .VERY GOOD I-OOKING'The Indians were gcnerally naked; only rhe women co\reredthemselves with silk cotton from trees, a kind of fibre tharwas usually dyed before Llsing. However, the style of dressin.depcnded to a large exrent on rhe region and the season.If the temperature allorved it, they r,vent completely, orpartially, naked. When the cold reappeared, they made skiir>and breeches our of the hides. With the rigours of winrer,they lvould cover their shoulders rvith pehs in the manner oitunics; in addition, they ll,ore moccasins -sewn together u.irl-deer gut- on their feet. Su'anton gives a precise account ofhow leather was lr,orked in the Indian world:

'They painted rhem, cut them with sharp stones and putthem onr to dryr'lhen they plunged thern in water forseveral days and put them to dry again to get rid of thesmell. Having done rhis, rhey boiled the skin in water n,irhdeer brain so as ro soften it. The follou'ing day, thev madea hole in the ground, lit a fire and piled on some maizecobs. Thev u.ould hang the hide over this, u,irh the outersurface facing dorvnu'ards. They r,vould stay like this untilthe smoke rvas vellor,r'. After.that, they addecl red oak rvoooand cooked it in rvater for a certain time. They then left ir icool for a day, and iater to dry'.,.

Hair r,vas usually rvorn long. The women had theirsloose on rheir shoulders and the men tied theirs up witha piece of string in the centre of their heads, leaving a

fringe at the front. At feasts and other special occasions,they decorated their hair rvith feathers and bones. Thisgave them an appearance which apparently pleasedthe Spaniards, for in all their descriptions they refer rothe clcan, tidy look of the Indians. They used differentheaddresses of colored feathers and they painted theirbodies in different rvays according to the occasion: burials.wars or feasts. By interweaving animal hair they madebracelets or ankle rings; these were complemented byhaving balls hanging ar their feet. When thev dancedthey sounded like maracas accompanying the rhythm of

-fHE Iurrlrsrrl or Flc.rr.Ioll Ils IxH.rstr.\\'1 s .\s Sllx sr rur CoxprttsrAl)oRS

I

I

- jrnce u'ith their tapping. The chroniclers r'r'ere much' . :essed bv a fabric made from plants and palm leaves- -h the women wove together u.ith great ingenuity to

---: r'eritable tapestries. This \\'as a parricular activity on

: reninsula.-:r produce, rvhich \\'as so itnportant a part of their-:.:ion, ll'as also used as jeu'ellerl'. Shells rvere used for

: -.-llces and bracelets, as lvell as spiral shells and starfish,

- ,icoursc pearls, u'henever they could find thern.---.e \\'er€, horvever, used decoratively and had no special

- :'.

-: rcldition to their grooming, the Spanish also admired

. -:dians' extraordinary physique, beautl, and, especialll',

- r jirture. It should be added that oil'ing to their rvay

: rnd consumption of food r'r'ith little fat, they had' : . irdies and their \\'omen r,vere shapely and graceful.' -:: irom the climate and the nutrition r'r.hich doubtless- :::'5uted to their good form, the Indians also gave much- ::rnce to fitness and from an early age \vere made to

--:; in physical exercise and u'ar games.

,: -r sical attributes played an important social role in the"- It has been observed that in some tribes the Cacique

-'s tamily rvere alu'ays the tallest. Indeed they lvanted

--inue to be so at all costs so that tl-re position of pou'er

-- j not cease to be occupied by their family. Ic rvas for

r.-rson that all the neu' members of the family r.vere

: - special nutrition, different from the rest, and other-- i treatments that \yere thought to accelerate and

- -i.ic glowth:

'\\'hile the children lr'ere still in the cradle and being looked.iier b1, the n"ridn'ives, the specialists gor into action. For.everal days they u'ould sn"iear the limbs of the child rvith.l,.riled herbs, u'hich u'ere said t<-t soften the bones; then the-v-..,rLrld pull on the bones to lengthen them, for by thac time::e\'\\'ere as soft as wax. Then the midu'ives covered thetn'.i ith blankets and put them to the breast; they enriched the

::ilk ri'ith other special food. Er.'ery feu'days the.v u'ouldipear this process'."

)

''Jackson. F,arly, p 37.

Trrn Isntr;I:.'ols \\'tlnIo ot'- t6"'Cr'srr'nv FIonIll

The Florida Indians \\rere generally taller than the

average 16''' ccntury European. Holvever, in the case of thc

Caciques and their families, they rve re 'exaggeratedly ta1l"

Herrera referred to the son of the Cacique of Thscalusa in

this rvay:'he u'as 18 years old and so tall that no Spaniard

came up to his chest'."They looked after their skin rvith planr juices or oil,

for it u,as exposed to all r,veathers. It was a coppery olir''e

colour, probably because it rvas permanently exposed

almost naked to the sun' There is no evidence that ther-di-

anything special such as piercing their boclies' except for tl---

inhabitants of che island of Nlalhado (next to the peninsul:

rvhere the men r,r'ould pierce cheir chests r'vith hollou'cane::

sometimes they did the same to their upper lips'

SOCIAI, AND POLITICAL ORGANISATIONAmong the peoples of Florida in the 16'" century there u'ei:

no lalvs. but even so no-one broke any rules, '... for them

to go againsc ctlstoms or traditions lvould be death'''u The

supreme authority, vested in the Cacique, made sure that

this u,as so. He, or indeed the 'Cacica' (for women could

also fill this role) had the highest rank' though they never

exercised their rule in an absolute or dictatorial manner'

They frequentll' consulted rvith the elders of the tribe;

several days a year they u'ould meet in the public square ar:chey even asked advice from them. Only u'hen there ll'as a

clorrbt about something, or r.vhen thev had to declare war ot:

another tribe, u,as their auchority made manifest, and in thl'case it rvas irrcvocable. They strove to maintain che custon:.

of rheir tribe, all of which were ancesrral, aware that this $'".

what their people expected of them. If rhe-v did not do so

or did not try to do so, theY r'r'ould be much discredited anc

might be deposed.

From the beginning, thc Spanish tried to gain the

Caciques' friendship u'ith presents and concessions' Ther

\vere not, hor,vever, alu'ays able to do so. Poor relations u-itl:

the Indians was a constant theme of the Spanish experienc;"FIerrera. Hisrorin,r' \rI-\III. p

25. d6cada \ill." Ocampo. 'Gran', P 125.

Tttg Irtvtsst.lt clr l:t.ontt;,r: I't's ]srLrglr.\\'l s ,\s Srr.' gt .tlt t Urrrqrt t! tAl)oIis

: - rrida. If there \vas not olltright war, thcrc \\ras ongoing-.:rr-entailing the loss of many lives and the hopes of- .-.'conqlristadors. It u'as onlv Pedro Nlen6ndez de Avil6s' \\'i.rs able eventnally to establish a ccrtain friendship-- ihese pcoples that u,as based on a deep respcct for

- . This is revcaling, for he had to face a nerl'rcalit,v in, - )nquest: the prcsence of the Frcnch. The lattcr had set

-:-selves up in Florida and had alread-v nurturecl some all-. iirlnt fiicndships there.

-: sl-ror-rld be underlined that u'hile man-v of these

--. .ues had rnanaged to get neighboring tribes to sttbmit,

-' :hem and pay sorne form of tribute, there u'as no',:rollnt chief in thc region. This goes some \\'a-v to

.ining the weakncss clf Spain's prescnce in Florida. Aftcr-:, ct-fort they managecl to befriend one of the Caciques,

: --.'\\-es only able to guarantee the cooperation and' --ssion of just a feu, tribes, making it necessarv fbr the

--,.h ro continue going from Cacique to Cacique in their-zriion of vast tcrritorl rvhere the indigenor-rs people

- --' -,imost alu'avs hostile to ne\\rcomcrs.- ihc peninsula, the Caciqr-re 's po\\'er lvas hereclitarl,; irr

' j: lreas, horvever, the position r'r'as e lected according to- --rl ciualities perhaps, or proved pro\\'ess in battle.' .:-. ertheless, a Cacique usually tried to ensure the

-' :-. rernained in his ou,n famihi AII obeyed him, as

-- ;d u'ith the tribal elders; the Indians had a decp scnse' -:e ct and ar-rthorifi'. The membcrs of each communit,v

- :=cir leader tribute in kind, lvhich x,as almost alu'avs- :lrrr lre kept next to his du'elling in borltrtruas or other

-.-. -fhe Cacique also rcceived tribute frorn subordinate. --. ,lring tribes, but he \vore no outrvard signs of great

ir ,rr \\'ealth, except for sotne special ornament and the-r-.ion of a larger house than those of his people.

- :re \\'crc no intermediarv po\\rers or different social

, --'-. rlthough healers and sorcerers commanded rnuch

- -: rnd older people enjoyed a considerable moral:rr'. Ljsually, the healer and priest or sorcerer \\'as the

: :Jrson, u'ho combined botl-r important functions: they

r56 Tnr Ixorcaxous \\'onr,o or r6,,CrxrLrnr Flontlrr

blessed boll's and arrows before a war party set off, theyprayed for rain, they predicred the future and, of course,cured rhe ill u.'ith herbs they always carried about theirpersons. Their curing techniques consisted in inducingvomiting with smoke, and if they needed to open up thebody, they would cur rhe skin u,ith sharp shells, collectingthe blood u'hich was shed. If the sick person was young,suckling morhers would drink the blood so as to enrich the::milk to give strength to their lirtle ones.r'

SO\IE,\SPE(]TS OIr So(]I,\I, I-IF'IJAll members of the tribe worked in the fields. Indeed, thewoman had rhe harder task for she was also enrrustecl lvithIooking after the home, rvhere her companion u,ould be nohelp at all, and also rvith breast-feeding rhe children, rhar ri_;:usually much prolonged on accounr of the scarcity of food.

Despite this, women in Florida had a high socialstatus and played an important role in the feasts andenterrainments. They came and went as they wishedand, in general, were fairly free. Adultery, however, ll,asdisapproved of in men and severely punished in women,r'r'hile also entailing the repudiation of the entire communir.for all of their lives. Adulterers had to painr their faces ina cerrain way so that they could be distinguished fromothers. The Inca Garcilaso told of such an incident in nyoimportant rribes, the Cosa and the Thscalusa. Among theCosa, adultery was judged in public by special judges; therest of the community would hurl abuse ar the offendersbenveen beatings, once rhe husband had stripped his u,ifenaked and cut her hair. The verdict was always rhe same:they r.vere either banished from the community or made tolive lvith relations, never to srep out of the house again. Thctscalusa were even tougher; the adulteress would be tiedto a rree by her husband and killed r,virh arror.vs by the othe-members of the tribe.r'

But the Indians \{rere very scrupulous u.,hen inflictingpunishmenr, even when they considered it fully justifiJ.

''Lon.en.. Spnni.rfi, v II, p 64."\/ega. F/orirlo, pp 397-400.