Indigenous peoples of Florida

The Indigenous peoples in Florida lived in what is now known as Florida for more than 12,000 years before the time of first contact with Europeans. The indigenous people of Florida had largely died out by the early 18th century. Some Apalachees migrated to Louisiana, where their descendants still live, some survivors were taken to Cuba and Mexico by the Spanish in the 18th century, and a few survivors may have been absorbed into the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes.

Contents 1 Paleoindians 2 Indigenous peoples encountered by Europeans 3 18th and 19th centuries 4 20th century 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References

Paleoindians

People arrived in Florida before the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. Human remains and/or artifacts have been found in association with the remains of Pleistocene animals at a number of locations in Florida. A carved bone depicting a mammoth found near the site of Vero man has been dated to 13,000 to 20,000 years ago.^[1] Artifacts recovered at the Page-Ladson prehistory site date to 12,500 to 14,500 years ago.^[2] Evidence that a giant tortoise was cooked in its shell at Little Salt Spring dates to between 12,000 and 13,500 years ago.^[3] Human remains and artifacts have also been found in association with remains of Pleistocene animals at Devil's Den,^[4] Melbourne,^[5] and Warm Mineral Springs.^[6] The Norwood culture thrived in the Apalachee region of Florida from ca. 12,000 BCE to 4500 BCE.

The environment in Florida at the end of the Pleistocene was much different than today. Due to the enormous amount of water frozen in ice sheets during the last glacial period, the sea level was at least 100 metres (330 ft) lower than it is today. Florida had about twice the land area of today, its water table was much lower, and its climate was cooler and much drier. There were few running rivers or springs in the part of Florida that is now above sea level. The few water sources in the interior of Florida were rain-fed lakes and water holes perched on relatively impervious deposits of marl and deep sinkholes partially filled by springs.^[7]

With water available only at scattered water holes, animals and humans would have had to congregate at the water holes to drink. The presence of concentrations of animals would have also attracted hunters. Many Paleoindian artifacts and animal bones showing butchering marks have been found in rivers in Florida, where deep sinkholes in the river bed would have provided access to water. Sites with Paleoindian artifacts have also been found in flooded river valleys as much as 17 feet (5.2 m) under the Gulf of Mexico, and suspected sites have been indentified up to 20 miles (32 km) offshore under 38 feet (12 m) of water. Half of the Paleoindian sites in Florida may be under water in the Gulf of Mexico. Materials deposited in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene in sinkholes in the beds of rivers were covered by silt and sealed in place before the water table rose high enough to create running rivers, and those layers remained undisturbed until excavated by archaeologists. These deposits preserved organic materials, including bone, ivory, wood and other plant remains.^[8]

Archaeologists have found direct evidence that Paleoindians in Florida hunted mammoths, mastodons, Bison antiquus and giant tortoises. The bones of other large and small animals, including ground sloths, tapirs, horses, camelids, deer, fish, turtles, shellfish, snakes, raccoons, opossums, and muskrats are associated with Paleoindian sites.^[9]

Indigenous peoples encountered by Europeans

This section includes the names of tribes, chiefdoms and towns encountered by Europeans in what is now the state of Florida in the 16th and 17th centuries. A few of the tribes and chiefdoms were taken into the system of Spanish missions in Florida, a few more had sporadic contact with the Spanish without being brought into the mission system, but many of the peoples are known only from mention of their names in historical accounts. All of these peoples were essentially extinct in Florida by the end of the 18th century.

Most died from exposure to Eurasian infectious diseases, such as smallpox and measles, to which they had no immunity, and others died from warfare: with both the Spanish and English raiders from the Carolinas and their Indian allies. Others were carried away to slavery by the Spanish (in the 16th century) and by the English and their Indian allies (in the late 17th century and early 18th century). The few survivors migrated out of Florida, mainly to Cuba and New Spain (Mexico) with the Spanish as they ceded Florida to Britain in 1763 following the Seven Years War, although a few Apalachee reached Louisiana, where their descendants still live.

• Ais people - They lived along the Indian River Lagoon in the 17th century and maintained contact with the Spanish in St. Augustine.
• Alafaes (Alafay, Alafaia, Elafay, Costa, Alafaia/Alafaya/Alafeyes Costas) - A chiefdom on the north side of Tampa Bay at the time of de Soto's expedition (per Milanich 2004), or a town to the south of Tampa Bay, closely related to or part of Pojoy (per Hann), refugees in St. Augustine by 1717.^[10]
• Amacano - Believed to be located on the western Florida panhandle coast in the 17th century, and to be allies of and speak the same language as the Chine and Pacara.^[11] They were at war with the Apalachee in the 1630s, but had settled in Apalachee province by 1674. They may have been a band of Yamasee.^[12] The Spanish mission of San Luís "on the seacoast" served three towns that included members of the Amacano, Caparaz and Chine tribes.^[13]
• Apalachee - A major tribe and the western anchor of the mission system. A remnant migrated to Louisiana, where their descendants live.
• Apalachicola - Lived to the west of the Apalachee, may have spoken a Muskogean language.^[11] Identified as Lower Creek^[14]
• Boca Ratones - Known only from records of the 1743 mission attempt on Biscayne Bay.^[15]
• Bomto (Bonito) - known only from the middle of the 18th century as relations of the Mayaca and Jororo and enemies of the Pojoy.^[16]
• Calusa - A major tribe centered on the Caloosahatchee River, politically dominant over other tribes in southern Florida. The Spanish maintained contact with them, but did not succeed in missionary attempts.
• Caparaz - Hann speculates that Caparaz was the Surruque village of Caparaca.^[17] But, the Caparaz were listed as one of the three tribes served by the Spanish mission of San Luís "on the seacoast", together with members of the Amacano and Chine tribes, which are elsewhere said to have lived in the Florida panhandle.^[18] Synomym of Pacara^[19]
• Chatot people (Chacato, Chactoo) - Located in the upper Apalachicola and Chipola river basins. Related in some way to the Pensacola. The Spanish established three missions to this tribe near the upper part of the Apalachicola River.
• Chilicun
• Chine - Believed to be located on the western Florida panhandle coast in the 17th century, and to be allies of and speak the same language as the Amacano and Pacara.^[11] The Spanish mission of San Luís "on the seacoast" served three towns that included members of the Amacano, Caparaz and Chine tribes.^[20] Also said to be a branch of the Chatot.^[21]
• Costas - Name applied at different times to Ais, Alafaes, Keys Indians and Pojoy, and to otherwise unidentified refugees near St. Augustine.^[22]
• Guacata (Vuacata) - Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda implied that the Guacata were part of the Ais and that the Guacata spoke the same language as the Ais and Jaega.^[23]
• Guazoco or Guacozo - Town near the upper reaches of the Withlacoochee River passed through by the de Soto expedition. This was the farthest south that the Spanish found maize being cultivated.^[24]
• Guale - Originally living along the central Georgia coast; the survivors of the raids by the English and their Indian allies moved from Georgia into Florida.
• Jaega - Living along the Florida Atlantic coast south of the Ais, this group was subject to, and possibly a junior branch of, the Ais.
• Jobe (Hobe) - A Jaega town.
• Jororo - A small tribe in the upper St. Johns River watershed, related to the Mayacas, and taken into the Spanish mission system late in the 17th century.
• Keys Indians - Name given by the Spanish to Indians living in the Florida Keys in the middle of the 18th century, probably consisted of Calusa and refugees from other tribes to the north.
• Luca - Town near the Withlacoochee River north of Guazoco, passed through by the de Soto expedition.^[24]
• Macapiras or Amacapiras - Known only as refugees at St. Augustine in the mid-17th century, in the company of Jororo and Pojoy peoples.^[25]
• Mayaca people - A small tribe in the upper St. Johns River watershed, related to the Jororos, and taken into the Spanish mission system in the 17th century.
• Mayaimi - Lived around what is now called Lake Okeechobee, very limited contact with Europeans.
• Mayajuaca - Mentioned by Fontaneda in association with the Mayaca.^[26]
• Mocogo
• Mocoso - Chiefdom on the east side of Tampa Bay at the time of the de Soto expedition, had disappeared by the 1560s.^[27]
• Muklasa - Town affiliated with either Alabama people or Koasati (possibly speaking a related language), said to have moved to Florida after the Creek War.^[28]
• Osochi - May have been a Timucua town,^[29]
• Pacara - Believed to be located on the western Florida panhandle coast in the 17th century, and to be allies of and speak the same language as the Amacano and Chine.^[11]
• Pawokti - Town associated with Tawasa, the people may have relocated to Florida panhandle.^[30]
• Pensacola - Lived in the Florida panhandle. May have spoken the same language as the Chatot.^[11]
• Santa Luces - Tribe briefly mentioned in Spanish records from the middle of the 18th century. Santa Lucía was the name the Spanish gave to an Ais town where they had tried to establish a fort and mission in the 17th century.^[31]
• Surruque - Tribe that lived north of the Ais, possibly related to either Ais or the Jororos and Mayacas.
• Tequesta - Lived in southeastern Florida. Spanish made two short-lived attempts to establish a mission with them.
• Timucua - Major group of peoples in northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia speaking a common language. Many of the Timucua-speaker were brought into the mission system. Other peoples speaking Timucua are only poorly known. Known to be part of this large, loosely associated group are the following:
  • Acuera - Lived around the Oklawaha River, part of the mission system.
  • Agua Fresca - Lived along the middle St. Johns River, part of the mission system.
  • Arapaha - May have lived in southern Georgia.
  • Ibi - Lived in southern Georgia, part of the mission system.
  • Itafi (or Icafui) - Lived in southeastern Georgia, part of the mission system. Survivors of the raids by the English and their Indian allies may have relocated to Florida.
  • Mocama - Lived along the coast in northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia, part of the mission system.
    • Saturiwa - Chiefdom on the lower St. Johns River, part of the mission system,
    • Tacatacuru - Chiefdom on Cumberland Island, Georgia. Survivors of the raids by the English and their Indian allies may have relocated to Florida.
  • Northern Utina (Timucua proper) - Lived in north-central Florida, part of the mission system,
  • Ocale - Lived in north-central Florida, part of the mission system.
  • Oconi - Lived in southeastern Georgia.
  • Onatheagua - Lived in north-central Florida, perhaps identifiable as Northern Utina
  • Potano - Chiefdom in north-central Florida, part of the mission system.
  • Tucururu - Lived along the coast in northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia, part of the mission system.
  • Utina - Lived along the middle St. Johns River.
  • Yufera - Lived in southeastern Georgia, part of the mission system. Survivors of the raids by the English and their Indian allies may have relocated to Florida.
  • Yustaga - Lived in north-central Florida, part of the mission system.
• Tocaste - Town near Lake Tsala Apopka, passed through by the de Soto expedition.^[24]
• Tocobaga - Chiefdom on Tampa Bay. Spanish made one unsuccessful attempt to establish a mission.
• Uzita - Chiefdom on the south side of Tampa Bay at the time the de Soto expedition, disappeared by the 1560s.
• Vicela - Town near the Withlacoochee River north of Luca, passed through by the de Soto expedition.^[24]
• Viscaynos - Name given by the Spanish to Indians living in the vicinity of Key Biscayne (Cayo Viscainos) in the 17th century.

18th and 19th centuries

From the beginning of the 18th century, various groups of Native Americans, primarily Creeks from north of present-day Florida, moved into what is now the state. The Creek migrants included Hitchiti and Mikasuki speakers. There were also some non-Creek Yamasee and Yuchi migrants. A series of wars with the United States resulted in the removal of most of the Indians to Oklahoma and the merging of the remainder by ethnogenesis into the current Seminole and Miccosuki tribes of Florida.

20th century

The only Federally recognized tribes in Florida are:

• Miccosukee - One of the two tribes to emerge by ethnogenesis from the migrations into Florida and wars with the United States.
• Seminole - One of the two tribes to emerge by ethnogenesis from the migrations into Florida and wars with the United States.

The State of Florida does not recognize any tribes that have not been recognized by the Federal government.

See also

• Federally recognized tribes
• State recognized tribes#Florida
• Unrecognized tribes#Florida

Notes

References

• Geiger, Maynard. (1940) "Biographical Dictionary of the Franciscans in Spanish Florida and Cuba (1528-1841)." Franciscan Studies. Vol. XXI. Reprinted in David Hurst Thomas, Ed. (1991). The Missions of Spanish Florida. Garland Publishing.
• Hann, John H. (1988) Apalachee: The Land between the rivers. University Presses of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-0854-9
• Hann, John H. (2003) Indians of Central and South Florida: 1513-1763. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-2645-8
• Hann, John H. "Summary Guide to Spanish Florida Missions and Vistas with Churches in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries"
• Mahon, John K. (1985) History of the Second Seminole War: 1835-1942. (Second Edition). University of Florida Press. ISBN 0-8130-1097-7
• Milanich, Jerald T. (1994). Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1273-2. 
• Milanich, Jerald T. (1995) Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1360-7
• Milanich, Jerald T. (2004) "Early Groups of Central and South Florida". In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast (Vol. 14, pp. 213-8). Smithsonian Institution.
• Purdy, Barbara A. (2008). Florida's People During the Last Ice Age. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-3204-7