Timucua
The Timucua were a
American Indian people who lived in
Northeast and
North Central Florida and southeast
Georgia. The various groups of Timucua spoke dialects of the
Timucua language. At the time of
European contact, Timucuan territory stretched from the Altamaha River in present-day Georgia as far south as
Orlando in the interior, and from the
Atlantic coast to the Aucilla River, yet never reaching the
Gulf of Mexico. Their center of power was along the
St. Johns River from about
Jacksonville to the upper basin; the area around St. Augustine was also important.
Encyclopedia
The
Timucua were a
American Indian people who lived in
Northeast and
North Central Florida and southeast
Georgia. The various groups of Timucua spoke dialects of the
Timucua language. At the time of
European contact, Timucuan territory stretched from the Altamaha River in present-day Georgia as far south as
Orlando in the interior, and from the
Atlantic coast to the Aucilla River, yet never reaching the
Gulf of Mexico. Their center of power was along the
St. Johns River from about
Jacksonville to the upper basin; the area around St. Augustine was also important.
Their name may come from the word
atimoqua which means "lord" or "chief" in their own language, allegedly mistaken by the Spanish as the name of one of their chiefs. Another story is that the word Timucua comes from the word
thimogona, meaning "my enemy" in the local tongue. Other names for the Timucua include Atimuca, Thimapoa, Tomoca and Utina. The population of the Timucua people at the time of European contact has been estimated to be around 50,000 people. The Timucua were organized in a number of chiefdoms at the time of European contact, and there is no reason to believe that they ever formed a single political unit. The various groups of Timucua speakers practiced several different cultural traditions at the time of European contact.
History
The
pre-Colombian era was marked by regular, routine, and probably small tribal wars with neighbors. The Timucuans may have been the first
American Indians to see the landing of
Juan Ponce de León near St. Augustine in 1513. Later, in 1528,
Pánfilo de Narváez' expedition passed along the western fringes of the Timucua territory.[1539]], Hernando de Sotò led an army of more than 500 men through the western parts of Timucua territory, stopping in a series of villages of the Ocale,
Potano, Northern Utino and Uzachile branchs of the Timucua on his way to the
Apalachee domain. His army seized the food stored in the villages, took women for consorts and forced men and boys to serve as guides and bearers. The army fought two battles with the Timucua, resulting in heavy Timucua casualties. De Sotò was in a hurry to reach the Apalachee domain, where he expected to find gold and sufficient food to support his army through the winter, and did not linger in Timucua territory.
Notes
References
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- Hann, John. A History of the Timucua Indians and Missions. University Press of Florida.
- Milanich, Jerald T. . "Timucua." In R. D. Fogelson , Southeast . Handbook of North American Indians . Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
- Milanich, Jerald T. The Timucua. Blackwell Publications, Oxford, UK, 1996.
- Mooney, James. . Timucua. Bureau of American Ethnology, bulletin .
- Sturtevant, William C. . . Handbook of North American Indians . Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. .
- Swanton, John R. . The Indians of the southeastern United States. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology bulletin . Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
- Worth, John. The Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida: Volume I: Assimilation, Volume II: Resistance and Destruction. University of Florida Press.
