Mocama was a
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
chiefdomA chiefdom is a type of complex society of varying degrees of centralization that is led by an individual known as a chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a...
that became part of
Spanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish colony of Florida, a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a minor component of the Spanish Empire...
's missionary system in the late 16th century. The Mocama spoke a
TimucuanTimucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida, southern Georgia, and eastern Alabama by the Timucua people. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish arrival, and linguistic and archaeological studies suggest that it may have been...
language. The chiefdom disintegrated in the 17th century, after which the word "Mocama" was generally used to refer to the land where the chiefdom had been. The province of Mocama was situated along the Atlantic coast and
Sea IslandsThe Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. They number over 100, and are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of the U.S. states of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida...
, south of the
Altamaha RiverThe Altamaha River is a major river of the American state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties into the ocean near Brunswick, Georgia. There are no dams directly...
and north of
St. Johns RiverThe St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The elevation drop from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ; like...
, and including
St. Simons IslandSt. Simons is a census-designated place located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. Both the community and the island are commonly considered to be one location, known simply as "St. Simons Island." St. Simons is part of the Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical...
,
Cumberland IslandCumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands. Cumberland is the largest in terms of continuously exposed land area of Georgia's barrier islands, It is located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia and is part of Camden County...
, and
Amelia IslandAmelia Island is one of the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands that stretches along the east coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida. It is long and approximately 4 miles wide at its widest point. Amelia Island is situated south of Cumberland Island,...
, among others.
Mocama was a
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
chiefdomA chiefdom is a type of complex society of varying degrees of centralization that is led by an individual known as a chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a...
that became part of
Spanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish colony of Florida, a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a minor component of the Spanish Empire...
's missionary system in the late 16th century. The Mocama spoke a
TimucuanTimucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida, southern Georgia, and eastern Alabama by the Timucua people. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish arrival, and linguistic and archaeological studies suggest that it may have been...
language. The chiefdom disintegrated in the 17th century, after which the word "Mocama" was generally used to refer to the land where the chiefdom had been. The province of Mocama was situated along the Atlantic coast and
Sea IslandsThe Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. They number over 100, and are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of the U.S. states of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida...
, south of the
Altamaha RiverThe Altamaha River is a major river of the American state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties into the ocean near Brunswick, Georgia. There are no dams directly...
and north of
St. Johns RiverThe St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The elevation drop from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ; like...
, and including
St. Simons IslandSt. Simons is a census-designated place located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. Both the community and the island are commonly considered to be one location, known simply as "St. Simons Island." St. Simons is part of the Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical...
,
Cumberland IslandCumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands. Cumberland is the largest in terms of continuously exposed land area of Georgia's barrier islands, It is located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia and is part of Camden County...
, and
Amelia IslandAmelia Island is one of the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain of barrier islands that stretches along the east coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida. It is long and approximately 4 miles wide at its widest point. Amelia Island is situated south of Cumberland Island,...
, among others. Cumberland Island seems to have been where the largest settlements were, although St. Simons Island and Amelia Island were important settlement areas as well.
Between 1675 and 1680, the
WestoThe Westo were a Native American tribe of the 17th century. They probably spoke an Iroquoian language. They were called Chichimeco by the Spanish , and, possibly, Richahecrian by Virginians...
tribe, backed by the English colonies of
South CarolinaThe Province of Carolina from 1663 to 1712, was a colony of British America, controlled by the Lords Proprietary, a group of eight English noblemen led informally by member Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury...
and
VirginiaThe Colony of Virginia was the English colony in British America that existed briefly during the 16th century, and then continuously from 1607 until the American Revolution...
, along with attacks by English-supported pirates, destroyed the Spanish mission system in Mocama. The few "refugee missions" that continued to exist were destroyed during South Carolina's 1702 invasion of Spanish Florida. Mocama became too depopulated and helpless to resist the establishment of the colony of
GeorgiaThe Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
by James Oglethorpe in 1733.
A similar missionary province called
GualeGuale was a Native American chiefdom that became part of Spanish Florida's Roman Catholic missionary system in the late 16th century. The people lived along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
(also named for a chiefdom) was situated just north of Mocama, on the coast between the Altamaha River and the
Savannah RiverThe Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
. Its history is similar to Mocama, and its fate the same.