Saturiwa

Last updated
Saturiwa
Lemoy011.jpg
One of Theodor de Bry's engravings, supposedly based on drawings by Jacques LeMoyne, depicting Chief Saturiwa preparing his men for battle
Total population
Extinct as tribe
Regions with significant populations
North Florida around the mouth of the St. Johns River (present-day Jacksonville)
Languages
Timucuan language, Mocama dialect
Religion
Native
Related ethnic groups
Timucua

The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered on the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. They were the largest and best attested chiefdom of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timucuan and lived in the coastal areas of present-day northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. They were a prominent political force in the early days of European settlement in Florida, forging friendly relations with the French Huguenot settlers at Fort Caroline in 1564 and later becoming heavily involved in the Spanish mission system.

Contents

The Saturiwa are so called after their chief at the time of contact with the Europeans, Saturiwa . At that time the chief's main village was located on the south bank of the St. Johns River, and he was sovereign over thirty other chiefs and their villages. Chief Saturiwa allied with the French, who built Fort Caroline in Saturiwa territory, and later aided them against the Spanish of St. Augustine. After the French were dislodged from Florida, the Saturiwa made peace with the Spanish, who established Mission San Juan del Puerto near their main village. Like other Florida native peoples, the Saturiwa were decimated by new infectious diseases and warfare through the 17th century. They disappear from the historical record by the start of the 18th century; surviving Saturiwa likely merged with other Timucua and lost their independent identity. [1]

Area

The main village of the Saturiwa was located in present-day Jacksonville, Florida, on the south bank of the St. Johns River, near its mouth. According to the French records, Chief Saturiwa was the sovereign over thirty other village chiefs, ten of whom were his "brothers". [2] The villages of Saturiwa's alliance were concentrated around the mouth of the St. Johns River, and were dispersed upriver and along the adjacent Atlantic coast from St. Augustine north to the St. Marys River, at the border of present-day Georgia. [3] Up the St. Johns to the west, toward present-day downtown Jacksonville, were the villages of Omoloa, Casti, and Malica. The northern extent of Saturiwa's authority was the village of Caravay or Sarabay, possibly on Little Talbot Island. Another village, Alimacani, was located on Fort George Island across the river from the main village. [4] There were additional villages located along the coast to the south, including Seloy, which later became the site of the Spanish colony of St. Augustine. [5]

To the north of the Saturiwa were other Mocama-speaking peoples, including the Tacatacuru. The main village of the Tacatacuru was on Cumberland Island in what is now Georgia, and they evidently controlled other villages on the coast. [4] Farther up the river to the southwest, in an area extending from roughly Palatka to Lake George, were the Utina, another Timucua group who were often at war with the Saturiwa. [6] The area between Jacksonville and Palatka was relatively less populated; it is possible that this region served as a buffer between the Saturiwa and the Utina. [6]

History

The history of the Saturiwa prior to contact with Europeans is obscure. The area had been inhabited by indigenous peoples for thousands of years; there is evidence of pottery dating to 2500 BC. [7] Like other Mocama, the Saturiwa participated in the Savannah archaeological culture, [8] and also the St. Johns culture. [9]

Athore, son of the Timucuan king Saturiwa, showing Laudonniere the monument placed by Jean Ribault. LemoyneRibaultMon.jpg
Athore, son of the Timucuan king Saturiwa, showing Laudonnière the monument placed by Jean Ribault.

The Saturiwa met the French Huguenot expedition under Jean Ribault when it explored the area in 1562, though the French did not record any name for them at that time. [1] Two years later, the Saturiwa again met the French when they returned to the area to found Fort Caroline. [1]

Chief Saturiwa forged friendly relations with the French settlers, trading and exchanging gifts with the newcomers and allowing them to establish Fort Caroline in his territory. [1] He offered to assist in the construction of the fort; the colony's governor, René Goulaine de Laudonnière took up the offer, and the Saturiwa provided a palm-thatched roof for the barn. Saturiwa intended for this pact of friendship to compel Laudonnière to aid him against his enemies, the Utina, who lived upriver to the southwest. Laudonnière, however, refused to join an assault against the powerful Utina, which soured relations between the two parties. The French eventually repaired the relationship with the Saturiwa, but in 1565 Fort Caroline was sacked by Spanish forces under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who had recently founded St. Augustine.

The Saturiwa initially resisted the Spanish. In 1566 they joined the Potano and Mayaca against the Agua Dulce and their Spanish allies. In 1567 the Saturiwa, together with the Tacatacuru and others, aided Dominique de Gourgue in an assault on Spanish-held Fort Caroline. Eventually, however, the Saturiwa submitted to the Spanish, who founded some of their first missions in Florida in their territory. The principal mission of the Saturiwa was San Juan del Puerto, located near Alicamani on Fort George Island, where Francisco Pareja undertook his works on the Timucua language. [1]

The Saturiwa became the primary tribe in the Spanish mission system, but their fortunes declined markedly through the 17th century. By 1601, they were subject to the head chief of "San Pedro" (Tacatacuru), according to Spanish records. [10] They were severely affected by outbreaks of disease that wracked Florida in 1617 and again in 1672. Their missions are mentioned in lists in 1675 and 1680, though the lists indicate a dwindling population. After this they disappear from the record. It is likely that any surviving Saturiwa merged with other Timucua groups, and lost their independent identity. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Swanton, pp. 138–139.
  2. ↑ Milanich, p. 48.
  3. ↑ Deagan 1978
  4. 1 2 Milanich, p. 49.
  5. ↑ Hann, p. 38–39.
  6. 1 2 Milanich, p. 53.
  7. ↑ Soergel, Matt (18 Oct 2009). "The Mocama: New name for an old people". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  8. ↑ Milanich, p. 51.
  9. ↑ Worth, p. 20–21.
  10. ↑ Deagan, p. 91.

Related Research Articles

Fort Caroline 139 acres in Florida (US) managed by the National Park Service

Fort Caroline was an attempted French colonial settlement in Florida, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in present-day Duval County. It was established under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière on June 22, 1564, as a new territorial claim in French Florida and a safe haven for Huguenots, who were being persecuted in France because they were Protestant, rather than Catholic. The French colony came into conflict with the Spanish, who established St. Augustine in September 1565, and Fort Caroline was sacked by Spanish troops under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on September 20. The Spanish continued to occupy the site as San Mateo until 1569.

San Juan del Puerto, Florida Spanish mission in Florida

San Juan del Puerto was a Spanish Franciscan mission founded before 1587 on Fort George Island, near the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded to serve the Saturiwa, a Timucua tribe who lived around the mouth of the St. Johns. It was organized by separating them into nine smaller villages. It has an important place in the study of the Timucua, as the place where Francisco Pareja undertook his work on the Timucua language.

Timucua language Extinct language in Florida and Georgia, USA

Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua peoples. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish colonization in Florida. Differences among the nine or ten Timucua dialects were slight, and appeared to serve mostly to delineate band or tribal boundaries. Some linguists suggest that the Tawasa of what is now northern Alabama may have spoken Timucua, but this is disputed.

The Potano tribe lived in north-central Florida at the time of first European contact. Their territory included what is now Alachua County, the northern half of Marion County and the western part of Putnam County. This territory corresponds to that of the Alachua culture, which lasted from about 700 until 1700. The Potano were among the many tribes of the Timucua people, and spoke a dialect of the Timucua language.

The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their territory extended from about the Altamaha River in Georgia to south of St. Augustine, Florida, covering the Sea Islands and the inland waterways, including the mouth of the St. Johns River in present-day Jacksonville and the Intracoastal. At the time of contact with Europeans, there were two major chiefdoms among the Mocama, the Saturiwa and the Tacatacuru, each of which evidently had authority over multiple villages.

Saturiwa (chief)

Saturiwa was chief of the Saturiwa tribe, a Timucua chiefdom centered at the mouth of the St. Johns River in Florida, during the 16th century. His main village, also known as Saturiwa, was located on the south bank of the river near its mouth, and according to French sources he was sovereign over thirty other village chiefs. Chief Saturiwa was a prominent figure in the early days of European settlement in Florida, forging friendly relations with the French Huguenot settlers, who founded Fort Caroline in his territory.

Spanish missions in Florida Missions serving Native Americans in Spanish Florida

Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout La Florida in order to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France. Spanish Florida originally included much of what is now the Southeastern United States, although Spain never exercised long-term effective control over more than the northern part of what is now the State of Florida from present-day St. Augustine to the area around Tallahassee, southeastern Georgia, and some coastal settlements, such as Pensacola, Florida. A few short-lived missions were established in other locations, including Mission Santa Elena in present-day South Carolina, around the Florida peninsula, and in the interior of Georgia and Alabama.

Mayaca was the name used by the Spanish to refer to a Native American tribe in central Florida, to the principal village of that tribe and to the chief of that village in the 1560s. The Mayacas occupied an area in the upper St. Johns River valley just to the south of Lake George. According to Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, the Mayaca language was related to that of the Ais, a tribe living along the Atlantic coast of Florida to the southeast of the Mayacas. The Mayacas were hunter-fisher-gatherers, and were not known to practice agriculture to any significant extent, unlike their neighbors to the north, the Utina, or Agua Dulce (Freshwater) Timucua. The Mayaca shared a ceramics tradition with the Freshwater Timucua, rather than the Ais.

Mission San Pedro de Mocama was a Spanish colonial Franciscan mission on Cumberland Island, on the coast of the present-day U.S. state of Georgia, from the late 16th century through the mid-17th century. It was built to serve the Tacatacuru, a Mocama Timucua people.

Acuera was the name of both an indigenous town and a province or region in central Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. The indigenous people of Acuera spoke a dialect of the Timucua language. In 1539 the town first encountered Europeans when it was raided by soldiers of Hernando de Soto's expedition. French colonists also knew this town during their brief tenure (1564–1565) in northern Florida.

Francisco Pareja was a Franciscan missionary in Spanish Florida, where he was primarily assigned to San Juan del Puerto. The Spaniard became a spokesman for the Franciscan community to the Spanish and colonial governments, was a leader among the missionaries, and served as custodio for the community in Florida. After the Franciscan organization was promoted to a provincia (province), Pareja was elected by his fellow missionaries as provincial in 1616.

The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the Timucua language. At the time of European contact, Timucuan speakers occupied about 19,200 square miles (50,000 km2) in the present-day states of Florida and Georgia, with an estimated population of 200,000. Milanich notes that the population density calculated from those figures, 10.4 per square mile (4.0/km2) is close to the population densities calculated by other authors for the Bahamas and for Hispaniola at the time of first European contact. The territory occupied by Timucua speakers stretched from the Altamaha River and Cumberland Island in present-day Georgia as far south as Lake George in central Florida, and from the Atlantic Ocean west to the Aucilla River in the Florida Panhandle, though it reached the Gulf of Mexico at no more than a couple of points.

The Agua Dulce or Agua Fresca (Freshwater) were a Timucua people of northeastern Florida. They lived in the St. Johns River watershed north of Lake George, and spoke a dialect of the Timucua language also known as Agua Dulce.

Tacatacuru was a Timucua chiefdom located on Cumberland Island in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was one of two chiefdoms of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timucuan and lived in the coastal areas of southeastern Georgia and northern Florida.

Northern Utina Extinct Native American people in Florida

The Northern Utina, also known as the Timucua or simply Utina, were a Timucua people of northern Florida. They lived north of the Santa Fe River and east of the Suwannee River, and spoke a dialect of the Timucua language known as "Timucua proper". They appear to have been closely associated with the Yustaga people, who lived on the other side of the Suwannee. The Northern Utina represented one of the most powerful tribal units in the region in the 16th and 17th centuries, and may have been organized as a loose chiefdom or confederation of smaller chiefdoms. The Fig Springs archaeological site may be the remains of their principal village, Ayacuto, and the later Spanish mission of San Martín de Timucua.

The Ibi, also known as the Yui or Ibihica, were a Timucua chiefdom in the present-day U.S. state of Georgia during the 16th and 17th centuries. They lived in southeastern Georgia, about 50 miles from the coast. Like their neighbors, the Icafui tribe, they spoke a dialect of the Timucua language called Itafi.

The Yustaga were a Timucua people of what is now northwestern Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. The westernmost Timucua group, they lived between the Aucilla and Suwannee Rivers in the Florida Panhandle, just east of the Apalachee people. A dominant force in regional tribal politics, they may have been organized as a loose regional chiefdom consisting of up to eight smaller local chiefdoms.

San Buenaventura de Potano was a Spanish mission near Orange Lake in southern Alachua County or northern Marion County, Florida, located on the site where the town of Potano had been located when it was visited by Hernando de Soto in 1539. The Richardson/UF Village Site (8AL100), in southern Alachua County, has been proposed as the location of the town and mission.

San Buenaventura de Guadalquini or San Buenaventura de Boadalquivi was a Spanish mission located on St. Simon's Island, Georgia, United States from between 1597 and 1609 until 1684, when pirates burned the mission and its town. The mission moved to the north side of the St. Johns River near its mouth, in present day Duval County, Florida under the name of Santa Cruz de Guadalquini or Santa Cruz y San Buenaventura de Guadalquini for a few years before merging with the mission San Juan del Puerto.

Arapaha was a Timucua town on the Alapaha River in the 17th century. The name was also sometimes used to designate a province or sub-province in Spanish Florida.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.