Tacatacuru

Last updated

Tacatacuru
Total population
Extinct as tribe
Regions with significant populations
Cumberland Island and the adjacent coastal areas of the U.S. state of Georgia
Languages
Timucua language, Mocama dialect
Religion
Native
Related ethnic groups
Timucua

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.

Contents

The Tacatacuru were among the first native tribes to meet French explorer Jean Ribault's expedition in 1562. They appear to have interacted amicably with the French when they people established Fort Caroline in present-day Jacksonville, Florida, in 1564. The Tacatacuru later became deeply involved in the Spanish mission system, and one of the first missions in Spanish Florida, San Pedro de Mocama, was established in their territory. Like other tribes in the area, they were greatly affected by Eurasian diseases and war with other peoples through the 17th century. By 1675, they had abandoned Cumberland Island and relocated south, where they merged with other Timucua peoples and lost their independent identity.

Area

The Tacatacuru occupied Cumberland Island and the adjacent coastal areas of mainland Georgia. Their main village was located toward the southern end of the island. An archaeological site extending from the Dungeness plantation northward along the shore has been identified as the probable location of Tacatacuru. [1] [2] Spanish records indicate there were at least seven other villages on the island and eleven more on the mainland. Other Mocama-speaking Timucua lived in the area, including the Saturiwa, who lived to the south around the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. To the east of the Tacatacuru on the mainland were speakers of the Yufera and Itafi dialects of Timucua; named tribes include the Ibi and the Cascangue or Icafui. [3] The Guale people lived to the north. [4]

History

Cumberland Island and the surrounding area were inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples who preceded the Tacatacuru; these early settlers often lived there in seasonal fishing camps. As did other Mocama peoples, the Tacatacuru participated in the Savannah archaeological culture.

The Tacatacuru met the French Huguenot expedition of Jean Ribault in 1562. The account by Ribault's lieutenant René Goulaine de Laudonnière records a meeting with the natives of the "Seine River" (now known as the St. Marys River) and their chief, though they do not mention any names from this time. The Tacatacuru met the French again when they returned under Laudonnière to establish the colony of Fort Caroline in 1564. The Chief Tacatacuru mentioned in French records from this time may be the earlier leader who met the initial expedition, or his successor. [5]

The Tacatacuru seem to have maintained friendly relations with the French, as well as with the Saturiwa, in whose territory Fort Caroline was established. Spanish forces from St. Augustine destroyed the French outpost in 1565, after which the Tacatacuru, like the Saturiwa, were antagonistic toward them. Both groups were among those Native Americans who aided Dominique de Gourgue in his raid on the Spanish in 1567. [5]

After the Tacatacuru made peace with the Spanish, the latter established a fort and a mission, San Pedro de Mocama, on Cumberland Island near the main Tacatacuru town. [5] This was one of the earliest of the missions in Spanish Florida, as well as one of the most prominent; the church eventually built there was as large as that in St. Augustine. [5] For a time, the garrison marked the northern extent of Spanish power, providing defense against the Guale. In the late 16th century the Tacatacuru chief, Don Juan, was a major supporter of cooperation with the Spanish, and joined them in pushing back the Guale in the revolt of 1597. Juan died three years later, and was succeeded by his niece, Doña Ana. [5] [6] Tacatacuru prominence continued in the early 17th century; in 1601 the Spanish noted that the Cascangue and the once-powerful Saturiwa were then vassals of the Tacatacuru. [7]

San Pedro de Mocama was on the 1655 mission list, and the Tacatacuru do not appear to have taken part in the Timucua rebellion the following year. However, increased pressure from other tribes took its toll on the Tacatacuru, and all survivors abandoned Cumberland Island by 1675, relocating closer to St. Augustine. The island was subsequently occupied by the Yamasee. The remaining Tacatacuru were absorbed into other tribes in Florida and lost their independent identity. [5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Milanich, p. 49.
  2. ↑ Milanich, Jerald T. (January 1972). "Tacatacuru and the San Pedro de Mocama Mission". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 50: 283–291. JSTOR   30145847.
  3. ↑ Milanich, p. 50.
  4. ↑ Milanich, p. 98.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Swanton, p. 144.
  6. ↑ Worth, p. 58.
  7. ↑ Deagan, p. 91.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Caroline</span> Attempted French colonial settlement in Florida

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 22 June 1564, following King Charles IX's enlisting of Jean Ribault and his Huguenot settlers to stake a claim in French Florida ahead of Spain. 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 20 September. The Spanish continued to occupy the site as San Mateo until 1569.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Juan del Puerto, Florida</span> 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.

Tocobaga was the name of a chiefdom, its chief, and its principal town during the 16th century. The chiefdom was centered around the northern end of Old Tampa Bay, the arm of Tampa Bay that extends between the present-day city of Tampa and northern Pinellas County. The exact location of the principal town is believed to be the archeological Safety Harbor site, which gives its name to the Safety Harbor culture, of which the Tocobaga are the most well-known group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timucua language</span> 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 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 heartland extended from about the Altamaha River in Georgia to south of the mouth of the St. John's River, covering the Sea Islands and the inland waterways, Intracoastal. and much of present-day Jacksonville. 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. The Saturiwa controlled chiefdoms stretching to modern day St. Augustine, but the native peoples of these chiefdoms have been identified by Pareja as speaking Agua Salada, which may have been a distinct dialect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saturiwa (chief)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish missions in Florida</span> Catholic religious outposts

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish missions in Georgia</span> Catholic religious outposts

The Spanish missions in Georgia comprised a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics in order to spread the Christian doctrine among the Guale and various Timucua peoples in southeastern Georgia.

San Lorenzo de Ibihica was a Spanish Franciscan mission built in the early 17th century in the southeast of the present-day U.S. state of Georgia. It was part of Spain's effort to colonize the region of Spanish Florida and convert the Timucua to Catholicism. It served the Ibi people, also known as the Yui or Ibihica, a Timucua group of the area.

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.

Santa Catalina de Guale (1602-1702) was a Spanish Franciscan mission and town in Spanish Florida. Part of Spain's effort to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism, Santa Catalina served as the provincial headquarters of the Guale mission province. It also served various non-religious functions, such as providing food and labor for the colonial capital of St. Augustine. The mission was located on St. Catherines Island from 1602 to 1680, then on Sapelo Island from 1680 to 1684, and finally on Amelia Island from 1684 to 1702.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timucua</span> Native American people

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saturiwa</span> Timucua chiefdom in Spanish Florida

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agua Dulce people</span> Timucua tribe in Spanish Florida

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Utina</span> 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 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.

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.