Acuera
Encyclopedia
Acuera was reported to be the tribal headsman of a community of indigenous people
of the same name. The Acuera were a Timucua
people who flourished, in the north central region what is now called Florida
, at the time of Europe
an arrival in the 16th century but, after fiercely defending their homeland from European conquest, their numbers waned as a result of diseases brought by the invaders and later missionaries. Those remaining reformed new communities with others and survive to this day as Creek, Seminole
and other tribes. They lived primarily along the Ocklawaha River
and its watershed around Lake Apopka
.
After raiding and pillaging many of the Caribbean islands, the Spanish began to invade the continental mainland of what is now called North America. They called it 'land of flowers' or Florida. While there were many who recorded the events of the day, some of the most precious records were made by an Indian — 'El Inca', a.k.a. Garcilaso de la Vega
(offspring of a woman of Inca royalty and a Spaniard). He was the first American Indian author to be published and gives us insights and details not to be found elsewhere, a near-contemporary history about Indians, by an Indian.
Garcilaso reported that the Spaniards' reputation preceded their invasion of 1539:
The insolent reply of the lord of the province of Acuera.
The whole army had now reassembled in the province of Acuera. Eventually both men and horses were able to assuage the great hunger they had suffered during the past days. Then with his customary clemency, the Governor sent messages to the Cacique Acuera by some of his own vassals whom the Spaniards had captured. In these communications, he begged that chieftain to come out peacefully and accept the Castilians as his friends and brothers, since they too were warriors and people of valor. Then he warned:
The Cacique Acuera's reply to the Governor's message was insolent.
In reply to what was said about his rendering obedience to the King of Spain, the Cacique continued:
Then apropos of the subject of vassalage and the Governor's statement that the Spaniards were servants of the Emperor and King of Castile, for whose empire they now were conquering new lands, the Cacique retorted:
On hearing the Indian's reply, Governor de Soto was astonished that a barbarian should manage to say such things with so much arrogance and loftiness in spirit. In consequence he persisted even more in his efforts to win the friendship of this man, sending him from then on many affectionately and courteously worded communications. But the Curaca told all subsequent messengers who came to him he had given his answer and never intended to give any others. And he never did.
The Army remained 20 days in this province while recovering from the hunger and fatigue of the previous journey and making necessary preparations for advancing. Meanwhile, the Governor tried to obtain information concerning the province, and for the purpose sent out runners to all parts of it, instructing them to observe and record carefully and diligently whatever good qualities it might possess.
During these 20 days, the Indians never slept and were always on the alert. To fulfill the fierce threats of the Curaca and to prove that his promises to the Castilians had not been made vainly, they ambushed their enemies so cautiously and skillfully that not a single Spaniard who strayed so much as 100 yards from the camp escaped being shot and beheaded at once. And in spite of the great haste the men made to assist their companions at such times, they always found them decapitated, for the Indians had carried the heads to their Cacique in obedience to his command. The Christians buried their dead where they found them; during the night the Indians returned, dug them up, cut them into pieces, and hung them the trees where the Spaniards could see them. Thus they fulfilled well the Cacique's command that he be brought two Christian heads each week. Indeed they fulfilled it so well that in two days they carried him four heads (two each day); and during the time that the Spaniards were in their land, they took him in all 14 heads. Moreover, they wounded many of the men.
When the Indians came out of the forest to attack, they were very cautious about their own security, staying so near their lurking place that they could do all harm possible without letting a single opportunity slip and then return unhampered to safety. The Spaniards began to realize that there was some truth in the threats made by the natives all along the road through this great marshy area when they shouted at them: "Advance, thieves and traitors, for here in Acuera and further on in Apalache you will be treated as you deserve, since all of you, after being quartered and cut into pieces, will be hung on the largest trees along the road".
Because of the vigilance and caution of the Indians in their ambushes, the Spaniards, regardless of how persistently they tried, were unable to slay more than 50 of them during the whole time they were in the province of Acuera".
At the end of 20 days, the Governor departed with his men from the province of Acuera, having avoided doing any damage to either towns or fields lest the Spaniards be looked upon as cruel and inhuman..."
Their existence was again noted later by Europe
ans in April 1564 when a French
Huguenot
expedition under Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere
went up the St. Johns to the mouth of the Ocklawaha and found several fortified villages. They were protected by palm trunk walls and united by roads cut through the surrounding forests. The people themselves were described as "splendid physical specimens" who had well-tended fields and abundant fish and game. Their religion appeared to be based on the stars and the moon, and recognized the sun as the primary deity. Each spring, the Acuera held a special ceremony honoring this supreme god and made offerings to it.
In 1566, Spain
sent Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
to eradicate the French toehold in Florida. This included an expedition up the St. Johns, where his men also noted the Acuera villages. But, the tribe was hostile to them, intent upon preventing them from going further upriver than the narrows at Lake George
near modern Astor
. Not only did they place log barriers in the water, they also launched an archery strike that forced the expedition to return to St. Augustine
.
Spanish priests were more successful in penetrating the Acuera homeland, establishing Roman Catholic missions
among them by 1616. These included the missions of San Luis and Santa Lucia, where the natives were encouraged to give up mere subsistence in favor of full-time farming. Unfortunately, these priests brought new diseases to the remote tribe, decimating their numbers until they were forced to abandon the missions altogether by 1675.
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
of the same name. The Acuera were a Timucua
Timucua
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...
people who flourished, in the north central region what is now called Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, at the time of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an arrival in the 16th century but, after fiercely defending their homeland from European conquest, their numbers waned as a result of diseases brought by the invaders and later missionaries. Those remaining reformed new communities with others and survive to this day as Creek, Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
and other tribes. They lived primarily along the Ocklawaha River
Ocklawaha River
The Ocklawaha River flows north from central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is a corruption of ak-lowahe, Creek for "muddy"....
and its watershed around Lake Apopka
Lake Apopka
Lake Apopka is the third largest lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is located northwest of Orlando, mostly within the bounds of Orange County, although the western part is in Lake County. Fed by a natural spring, rainfall and stormwater runoff, water from Lake Apopka flows through the...
.
After raiding and pillaging many of the Caribbean islands, the Spanish began to invade the continental mainland of what is now called North America. They called it 'land of flowers' or Florida. While there were many who recorded the events of the day, some of the most precious records were made by an Indian — 'El Inca', a.k.a. Garcilaso de la Vega
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso de la Vega , born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, was a historian and writer from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. The son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman, he is recognized primarily for his contributions to Inca history, culture, and society...
(offspring of a woman of Inca royalty and a Spaniard). He was the first American Indian author to be published and gives us insights and details not to be found elsewhere, a near-contemporary history about Indians, by an Indian.
Garcilaso reported that the Spaniards' reputation preceded their invasion of 1539:
"This very Fertile province where the Governor [Hernando de Soto] was found encamped was called Acuera. It lies some twenty leagues from the province of Urribarracuxi on a line running more or less north and south. The lord of the place, who also was called Acuera, on learning of the arrival of the Spaniards in his land, fled with all of his people to the forest".
The insolent reply of the lord of the province of Acuera.
The whole army had now reassembled in the province of Acuera. Eventually both men and horses were able to assuage the great hunger they had suffered during the past days. Then with his customary clemency, the Governor sent messages to the Cacique Acuera by some of his own vassals whom the Spaniards had captured. In these communications, he begged that chieftain to come out peacefully and accept the Castilians as his friends and brothers, since they too were warriors and people of valor. Then he warned:
"Should you fail to do so, my men can cause much damage to your vassals and your lands. But I would have you know and rest assured that we come with no intention of harming anyone and have not harmed anyone in the provinces we have left behind. Instead we have extended cordial friendship to those desiring to receive it. Our principal purpose is to reduce by peaceful and friendly means all the provinces and nations of this great kingdom to the obedience and service of our lord, the mighty Emperor and King of Castile, whose servants all Spaniards are. It is for the purpose of discussing such things more at length and of informing you of the command that my sovereign and master has asked me to communicate to the rulers of this land that I now desire to see and talk with you".
The Cacique Acuera's reply to the Governor's message was insolent.
"I have long since learned who you Castilians are," he said, "through others of you who came years ago to my land; and I already know very well what your customs and behavior are like. To me you are professional vagabonds who wander from place to place, gaining your livelihood by robbing, sacking and murdering people who have given you no offense. I want no manner of friendship or peace with people such as you, but instead prefer mortal and perpetual enmity. Granted that you are as valiant as you boast of being. I have no fear of you, since neither I nor my vassals consider ourselves inferior to you in valor; and to prove our gallantry, I promise to maintain war upon you so long as you wish to remain in my province, not by fighting in the open, although I could do so, but by ambushing and waylaying you whenever you are off guard. I therefore notify and advise you to protect yourselves and act cautiously with me and my people, for I have commanded my vassals to bring me two Christian heads weekly, this number and no more. I shall be content to behead only two of you each week since I thus can slay all of you within a few years; for even though you may colonize and settle, you cannot perpetuate yourselves because you have not brought women to produce children and pass your generation forward".
In reply to what was said about his rendering obedience to the King of Spain, the Cacique continued:
"I am king in my land, and it is unnecessary for me to become the subject of a person who has no more vassals than I. I regard those men as vile and contemptible who subject themselves to the yoke of someone else when they can live as free men. Accordingly, I and all of my people have vowed to die a hundred deaths to maintain the freedom of our land. This is our answer, both for the present and forevermore".
Then apropos of the subject of vassalage and the Governor's statement that the Spaniards were servants of the Emperor and King of Castile, for whose empire they now were conquering new lands, the Cacique retorted:
"I should congratulate you warmly, but I hold you in even less esteem now that you have confessed that you are servants and that you are working and gaining kingdoms so that another may rule them and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Since in such an undertaking you are suffering hunger, fatigue and other hardships as well as risking your own lives, it would be more to your honor and advantage to acquire things for yourselves and your descendants rather than for someone else. But being so contemptible and as yet unable to rid yourselves of the stigma of servitude, you should never at any time expect friendship from me, for I could not use my friendship so basely. Furthermore, I do not wish to know what your sovereign demands, for I am well aware of what has to be done in this land, and of what manner I am to use in dealing with you. Therefore, all of you should go away as quickly as you can if you do not want to perish at my hands".
On hearing the Indian's reply, Governor de Soto was astonished that a barbarian should manage to say such things with so much arrogance and loftiness in spirit. In consequence he persisted even more in his efforts to win the friendship of this man, sending him from then on many affectionately and courteously worded communications. But the Curaca told all subsequent messengers who came to him he had given his answer and never intended to give any others. And he never did.
The Army remained 20 days in this province while recovering from the hunger and fatigue of the previous journey and making necessary preparations for advancing. Meanwhile, the Governor tried to obtain information concerning the province, and for the purpose sent out runners to all parts of it, instructing them to observe and record carefully and diligently whatever good qualities it might possess.
During these 20 days, the Indians never slept and were always on the alert. To fulfill the fierce threats of the Curaca and to prove that his promises to the Castilians had not been made vainly, they ambushed their enemies so cautiously and skillfully that not a single Spaniard who strayed so much as 100 yards from the camp escaped being shot and beheaded at once. And in spite of the great haste the men made to assist their companions at such times, they always found them decapitated, for the Indians had carried the heads to their Cacique in obedience to his command. The Christians buried their dead where they found them; during the night the Indians returned, dug them up, cut them into pieces, and hung them the trees where the Spaniards could see them. Thus they fulfilled well the Cacique's command that he be brought two Christian heads each week. Indeed they fulfilled it so well that in two days they carried him four heads (two each day); and during the time that the Spaniards were in their land, they took him in all 14 heads. Moreover, they wounded many of the men.
When the Indians came out of the forest to attack, they were very cautious about their own security, staying so near their lurking place that they could do all harm possible without letting a single opportunity slip and then return unhampered to safety. The Spaniards began to realize that there was some truth in the threats made by the natives all along the road through this great marshy area when they shouted at them: "Advance, thieves and traitors, for here in Acuera and further on in Apalache you will be treated as you deserve, since all of you, after being quartered and cut into pieces, will be hung on the largest trees along the road".
Because of the vigilance and caution of the Indians in their ambushes, the Spaniards, regardless of how persistently they tried, were unable to slay more than 50 of them during the whole time they were in the province of Acuera".
At the end of 20 days, the Governor departed with his men from the province of Acuera, having avoided doing any damage to either towns or fields lest the Spaniards be looked upon as cruel and inhuman..."
Their existence was again noted later by Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans in April 1564 when a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
expedition under Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere
René Goulaine de Laudonnière
René Goulaine de Laudonnière was a French Huguenot explorer and the founder of the French colony of Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, Florida...
went up the St. Johns to the mouth of the Ocklawaha and found several fortified villages. They were protected by palm trunk walls and united by roads cut through the surrounding forests. The people themselves were described as "splendid physical specimens" who had well-tended fields and abundant fish and game. Their religion appeared to be based on the stars and the moon, and recognized the sun as the primary deity. Each spring, the Acuera held a special ceremony honoring this supreme god and made offerings to it.
In 1566, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
sent Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for several hundred years. St...
to eradicate the French toehold in Florida. This included an expedition up the St. Johns, where his men also noted the Acuera villages. But, the tribe was hostile to them, intent upon preventing them from going further upriver than the narrows at Lake George
Lake George (Florida)
Lake George or Lake Welaka is a broad and shallow brackish lake on the St. Johns River in the U.S. state of Florida.-Geography:Lake George is six miles wide and eleven miles long, with an average depth of 8 feet . The west side of the lake is encompassed in the Ocala National Forest...
near modern Astor
Astor, Florida
Astor is a census-designated place in Lake County, Florida, United States. It is located along the St. Johns River between Lake George and Lake Dexter, across from the community of Volusia. The population was 1,487 at the 2000 census...
. Not only did they place log barriers in the water, they also launched an archery strike that forced the expedition to return to St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
.
Spanish priests were more successful in penetrating the Acuera homeland, establishing Roman Catholic missions
Spanish missions in 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 Indians to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France...
among them by 1616. These included the missions of San Luis and Santa Lucia, where the natives were encouraged to give up mere subsistence in favor of full-time farming. Unfortunately, these priests brought new diseases to the remote tribe, decimating their numbers until they were forced to abandon the missions altogether by 1675.