Mocama
Encyclopedia
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 Europe
ans, there were two major chiefdoms among the Mocama, the Saturiwa
and the Tacatacuru
, each of which evidently had authority over multiple villages.
The Spanish
came to refer to the entire area as the Mocama Province, and incorporated it into their mission system
. The Mocama Province was severely depopulated in the 17th century by infectious disease and warfare with other Indian tribes and the English
colonies to the north. Surviving Mocama refugees relocated to St. Augustine
. Together with Guale
survivors, 89 "mission Indians" evacuated with the Spanish to Cuba
in 1763, after they ceded the territory to Great Britain.
on Black Hammock Island in Jacksonville, Florida
's Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
. The team also excavated more recent artifacts contemporary with the Mocama chiefdoms and some that indicate a Spanish mission. Around AD 1000 peoples of the area were engaged in long-distance trading with Mississippian culture
centers, including Cahokia
(in present-day Illinois
) and Macon, Georgia
. Before and during European contact, the peoples of the region spoke the Mocama dialect of the Timucua language
and participated in similar cultures, for instance in their use of distinctive grog-tempered pottery known as San Pedro pottery.
The Mocama dialect is the best attested dialect of the Timucua language
. Some scholars, including Jerald T. Milanich
and Edgar H. Sturtevant
, consider the dialect known as Agua Salada, spoken in an unspecified stretch of the Florida coast south of the Mocama Province, to be identical. However, other evidence suggests that Agua Salada was distinct, and more closely related to the western dialects like Potano
than to Mocama.
The French
Huguenot
explorers, who first arrived in Florida in 1562, recorded two major chiefdoms in the Mocama region at that time, the Saturiwa
and the Tacatacuru
. The Saturiwa, whose main village was on Fort George Island, were friendly towards the French and aided them in establishing Fort Caroline
in their territory. Huguenot leader René Goulaine de Laudonnière
records that their chief, who was known as Saturiwa, had sovereignty over thirty villages and their chiefs, ten of whom were his "brothers". These villages were located around the mouth of the St. Johns River
and nearby inland waterways. Other Mocama-speaking groups lived in the coastal areas to the north, from Amelia Island
in Florida to St. Simons Island in Georgia. The Tacatacuru chiefdom was centered on Cumberland Island
and evidently controlled villages on the coast.
When the Spanish
destroyed the French stronghold of Fort Caroline, both the Saturiwa and the Tacatacuru aided the French and opposed the Spanish, but they eventually made peace. As Mocama was spoken across the area, the Spanish came to refer to it as the Mocama Province, and incorporated it into their mission system
. It was one of the four provinces that made up the bulk of the Spanish mission effort in the region, the others being the Timucua Province (covering the Timucua groups to the west of the St. Johns River), the Guale Province, and the Apalachee Province
. The Spanish founded three major missions in the Mocama Province: San Juan del Puerto at Saturiwa on Fort George Island, San Pedro de Mocama
at Tacatacuru on Cumberland Island, and Santa Maria de Sena between them on Amelia Island.
Due to severe population losses from infectious disease
and warfare with northern Indian tribes and the English
from South Carolina
, the Mocama polity disintegrated in the 17th century. After that, the Spanish and later settlers used the term "Mocama" to refer to the land where the chiefdoms had been. Between 1675 and 1680, the Westo
tribe, backed by the English colonies of South Carolina
and Virginia
, along with attacks by English-supported pirates, destroyed the Spanish mission system in Mocama.
The few remaining "refugee missions" were destroyed by South Carolina's invasion of Spanish Florida in 1702 during Queen Anne's War
. By 1733, the Mocama and Guale
chiefdoms had become too depopulated and helpless to resist James Oglethorpe
's founding of the English colony of Georgia
.
In their colonial period, the Spanish established a missionary province at the Guale
chiefdom just north of Mocama, on the Georgia coast between the Altamaha River and the Savannah River
. Its history was similar to that of Mocama, and its fate was the same. Remnants of both chiefdoms retreated south to St. Augustine. In 1763, their descendants were among the 89 "mission Indians" evacuated to Cuba with the Spanish.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern 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...
and southeastern Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. 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...
group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language
Timucua language
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua people. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish arrival in Florida. Linguistic and archaeological studies suggest that it may have been spoken from...
. Their territory extended from about the Altamaha River
Altamaha River
The 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...
in Georgia to south of St. Augustine, Florida
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...
, covering the Sea Islands
Sea Islands
The 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...
and the inland waterways, including the mouth of the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The 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 drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
in present-day Jacksonville and the Intracoastal
Intracoastal Waterway
The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are artificial canals...
. At the time of contact with 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, there were two major chiefdoms among the Mocama, the Saturiwa
Saturiwa
The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered around 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...
and the Tacatacuru
Tacatacuru
The Tacatacuru were a Timucua chiefdom located on Cumberland Island in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were 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...
, each of which evidently had authority over multiple villages.
The Spanish
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...
came to refer to the entire area as the Mocama Province, and incorporated it into their mission system
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...
. The Mocama Province was severely depopulated in the 17th century by infectious disease and warfare with other Indian tribes and the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
colonies to the north. Surviving Mocama refugees relocated 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...
. Together with Guale
Guale
Guale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
survivors, 89 "mission Indians" evacuated with the Spanish to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in 1763, after they ceded the territory to Great Britain.
History
Archaeological research dates human habitation in the area eventually known as the Mocama Province to at least 2500 BC. The area has yielded some of the oldest known pottery from what is now the United States, uncovered by a University of North FloridaUniversity of North Florida
The University of North Florida is a public university located in Jacksonville, Florida. A member institution of the State University System of Florida, the university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s...
on Black Hammock Island in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
's Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
The Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is located in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, in the United States. The park was established in 1988, and covers 46,000 acres...
. The team also excavated more recent artifacts contemporary with the Mocama chiefdoms and some that indicate a Spanish mission. Around AD 1000 peoples of the area were engaged in long-distance trading with Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
centers, including Cahokia
Cahokia
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is the area of an ancient indigenous city located in the American Bottom floodplain, between East Saint Louis and Collinsville in south-western Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The site included 120 human-built earthwork mounds...
(in present-day Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
) and Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
. Before and during European contact, the peoples of the region spoke the Mocama dialect of the Timucua language
Timucua language
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua people. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish arrival in Florida. Linguistic and archaeological studies suggest that it may have been spoken from...
and participated in similar cultures, for instance in their use of distinctive grog-tempered pottery known as San Pedro pottery.
The Mocama dialect is the best attested dialect of the Timucua language
Timucua language
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua people. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish arrival in Florida. Linguistic and archaeological studies suggest that it may have been spoken from...
. Some scholars, including Jerald T. Milanich
Jerald T. Milanich
Jerald T. Milanich is an American anthropologist and archaeologist, specializing in Native American culture in Florida. He is the curator of Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville; Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology, College of...
and Edgar H. Sturtevant
Edgar H. Sturtevant
-Biography:Sturtevant was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, the older brother of Alfred Sturtevant. He studied at the University of Chicago receiving there in 1901 a Ph.D. with a dissertation on Latin case forms. He became an assistant professor of classical philology at Columbia University in New...
, consider the dialect known as Agua Salada, spoken in an unspecified stretch of the Florida coast south of the Mocama Province, to be identical. However, other evidence suggests that Agua Salada was distinct, and more closely related to the western dialects like Potano
Potano
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 preceded the...
than to Mocama.
The French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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...
explorers, who first arrived in Florida in 1562, recorded two major chiefdoms in the Mocama region at that time, the Saturiwa
Saturiwa
The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered around 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...
and the Tacatacuru
Tacatacuru
The Tacatacuru were a Timucua chiefdom located on Cumberland Island in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were 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...
. The Saturiwa, whose main village was on Fort George Island, were friendly towards the French and aided them in establishing Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline was the first French colony in the present-day United States. Established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, on June 22, 1564, under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière, it was intended as a refuge for the Huguenots. It lasted one year before being obliterated by the...
in their territory. Huguenot leader René Goulaine de Laudonnière
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...
records that their chief, who was known as Saturiwa, had sovereignty over thirty villages and their chiefs, ten of whom were his "brothers". These villages were located around the mouth of the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The 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 drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
and nearby inland waterways. Other Mocama-speaking groups lived in the coastal areas to the north, from Amelia Island
Amelia Island
Amelia 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 off the coast in Nassau County,...
in Florida to St. Simons Island in Georgia. The Tacatacuru chiefdom was centered on Cumberland Island
Cumberland Island
Cumberland 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 evidently controlled villages on the coast.
When the Spanish
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...
destroyed the French stronghold of Fort Caroline, both the Saturiwa and the Tacatacuru aided the French and opposed the Spanish, but they eventually made peace. As Mocama was spoken across the area, the Spanish came to refer to it as the Mocama Province, and incorporated it into their mission system
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...
. It was one of the four provinces that made up the bulk of the Spanish mission effort in the region, the others being the Timucua Province (covering the Timucua groups to the west of the St. Johns River), the Guale Province, and the Apalachee Province
Apalachee Province
Apalachee Province was the area in the Panhandle of the present-day U.S. state of Florida inhabited by the Native American peoples known as the Apalachee at the time of European contact. The southernmost extent of the Mississippian culture, the Apalachee lived in what is now Leon County, Wakulla...
. The Spanish founded three major missions in the Mocama Province: San Juan del Puerto at Saturiwa on Fort George Island, San Pedro de Mocama
San Pedro de Mocama
San Pedro de Mocama was a Spanish Franciscan mission built in the mid-16th century on Cumberland Island in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia. It was part of the missions system of Spanish Florida, and was founded to serve the Tacatacuru, a chiefdom of the Timucua...
at Tacatacuru on Cumberland Island, and Santa Maria de Sena between them on Amelia Island.
Due to severe population losses from infectious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
and warfare with northern Indian tribes and the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, the Mocama polity disintegrated in the 17th century. After that, the Spanish and later settlers used the term "Mocama" to refer to the land where the chiefdoms had been. Between 1675 and 1680, the Westo
Westo
The Westo were a Native American tribe encountered in the Southeast by Europeans in the 17th century. They probably spoke an Iroquoian language. The Spanish called these people Chichimeco , and, Virginia colonists may have called the same people Richahecrian...
tribe, backed by the English colonies of South Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
and Virginia
Colony and Dominion of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia was the English colony in North 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 remaining "refugee missions" were destroyed by South Carolina's invasion of Spanish Florida in 1702 during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
. By 1733, the Mocama and Guale
Guale
Guale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
chiefdoms had become too depopulated and helpless to resist James Oglethorpe
James Oglethorpe
James Edward Oglethorpe was a British general, member of Parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia...
's founding of the English colony of Georgia
Province of Georgia
The 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...
.
In their colonial period, the Spanish established a missionary province at the Guale
Guale
Guale was an historic Native American chiefdom along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century. During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered...
chiefdom just north of Mocama, on the Georgia coast between the Altamaha River and the Savannah River
Savannah River
The 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 was similar to that of Mocama, and its fate was the same. Remnants of both chiefdoms retreated south to St. Augustine. In 1763, their descendants were among the 89 "mission Indians" evacuated to Cuba with the Spanish.
Further reading
- Ashley, Keith H. (2009). "Straddling the Florida-Georgia State Line: Ceramic Chronology of the St. Marys Region (AD 1400–1700)". In Kathleen Deagan and David Hurst Thomas, From Santa Elena to St. Augustine: Indigenous Ceramic Variability (A.D. 1400-1700), pp. 125–139. New York : American Museum of Natural History
- Granberry, Julian. (1993). A Grammar and Dictionary of the Timucua Language (3rd ed.). Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. (1st edition 1984).
- Milanich, Jerald T. (1996) The Timucua. Blackwell Publications, Oxford, UK.
- Milanich, Jerald T. (1998a) Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe. The University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1636-3.
- Milanich, Jerald T. (1998b) Florida Indians from Ancient Times to the Present. The University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1599-5.
- Milanich, Jerald T. (2000) "The Timucua Indians of Northern Florida and Southern Georgia". in McEwan 2000.
- Milanich, Jerald T. (2004) "Timucua." In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast. (Vol. 17) (pp. 219–228) (W. C. Sturtevant, Gen. Ed.). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
- Milanich, Jerald T. and Samuel Procter, Eds. (1978) Tacachale: Essays on the Indians of Florida and Southeastern Georgia during the Historic Period. The University Presses of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-0535-3
- Worth, John E., The Struggle for the Georgia Coast: An Eighteenth-Century Spanish Retrospective on Guale and Mocama, (New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1995; distributed by University of Georgia Press).