The Timucua Indians

The Timucuas were all the Indians in northeast

Florida and southeast Georgia.There were three main
leaders (Saturiwa, Outina, and Potano). These
leaders or headchiefs were usually at war with each
other. Each village had its own chief.

Language

They did not speak English or French or Spanish. All

the Indians in northeast Florida and southeast
Georgia spoke Timucua, but they had different
dialects (die-uh-lect).

A dialect is a way of saying certain words depending

on where you live. In the South, people say "yall"
instead of "you all." In England, a pencil eraser is
called a rubber. (Get it? You rub out the mistake.) So,
even though all the Timucuas spoke the same
language, they spoke different dialects.

Clothing.
 
The men wore a piece of cloth (like a bikini bathing
suit). It was made of animal skin. Women also wore a
kind of cloth made of leather, but their main clothes
were made of Spanish moss. If it was cold, the
Timucuas wore a long wrap-around jacket with no
holes for sleeves. This coat could be made of
deerskin (for warmth) or from long feathers (to keep
dry in the rain). The Timucuas could also make
moccasins to keep their feet dry, warm, and protected
on long journeys.

Crafts.
Women made pottery, which was the finest type found East
of the Mississippi.

Men build huts and canoes. They also made their own
weapons of hard wood and animal bones.

Building/ Shelter
Their villages had small round huts. They were wide and had
only one room. The walls were made of small tree trunks
and grape vines. They had benches covered with animal fur
for beds. The council house was usually in the middle of the
village, with family huts around it. Some council houses were
big enough to hold 2000 people. This huge building was
used for village dances and meetings. The villages were
surround it by a wall made of tree trunks to protect them
from other Timucuas and wild animals.

Food

The Timucuas had different types of food, including

fishing, hunting and planting. Those that lived in areas
with rich soil relied on farming. They grew these foods
in the gardens: corn, squash, pumpkins, beans, and
sunflowers. Some animals that they hunted were:
deer, wild pig, rabbit, raccoon, turkey, alligators and
many others. They also used nets to catch fish, crabs,
shrimp, ducks, and many others.

Family Group

The mother, father, brothers, and sisters lived

together in a hut. Mothers taught girls skills like
weaving baskets, making pottery, planting corn,
gathering wild fruits, and taking care of children.
Fathers did not teach their sons. If you were a boy,
you learned skills like hunting, tool-making, canoeing,
and hut-building from your uncle. Your father was
more like your friend or an older brother. It was your
uncle who was in charge of training you and deciding
punishments. Women collected wild plants for food,
worked in the gardens, made clothes, made baskets
and pottery, cooked and preserved all the food, and
made big decisions for the village.

Games
The young men were trained in running and those who could
run the longest distance were given special prizes. They
were also coached, especially in archery. They also played a
ball game. They had to hit a rectangular box on top of the
post. Whoever hit it first was the winner. Apart from this they
also enjoyed hunting and fishing very much."

Transportation

The way of transportation that the Timucuas used

was canoeing and walking.

Recreation

The Older grown-ups that weren’t very strong

anymore, like grandparents were storytellers.

Religion

The Timucuas were very superstitious. They believed

in good and bad. For example, when they catch the
first fish they would throw it back into the water,
meaning they would get many more.
Then the Spanish missionaries taught the Timucuas
about Christianity. By 1763, the Timucuas weren’t
living like Florida Indians anymore. They were living
like Spanish Catholics.

The first Mass of Thanksgiving on American soil was

actually celebrated by the Spanish with the Timucuan
Indians on September 8, 1565 in St. Augustine,
Florida.

What happened to the Timucuas?

All the Timucuas are gone now. They’ve been gone
since 1767 when the last Timucua Indian died. They
died from many things.

1) The Timucuas got diseases like smallpox and the

plague.

2) The Timucuas were sometimes killed by the

French and Spanish.