 | The earliest Indians of Florida . . . thoroughly populated the area and possessed great power. The coming of the Europeans, however, with their superior fire power, slavery,and diseases, decimated a large number of the original inhabitants. This opened the territory for the immigration of Indian groups from what are now the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Consequently, most of the Indian place names in Florida, and much of the southeastern United States, are from the languages of these immigrant tribes.
Practically all of the place names of Indian origin in North Florida are of a linguistic group called Muskogean. The primary languages in which place names survive, are Apalachee, Creek, Hitchiti, and Choctaw; there are, also, a few names from Chatot, Yamasee, Yuchi, and the more ancient Timucuan. . . .
The Indians have populated North America for at least 10,000 years. The earliest artifact found is believed to be 27,000 years old! When first encountered by Europeans, the native population could boast of rich lives, spiritually and materialistically. Roads connected . . . the southeastern United States with civilizations in Mexico, the western United States, and all of the north, including Canada. The most common route of trade over long distances was along rivers and coastal waters. Early writers reported that Indians in North Florida still made trips to Cuba as late as the last half of the 18th century. Julian Granberry (1993) presented a potentially controversial theory that the Timucuan culture, as encountered by the early European explorers, was greatly influenced by tribes from northwestern South America. This contact could date back 3500-1500 B.C. He offers well founded linguistic data to support his claim. . . .
At the time of the first known contact with Europeans, in the early 1500's, some tribes had summer homes to the north and winter homes or camps in Florida. The art work produced by Indians in the southeast rivaled that of Mexico and the southwest. . . .
The basic unit of Muskogean (or Creek) society was the Talwa. The word means a group of people who share common traits, language, and kinship. They lived under one authority consisting of the Mekko (Chief) and other officials. Each Talwa possessed and defended a common territory. The Talwa would be analogous to a district or region today, and may contain many towns or settlements within its domain. . . . An individual town or community of the Talwa was often called a Talofa. The Talofa was where people met to conduct their business or attend to matters of government. . . .
Whenever a clan increased in numbers and importance, so as to exceed that of the principal clan, part or all of this clan would separate from the town and start a new one. Thus, the Talwa gained another town (Talofa) with a new local chief and administrative officials. Some of these officials were:
- An Executive Council of Chiefs who selected the town chief, or Mekko.
- A Chief or Superintendent of the Council Square. He was a lieutenant to the town chief, and took his place on occasion. He was usually called Miko Apokta, or "second chief".
- A chief adviser and spokesman called Heniha or Taski Heniha. He performed the functions assumed in other tribes by the Yatika, or "Interpreter". He delivered to the people the laws and regulations set forth by the Council.
- The Tastanagi was a military chief who organized, and was in charge of, the warriors of the town. When there were several Tastanagi in a town, one of them was chosen as the Tastanagi lako, or "Big Warrior", and he was equivalent to the Sheriff or Chief of Police within the town.
- Imalas were a warriors who ranked below the Tastanagi and acted as their lieutenants and messengers. Like the Tastanagis they were selected from the Red Clans. Yaholagi was the name given to several Imalas whose function was to serve the Council, and conveyed to others the decisions of their superiors.
- The Chief Priest, or Fire Maker, Tutkatatca, was also known as the Medicine Maker, or Hilis-haya.
In the early 1700's, the Creeks formed an alliance to present a common front to the three competing European nations (England, France, and Spain) who endeavored to control southeastern North America. The alliance became known as the Creek Confederancy, and eventually, the Creek Nation. . . . The ancient Creek Confederacy covered the greater portion of Alabama, North Florida, Georgia, parts of Tennessee, South Carolina, and Mississippi. There were more than 50 individual Tribes (Tribal Towns) with their satellite communities. Each Tribal Town maintained its own internal government, local customs, culture, and beliefs. . . .
. . . the Indian Removal Acts required that the native peoples of the Southeast be relocated to territory west of the Mississippi River. It is not generally known, however, that the Muskogees of North Florida were the first major Indian community forcibly removed. The Cherokee removal did not occur until nearly twenty years later.
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