a. Ceremonial Drinks at Council Meetings - (Ceremonial Drinks)
French Descriptions: "At certain times of the year the chief and his noblemen met early each day in a public place appointed for the purpose of consultation where the benches were built in the shape of a crescent. In the meantime the chief had ordered several women to prepare ‘cassina’ which was a drink brewed from the leaves of certain plants which were then filtered out. The drink had special powers, for it induced perspiration as soon as it had been drunk. Those who could not hold the drink down and vomited it out had to fast for three or four days after and were not asked to do important tasks or hold positions of responsibility in battle because they were considered unreliable. After drinking this brew they could fast for twenty-four hours. The fact that this drink strengthened the body and had no ill effects on the head was why..." no food was carried into battle, only the cassina, or black drink.
True and False: This drawing does describe the "Black Drink Ceremony" which was practiced all over the southeastern United States by Native Americans. To learn more about this ceremony, click here to go to the page on "Cassina". DeBry probably drew most of this picture himself. In Laudonniere’s text, it says that this ceremony took place inside the big Council House, not outside. It is interesting that the women made the black drink, but only the most important men could drink it.
b. Ceremonial Dancing of the Women - (Ceremonial Dancing)
French Descriptions: "...All the maidens formed a circle but without holding hands and began to dance...Round their waist they wore a broad girdle with a kind of pouch at the front to cover their private parts. Round the rest of the girdle dangled long round gold and silver pieces down to their thighs which jingled when they danced and they sang their praises to the chief and his wife. When one of the dancers raised her hands all the others followed and when she lowered them they did likewise. All the men and women had pierced ear lobes from which they hung small but longish blown fish bladders which shone like pearls or when painted red they looked like rubies..."
True and False: DeBry probably drew most of this picture from a sketch made by LeMoyne. The Timucua people’s faces look too French (European), not like Native Americans. Also, the Timucua probably didn’t have enough gold and silver (salvaged from Spanish shipwrecks) for all the women to wear. If the jangles were metal, they were probably copper. They could just as easily have been made of shell, bone, or wood. This is the only description that talks about fish bladder earbobs. The ear decorations found by archaeologists are usually "ear pins" made of bone. This drawing is interesting because it suggests that only the women danced. It also shows the chief and his wife sitting higher than everyone else, and that the women often went bare-chested.
c. The Solemn Ritual of Offering a Deerskin to the Sun - (Deer Skin Ceremony)
French Description: Every year, shortly before spring, at the end of February in fact, Chief Outina’s subjects took the skin of the largest stag they could find and with its horns still intact, stuffed it with all kinds of the best plants that grew in those parts before sewing it up. Then they decorated the horns, the neck and the rest of the body with wreaths or garlands of the best fruit, and carried it, while singing to piped music, to a beautiful wide open space. There they placed it on a tall tree trunk with its head and chest pointing towards the sunrise. Meanwhile they repeatedly beseeched the sun to allow the growth of good things in their kingdom, similar to those being offered. The chief and his sorcerer who were closest to the tree, led the chanting, with the others, who were further away responding. After the chief and his followers had greeted the sun they went away, leaving the skin there until the following year when the ceremony was again repeated."
True and False: These drawings often show the French watching from the side as an important ritual takes place. This is the only description that talks about the deer ceremony. It is important for several reasons. First, it talks about the "sorcerer" or shaman. This is a holy man who took care of spiritual matters for the village. Because the shaman and the chief were leading this ceremony, we can guess that it was an important religious ritual. We don’t know much about the Timucua religion. It may have been more of an ecology, living in harmony with the plants and animals, not destroying them. Some people look at this drawing and say that it shows the Timucua worshipping the sun. Another explanation may be that the Timucua were offering the deer skin as a way to thank the sun for helping their crops to grow.
d. Satouriona’s War Ceremonies
French Descriptions: "The warriors gathered round their chief in a close circle. To the left of him a fire was burning, to the right two large containers full of water. The chief rolled his eyes and, gesticulating wildly, growled as if consumed with anger. Sometimes he made terrifying screams which were echoed by his warriors who slapped their thighs so their weapons made a noise. Then he took up a bowl and turned towards the sun, respectfully and humbly asking for victory over his enemy, that their blood should be spilled like the water from the bowl. Then he threw the water in the air so it splashed upon his warriors, declaring ‘do as I have done with the blood of your enemies;’. Then, pouring the water from the other container on the fire he cried ‘thus you must exterminate your enemy and bring back their scalps’. Then they all rose up a and marched upstream to war as planned..."
True and False: This drawing is probably mostly true. It shows not only the war ceremonies, but also the tattoos, feather hair decorations, and headdresses made from hawk wings and bobcat skins. It also shows what a loin cloth (men’s clothing) looked like. It also gives us a good look at how thoroughly a chief was tattooed. But remember, the real tattoos may have looked nothing like the artists’ drawings! When Laudonniere wrote about this ceremony, he said the chief shouted three times "Hey Thimogona!" (Tee-mo-GO-na). All the other Timucua called out the same words together in response to their chief. The word "Thimogona" may mean "enemy," so Saturiwa was shouting the name of his enemy to get his warriors psyched up for the battle. The French may have mistaken the word "Thimogona" for the name of all the people who spoke the same language in north Florida and South Georgia. It’s not much of a jump from Thimogona (Tee-mo-GO-na) to Thimogoa (Tee-mo-GO-a) to Timucua (Tee-MOO-qua) or Timucuan (Tim-oo-KWAN). That is probably where the name "Timucua" came from. These Native Americans did not call themselves "Timucua." Today, historians and archaeologists call all of the native groups in north Florida and south Georgia who spoke the same language "Timucua speakers" or Timucua for short. The Timucua may have shared a language, but there were many different dialects. These peoples were never united politically or socially, although extensive trading within this language group probably occurred.