1) Who were the Timucua Indians?
The Timucua People lived in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia. They had different rulers and different lifestyles, but they all spoke the same language. There were three main leaders (Saturiwa, Outina, and Potano). These leaders or headchiefs were usually at war with each other. Each of these headchiefs ruled over about 30 villages. Each village had its own chief.
Try to say these names. (Hint, say the capitalized part the loudest.)
Saturiwa (sa-chur-EE-wuh)
Outina (oo-TEA-na)
Potano (puh-TA-no)
What language did the Timucua speak? They did not speak English or French or Spanish. They spoke Timucua. (Later they learned to speak other languages too.) All of the Native Americans 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." Up north, people call a water fountain a "bubbler." In England, a pencil eraser is called a "rubber". (Get it? You rub out the mistake.) In Australia, your "mate" is your friend. People in England and Australia speak English differently than people in the United States. So, even though all the Timucua people spoke the same language, they spoke different dialects.
Where did the name "Timucua" come from? The Timucua people did NOT call themselves by this name. They had names for themselves that meant "the people." Read this to find out how historians think the name "Timucua" got started: A French soldier asked Chief Saturiwa where he got some silver. The chief pointed to the West and said he captured it from Thimogona (Tee-mo-GO-na). He actually captured it from his enemy, Chief Outina. "Thimogona" probably meant "enemy." Chief Saturiwa got it from his enemy. But the French got mixed up and started calling all the Native Americans: Thimogona or Timogoa, or Timoga, or Timucua, or Timucuan. See how the name got changed? There is no Timucua way to say the name. The Spanish would have pronounced it Timucua (Tee-MOO-qua).
Where did Outina get the silver? Saturiwa captured the silver from Outina, but where did Outina get it? There is no silver or gold in the ground in Florida. Well, Spanish soldiers were making the Native Americans in Mexico dig for gold and silver. Then the Spanish would load all of the treasure onto ships and sail back to Spain. Sometimes the ships got caught in hurricanes and sunk. Bits of treasure and of the broken ship would wash up on the western coast of Florida. Outina probably found the piece of silver on the beach. It didn’t come from Florida; it came from Mexico. But the French believed there was silver in Florida, so they looked for gold and silver in every village they visited.
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