Timucua Environments and Lifestyles

The Timucua people lived in NE to Central Florida and SE Georgia in very different environments.

Along the East Coast of Florida and Georgia, the environment was mainly salt marsh.  (They were still 5 miles from the ocean here.)  These salty wetlands did not produce edible grasses, but did offer some edible plants like glasswort.  Because the salt marshes were under salt water much of the time, the Timucua could not plant crops in the rich muddy soil there.  They did get a majority of their food by catching the fish, turtles, marine mammals, and oysters that lived in the marshes.  Many islands, called maritime hammocks, could be found.  These islands were high and dry with sandy soils and many oak and hickory trees, plum bushes, and grapevines.  These trees provided nuts and fruits for the Timucua people.  The Timucua could burn down the trees to make fields for crops, but the dry sandy soils had very few minerals.  Because rainwater runs right through sandy soils and goes too deep for plant roots to reach, this area was not very good for growing crops.  Because of their environment, the Timucua who lived on the east coast (Saturiwa’s villages) got most of their food from the salt water and the forest, rather than from agriculture.

A little further south, around Cape Canaveral, they were much closer to the ocean.  Because of this, the people caught more ocean fish, marine mammals, sharks and sea turtles too.  They collected a mixture of oysters, whelks, and clams for food, because that’s what you find at the beach.  Some people even made stews from tiny donax (coquina).  The beach sand is not good for growing crops, so these people did not do much, if any, planting.  This is the boundary area between the Timucua and the Ais cultures.

In Central Florida and South-central Georgia, the soil is richer, mostly because it has more clay in it.   Clay has many minerals, and it also helps to hold onto rainwater so it doesn’t sink too low for the plant roots.  The Timucua who lived in these areas spent more time planting crops including corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, and sunflowers.  They also lived near fresh water rivers and lakes.  So, instead of harvesting oysters, they collected fresh water snails to eat.  They also caught fresh water fish.  These people collected fruits, nuts, and animals from the land.  Because there are deposits of grayish chert stone in these parts of Florida and Georgia, more stone tools were used in hunting, fishing, and the preparation of plant foods than in other areas, which depended more on tools made from shell.

Further west, as you approach the panhandle, the soil is very rich.  Native people spent huge amounts of time planting crops.  They still got food from the forest and marshes, but they didn’t need to hunt and gather as much because they grew so much corn, beans, squash, and pumpkin.  As you get closer to Tallahassee, you are moving away from the Timucua territory and into Apalachee territory.

Provided by the Pelotes Island Nature Preserve
http://pelotes.jea.com