Because of their proximity to both the bay and freshwater streams, the Tocobaga fished and gathered shellfish as their primary source of food. They also ate manatees, which were abundant in the nearby waters. During this time, the Tampa Bay area was rich with animals such as deer, rabbits, armadillo, and squirrels.
What was the Tocobaga culture?
The “Tocobaga” tribe was comprised of several small chiefdoms such as Ucita, Pohoy, and Mococo, that ranged from today's Pinellas County to Sarasota County. They maintained a fishing and hunting culture for approximately 600-800 years before being encountered by the Spanish explorers in the early 1500s.
Did the Tocobaga Tribe fish?
Did the Tocobaga Tribe fish? The main diet of the Tocobaga was fish and shellfish . Mullet (seen in this painting by Hermann Trappman) were plentiful in the rivers and inlets around Tampa Bay.
What language did the Tocobaga tribe speak?
Like most Native Americans, the Timucua had no written language . They farmed the rich lands of North Florida. The Tocobaga Indians were a group of prehistoric and historic Native Americans living near Tampa Bay, Florida up until roughly 1760.
How did the Tocobaga dress?
They would wear deerskin, or sometimes deer heads over themselves , to get close enough to the animals to kill them.
Does the Tocobaga tribe still exist?
In approximately 1528, Pánfilo de Narváez, a Spanish explorer, arrived in the Tampa Bay area. He and his men found the Tocobaga and brought disease and violence to the tribe's peaceful existence. As a result, the Tocobaga Indians became extinct within the next 100 years .
What does the word Tocobaga mean?
Tocobaga (occasionally Tocopaca) was the name of a chiefdom, its chief, and its principal town during the 16th century . ... The name “Tocobaga” is often applied to all of the native peoples of the immediate Tampa Bay area during the first Spanish colonial period (1513-1763).
Are the Seminoles a Native American tribe?
Seminole, North American Indian tribe of Creek origin who speak a Muskogean language. In the last half of the 18th century, migrants from the Creek towns of southern Georgia moved into northern Florida, the former territory of the Apalachee and Timucua.
What is the Timucua culture?
The Timucua were a group of Native Americans who lived in current-day southern Georgia and northern Florida. The Timucua all spoke dialects of the same language, although they were not united politically, living in different tribes with their own territory and dialects.
How did the Timucua travel?
Our Living History Interpreters will help you to understand what day to day life was like in the village, how the Timucua hunted, fished, made fine pottery and shell tools, and how they finally slipped away into history. The Timucua in this area used canoes to travel by water .
What was the population of the Tocobaga tribe?
They were armed with powerful bows, stone-tipped arrows and spears thrown with atlals. The Tocobaga wore little clothing, but had many tattoos signifying their rank or status within the tribe. This village was a center of political and cultural inflence and was home to between 400 and 2500 people .
When did the Calusa tribe start?
Origins. Paleo-Indians entered what is now Florida at least 12,000 years ago. By around 5000 BC , people started living in villages near wetlands.
Who was the chief of the Tocobaga tribe?
In 1528 this Spanish soldier was captured by the Tocobaga tribe who lived around Tampa Bay. The head of the tribe, Chief Uzita , ordered that Ortiz be burned to death. His life was spared when Chief Uzita's daughter pleaded for his life.
What did the Tocobaga tribe make?
The Tocobaga Indians built mounds within their villages . A mound is a large pile of earth, shells, or stones. Their world was surrounded by long shell middens made from years of discarded shells. From the thick shells they made hammers, dugout chopping tools, net weights, gorgets, plummets, and beads.
Where was the Calusa tribe located in Florida?
Calusa, North American Indian tribe that inhabited the southwest coast of Florida from Tampa Bay to Cape Sable and Cape Florida , together with all the outlying keys. According to some authorities their territory also extended inland as far as Lake Okeechobee.
Was Pocahontas a Tocobaga Indian?
According to a Pocahontas-like myth, the Tocobaga Indian princess lived in the Tampa Bay area during the 16th century and saved the life of an early Spanish explorer when her father ordered him put to death.
