: A Lost Native American Village on the banks of the

Introduction:

From approximately AD 1000 to AD 1500 many Native American villages existed in the area between a northern boundary of the Withlacoochee River, an eastern boundary of eastern Polk County, and a southern boundary of Marco Island (Hann 108) (Mitchem 554). These villages were part of what we now call the .

Very little is known about the Safety Harbor culture because they left no written history behind. The evidence we pull from to understand who they were and how they lived is archaeological evidence and narratives written by Spanish explorers. This is inherently imperfect because many of the ruins of the Native American villages have been lost or destroyed and the Spanish explorers who first explored the lands of wrote from their perspective and left us with biased accounts.

In this account I will pull from all available sources in an attempt to build a narrative explaining what we know about the village of Uzita and the Safety Harbor culture so that anyone who is interested can learn more about the past inhabitants of Florida.

Who were the people of Uzita:

It is hypothesized that the inhabitants were descendants of the Weeden Island society which existed around from around BC 1000 to AD 900/1000. Archaeological evidence supporting this is how Safety Harbor settlements are often built on top of preexisting Weeden Island society settlements. It is hypothesized that Mississippian influences changed the culture of the area and mark the transition from Weedon Island culture to Safety Harbor culture.

Safety Harbor Settlements including the village of Uzita:

Archaeological evidence suggests that members of the Safety Harbor culture lived in small nucleated villages near water. This proximity to water would have given inhabitants access to food sources from the nearby river, estuary, and bay and food sources on land. Each village was controlled by a chief and there was communication between villages.

In general, Safety Harbor settlements followed a layout with a midden paralleling the shore, a rectangular temple with a ramp, assorted platform , and a burial mound off to the side (Hann 113) (Mitchem 574).

There are an estimated eighteen aboriginal mounds around Tampa Bay and seven of these are located on a 3 mile stretch of the Little Manatee River between the mouth and the town of Ruskin (Hann 113) (Milanich and Hudson 66).

Figure 1 – Map of selected archaeological sites along the Little Manatee River (Milanich and Hudson 65)

Thomas Mound, located along the north bank of the Little Manatee River, is believed to be the site of the village of Uzita. The village when seen by de Soto is described as (Elvas):

The town was of seven or eight houses, built of timber, and covered with palm leaves. The Chief’s house stood near the beach, upon a very high mount made by hand for defense; at the other end of the town was a temple, on the top of which perched a wooden fowl with gilded eyes.

The Thomas Mound is no longer in existence. Prior to its destruction it was excavated by Clarence B. Moore and later Ripley Bullen (Milanich and Hudson 66). A sketch of the site is below. The excavations found a large burial mound, several other mounds, and a large midden. The canal going around the camp may have been used to drain the land or as defensive earthworks built by de Soto’s army but excavations to determine origin and use were never completed (Milanich and Hudson 68). European artifacts such as beads, copper, and glass were found indicating European contact (Milanich and Hudson 68). Shell cups, beads, potshards, and human burial bundles were also found (Mitchem 98).

Figure 2 - Thomas Mound Site Sketch (Milanich and Hudson 67)

Daily life in Uzita:

Very little is recorded about the practices of the village of Uzita and how they lived their daily lives.

For language, the Uzitans most likely spoke a distinct language from other villages around them but because they did not leave any written records we know nothing about the language (Hann 117). Despite the probable language barrier there was interaction and trade between coastal villages, like Uzita, and more inland villages (Mitchem 574, 576). For communication between villages smoke signals were used (Clayton, Knight, Jr and Moore 570).

For diet, we can hypothesize that their diet was probably very similar to the that preceded them because they lived in the same geographic region. Based on this inference they most likely ate locally available resources such as fish, shellfish, reptiles and terrestrial mammals and gathered plants and berries to supplement the diet. Maize may have also been grown in small quantities but there is a lack of archaeological evidence of this because plant matter does not preserve well (Janus Research 21) (Mitchem 571). For clothing, we don’t know the clothes they wore. From accounts of other settlements around the same time period we can hypothesize that they wore very little. During the warmer months of the year men may have worn deerskin loincloths and women may have worn skirts made of Spanish moss. During the colder months of the year both sexes wore cloaks or capes made of animal fur (Brown 110). We do know about some of the adornments they possessed. They had tattoos, made arm bands from shell beads and pearls, wore plumes in their hair, and painted themselves with a red paint when going to war or making a fine appearance (Clayton, Knight, Jr and Moore 59,255).

For tools, stone tools and pot shards were found in excavations of the Thomas Mound. The Uzita most likely constructed these tools from stones found in the local environment or acquired materials through trade with other settlements. Stone tools included Pinellas point arrow heads, archaic-style large arrow points, grinding stones, and non-projectile chipped stone tools (Mitchem 580). Shell goods such as Busycon cups and beads, and artifacts also have been found (Mitchem 581). Their included some traditional Weeden Island incised and punctated wares as well as St. Johns Plain or Check Stamped wares (Mitchem 556). Different pottery types may hold clues to identifying the age of a Safety Harbor settlement as different styles were common in different eras (Mitchem 557).

For defense, we know a great deal from De Soto’s accounts. The long bow and arrows were extensively used. Arrows were made of reeds and hardened on the tip or tipped with fish bones or stone tips. Defense tactics could be compared to guerrilla warfare. Uzitans were very agile and would flee a Spanish advance and then attack on the Spanish retreat. They could fire three or four arrows in the time it took a crossbowman to fire one shot and had high accuracy (Hann 115).

For customs, we know a few things. The religion included worship of idols and burial of dead was a two-step process. First, the dead were interred wooden chests stored in a charnel house and then later buried in a mound during a group burial (Hann 116).

For political structure, we know a bit. Villages were led by a chief and the boundaries of these chiefdoms shifted due to warfare between Safety Harbor groups and Indians. The Uzita village was led by a chief and this chief paid tribute to a more powerful inland chief whose identity is known as Urriparacoxi. Intermarriage may have been used as a way to form alliances between Safety Harbor groups.

End of the village of Uzita:

Spanish contact was the death knell of the Uzita village. De Soto and his soldiers interacted with the Uzita for 5 months. Many of the Uzitans were enslaved or killed in battles during this period and epidemics may have occurred (Milanich and Hudson 122). Later accounts of explorers traveling through the area do not mention the Uzitans so it is hypothesized that the village ceased to exist after this point due to widespread death (Milanich and Hudson 125).

Further Research needed about the village of Uzita:

To increase our understanding of the village of Uzita and the larger Safety Harbor culture more research is needed. Further excavations of Safety Harbor sites and analysis of existing Safety Harbor artifact collections are necessary. A few areas of particular interest are Safety Harbor habitation sites, ceramic pottery, stone tools, shell tools, and European artifacts found at Safety Harbor sites to determine origin, age, use, and type (Mitchem). Systematic study of these topics would help us to better understand village size and life, the use of ceramic and shell tools, the extent of trade in materials and goods between villages, and the material use of villages of the Safety Harbor culture.

Last updated 11/30/2015 by Logan Dodson.

Works Cited Brown, Robin C. Florida's First People . Revised. Sarasota: Pineapple Press, 1994. Book. November 2015.

Clayton, Lawrence A, Vernon James Knight, Jr and Edward C Moore, The De Soto Chronicles . Vol. I. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1993. November 2015.

Elvas, Gentleman of. Narratives of the Career of in the Conquest of Florida . Ed. Edward G Bourne. Vol. I. New York: Allerton Book Co, 1922.

Hann, John H. Indians of Central and South Florida, 1513-1763 . Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003. Book. November 2015.

Janus Research. Yat Kitischee The Archaeology of a Prehistoric Coastal Hamlet . n.d.

Milanich, Jerald T and Charles Hudson. Hernando De Soto and the Indians of Florida . Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993. Book. November 2015.

Mitchem, Jeffrey McClain. "Redefining Safety Harbor: Late Prehistoric/Protohistoric Archaeology in West Peninsular Florida." Dissertation . University of Florida, 1989. Microfiche. November 2015.