TheApalachee were anIndigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically anIndigenous people of Florida, who lived in theFlorida Panhandle until the early 18th century.^[1] They lived between theAucilla River andOchlockonee River,^[2] at the head ofApalachee Bay, an area known as theApalachee Province. They spoke aMuskogean language calledApalachee, which is nowextinct.

Apalachee

Apalachee territory in the Florida Panhandle
Total population
extinct as a tribe
Regions with significant populations
United StatesFlorida, southwestern Georgia
Languages
Apalachee
Related ethnic groups
otherMuskogean peoples

The Apalachee occupied the site ofVelda Mound starting about 1450 CE,^{[citation needed]} but they had mostly abandoned it when Spanish started settlements in the 17th century. They first encountered Spanish explorers in 1528, when theNarváez expedition arrived. Their tribal enemies, European diseases, and European encroachment severely reduced their population.

Warfare from 1701 to 1704 devastated the Apalachee, and they abandoned their homelands by 1704, fleeing north to theCarolinas,Georgia, andAlabama.^[3]

TheApalachee language was aMuskogean language,^[2] about which little more is known. It wentextinct in the late 18th century. The only surviving Apalachee document is a 1688 letter written by Apalachee chiefs to the Spanish king.^[2]

EthnographerJohn Reed Swanton wrote thatApalachee may have come from theHitchiti language term for "people on the other side" or theChoctaw language wordapelachi meaning "a helper."^[4] It has sometimes been spelledAbalache,Abalachi, orAbolachi.^[5]

The Apalachee are thought to be part ofFort Walton Culture,^{[citation needed]} a Florida culture influenced by theMississippian culture.

The Apalachee were horticulturalists with stratified chiefdoms and sedentary towns and villages.^[2] Like many other Southeastern tribes, they have an alternating dual governmental system with a war chief and a peace chief.^[2] Leadership was hereditary andmatrilinear.^[6]

At the time ofHernando de Soto's visit in 1539 and 1540, the Apalachee capital wasAnhaica (present-dayTallahassee, Florida). The Apalachee lived in villages of various sizes, or on individual farmsteads of .5 acres (0.20 ha) or so. Smaller settlements might have a singleearthworkmound and a few houses. Larger towns (50 to 100 houses) werechiefdoms. They were organized around earthwork mounds built over decades for ceremonial, religious and burial purposes.

Villages and towns were often situated by lakes, as the Native people hunted fish and used the water for domestic needs and transport. The largest Apalachee community was atLake Jackson, just north of present-dayTallahassee. This regional center had several mounds and 200 or more houses. Some of the surviving mounds are protected inLake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park.

The Apalachee cultivatedmaize, beans, and squash, as well asamaranth and sunflowers.^[7] They also harvested wild plants including persimmons, maypops, acorns, walnuts, hickory nuts, sassafras,yaupon holly,cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), andsaw palmetto (Serenoa).^[7] They hunteddeer,black bears,rabbits,opossums, squirrels, geese, wild turkeys, and mountain lions.^[7]

The Apalachee were part of an expansive trade network that extended from theGulf Coast to theGreat Lakes, and westward to what is nowOklahoma. The Apalachee acquiredcopper artifacts, sheets ofmica,greenstone, andgalena from distant locations through this trade. The Apalachee probably paid for such imports with shells, pearls, shark teeth, preserved fish andsea turtle meat, salt, andcassina leaves and twigs (used to make theblack drink).

The Apalachee made tools from stone, bone and shell. They madepottery, wove cloth and curedbuckskin. They built houses covered withpalm leaves or the bark ofcypress orpoplar trees. They stored food in pits in the ground lined withmatting, andsmoked ordried food on racks over fires. (WhenHernando de Soto seized the Apalachee town of Anhaico in 1539, he found enough stored food to feed his 600 men and 220 horses for five months.)

The Apalachee men wore a deerskinloincloth. The women wore a skirt made ofSpanish moss or other plant fibers. The men painted their bodies withred ochre and placed feathers in their hair when they prepared for battle. The men smokedtobacco in ceremonial rituals, including ones for healing.

The Apalacheescalped opponents whom they killed, exhibiting the scalps as signs of warrior ability.^{[citation needed]} Taking a scalp was a means of entering thewarrior class, and was celebrated with a scalp dance. The warriors wore headdresses made of bird beaks and animal fur. The village or clan of a slain warrior was expected to avenge his death.

The Apalachee played a ball game, sometimes known as the "Apalachee ball game", described in detail by Spaniards in the 17th century. The fullest description,^[8] however, was written as part of a campaign by FatherJuan de Paiva, a priest at the mission ofSan Luis de Talimali, to have the game banned, and some of the practices described may have been exaggerated. The game was embedded in ritual practices that Father Paiva regarded as heathen superstitions. He was also concerned about the effect of community involvement in the games on the welfare of the villages and Spanish missions. In particular, he worried about towns being left defenseless against raiders when inhabitants left for a game, and that fieldwork was being neglected during game season. Other missionaries (and the visiting Bishop of Cuba) had complained about the game, but most of the Spanish (including, initially, Father Pavia) liked it (and, most likely, the associated gambling). At least, they defended it as a custom that should not be disturbed, and that helped keep the Apalachee happy and willing to work in the fields. The Apalachee themselves said that the game was "as ancient as memory", and that they had "no other entertainment ... or relief from ... misery".^[9]

No indigenous name for the game has been preserved. The Spanish referred to it asel juego de la pelota, "the ballgame." The game involved kicking a small, hard ball against a singlegoalpost. The same game was also played by the westernTimucua, and was as significant among them as it was among the Apalachee.^[10] A related but distinct game was played by the eastern Timucua;René Goulaine de Laudonnière recorded seeing this played by theSaturiwa of what is nowJacksonville, Florida in 1564.^[10] Goalposts similar to those used by the Apalachee were also seen in theCoosa chiefdom of present-day inAlabama during the 16th century, suggesting that similar ball games were played across much of the region.^[11]

A village would challenge another village to a game, and the two villages would then negotiate a day and place for the match. After the Spanish missions were established, the games usually took place on a Sunday afternoon, from about noon until dark. The two teams kicked a small ball (not much bigger than amusket ball), made by wrapping buckskin around dried mud, trying to hit the goalpost. The single goalpost was triangular, flat, and taller than it was wide, on a long post (Bushnell described it, based on a drawing in a Spanish manuscript, as "like a tall, flat Christmas tree with a long trunk"). There weresnail shells, a nest and a stuffedeagle on top of the goalpost. Benches, and sometimes arbors to shade them, were placed at the edges of the field for the two teams. Spectators gambled heavily on the games. As the Apalachee did not normally use money, their bets were made with personal goods.^[12]

Each team consisted of 40 to 50 men. The best players were highly prized, and villages gave them houses, planted their fields for them, and overlooked their misdeeds in an effort to keep such players on their teams. Players scored one point if they hit the goalpost with the ball, and two points if the ball landed in the nest. Eleven points won the game. Play was rough. They would try to hide the ball in their mouths; other players would choke them or kick them in the stomach to force the ball out. There were occasional deaths. According to Father Paiva, five games in a row had ended in riots.^[13]

The game's origin story was elaborate. Challenging a team to a game, erecting goalposts and players' benches, and other aspects were governed by strict ceremonial protocols. Christian elements became part of the game. Players began asking priests to make the sign of the cross over pileups during a game.^[14]

The densely populated Apalachee had a complex, highly stratified society of regionalchiefdoms.^[15] They were one of theMississippian cultures and part of an expansive trade network reaching to theGreat Lakes. Their reputation was such that when tribes in southern Florida first encountered thePánfilo de Narváez expedition, they said the riches which the Spanish sought could be found in Apalachee country.

The "Appalachian" place name is derived from theNarváez Expedition's encounter in 1528 with theTocobaga, who spoke of a country named Apalachen far to the north.^[16] Several weeks later the expedition entered the territory of Apalachee north of the Aucilla River. Eleven years later theHernando de Soto expedition reached the main Apalachee town ofAnhaica, somewhere in the area of present-dayTallahassee, Florida, probably near Lake Miccosukee.^[17] The Spanish subsequently adapted theNative American name asApalachee and applied it to the coastal region borderingApalachee Bay, as well as to the tribe which lived in it. Narváez's expedition first entered Apalachee territory on June 15, 1528. "Appalachian" is the fourth-oldest surviving European place name in the United States.^[18]

TwoSpanish expeditions encountered the Apalachee in the first half of the 16th century. The expedition ofPánfilo de Narváez entered the Apalachee domain in 1528, and arrived at a village, which Narváez believed was the main settlement in Apalachee.^[19] Apalachee resisted attacks by the Spanish, and theNarváez expedition fled to Apalachee Bay, where they built five boats and attempted to sail toMexico. Only four men survived their ordeal.

In 1539,Hernando de Soto landed on the west coast of thepeninsula of Florida with a large contingent of men and horses to search forgold. The Native Americans told him that gold could be found in "Apalachee." Historians have not determined if the Native people meant the mountains of northernGeorgia, an actual source of gold, or valuable copper artifacts which the Apalachee acquired through trade. Either way, de Soto and his men went north to Apalachee territory in pursuit of the precious metal.

Because of their prior experience with the Narváez expedition and reports of fighting between the de Soto expedition and tribes along the way, the Apalachee feared and hated the Spanish. When the de Soto expedition entered the Apalachee domain, the Spanish soldiers were described as "lancing every Indian encountered on both sides of the road."^[20] De Soto and his men seized the Apalachee town ofAnhaica, where they spent the winter of 1539 and 1540.

Apalachee fought back with quick raiding parties and ambushes. Their arrows could penetrate two layers ofchain mail. They targeted Spaniards' horses, which otherwise gave the Spanish an advantage against the unmounted Apalachee. The Apalachee were described as "being more pleased in killing one of these animals than they were in killing four Christians."^[20] In the spring of 1540, de Soto and his men left the Apalachee domain and headed north into what is now the state of Georgia.^[20]

About 1600, theSpanishFranciscan priests founded a successful mission among the Apalachee, adding several settlements over the next century. Apalachee acceptance of the priests may have related to social stresses, as they had lost population toinfectious diseases brought by the Europeans. Many Apalacheeconverted toCatholicism, in the process creating a syncretic fashioning of their traditions and Christianity. In February 1647, the Apalachee revolted against the Spanish near a mission named San Antonio de Bacuqua in present-dayLeon County, Florida. The revolt changed the relationship between Spanish authorities and the Apalachee. Following the revolt, Apalachee men were forced to work on public projects inSt. Augustine or on Spanish-owned ranches.^[21][22]

San Luis de Talimali, the western capital ofSpanish Florida from 1656 to 1704, is aNational Historic Landmark inTallahassee, Florida. The historic site is being operated as aliving historymuseum by the Florida Department of Archeology.^[23] Including an Indigenous council house, it re-creates one of the Spanish missions and Apalachee culture, showing the closely related lives of Apalachee and Spanish in these settlements. The historic site received the "Preserve America" Presidential Award in 2006.^[24]

In the 1670s, tribes north and west of the Apalachee (includingChiscas,Apalachicolas,Yamasees and other groups within theMuscogee Confederacy) raided Apalachee missions and seized captives. They traded the captives to the Britishcolony of Carolina, where they were sold asslaves to Carolinian colonists. Seeing that the Spanish could not fully protect them, some Apalachees joined their enemies. Apalachee reprisal raids, made in part to try to capture English traders, pushed the base camps of the raiders eastward, from which they continued to raid Apalachee missions as well as missions inTimucua Province. Efforts were also made to establish missions along theApalachicola River to create a buffer zone. In particular, several missions were established among theChacato tribe. In 1702, the Apalachicolasambushed nearly 800 Apalachee, Chacato, and Timucuan warriors with a few Spanish soldiers, after several Apalachee and Timucuan missions had been raided. Only 300 warriors escaped the ambush.^[25]

WhenQueen Anne's War (the North American theater of theWar of Spanish Succession) started in 1702, England and Spain were officially at war, and raids by English colonists and their Indian allies against the Spanish and the Mission Indians in Florida and southeasternGeorgia accelerated. In early 1704, Carolina Militia ColonelJames Moore of led 50 colonists and 1,000 Apalachicolas and other Creeks ina series of raids onSpanish missions in Florida. Some villages surrendered without a fight, while others were destroyed. Moore returned to Carolina with 1,300 Apalachees who had surrendered and another 1,000 taken as slaves. In mid-1704 another large Creek raid captured more missions and large numbers of Apalachees. In both raids missionaries and Christian Indians were tortured and murdered, sometimes by skinning them alive. These raids became known as theApalachee massacre. When rumors of a third raid reached the Spanish in San Luis de Talimali, they decided to abandon the province.^[26] About 600 Apalachee survivors of Moore's raids were settled nearNew Windsor, South Carolina. Following theYamasee War the New Windsor band joined theLower Creek, and many returned toFlorida.^[27]

When the Spanish abandoned Apalachee province in 1704, some 800 surviving Indigenous Americans, including Apalachees, Chacatos, and Yamasee, fled west toPensacola, along with many of the Spanish in the province. Unhappy with conditions in Pensacola, most of the Apalachees moved further west to French-controlledMobile. They encountered ayellow-feverepidemic in the town and lost more people.

Later, some Apalachees moved on to theRed River in present-dayLouisiana, while others returned to the Pensacola area, to a village called Nuestra Señora de la Soledad y San Luís. A few Apalachees from the Pensacola area returned to Apalachee province around 1718, settling near a recently built Spanish fort atSt. Marks, Florida. Many Apalachees from the village of Ivitachuco moved to a site called Abosaya near a fortified Spanish ranch in what is todayAlachua County, Florida. In late 1705, the remaining missions and ranches in the area were attacked, and Abosaya was under siege for 20 days. The Apalachees of Abosaya moved south of St. Augustine, but most of them were killed in raids within a year.

The Red River band in Louisiana integrated with other Indian groups, and many eventually went west with the Muscogee.^{[citation needed]}

When Florida was transferred toBritain in 1763, several Apalachee families from missionSan Joseph de Escambe, then living adjacent to the Spanish presidio ofPensacola in a community consisting of 120 Apalachee andYamasee Indians, were moved toVeracruz,Mexico. Eighty-seven Indians living near St. Augustine, some of whom may have been descended from Apalachees, were taken toGuanabacoa,Cuba.^[28]

In the late 18th century, some remnant Apalachees who had converted to Christianity merged with theLower Creeks and neighboring tribes into theSeminoles.^[29]

Several organizations claim to represent descendants of the Apalachee people today. None of these arefederally recognized tribes orstate-recognized tribes.^[30] Theseunrecognized tribes include:

• Talimali Band of Apalachee Indians ofPineville, Louisiana^[31]
• Apalachee Indian Tribe ofAlexandria, Louisiana^[31]
• Apalachee Indians Talimali Band ofStonewall, Louisiana.

• Anhaica
• Leon-Jefferson culture
• List of Native American peoples in the United States
• List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition
• List of organizations that self-identify as Native American tribes
• Mississippian shatter zone
• Muskogean languages
• Queen Anne's War

• Bushnell, Amy. (1978). "'That Demonic Game': The Campaign to Stop IndianPelota Playing in Spanish America, 1675–1684."The Americas 35(1):1–19. Reprinted in David Hurst Thomas. (1991).The Missions of Spanish Florida. Spanish Borderlands Sourcebooks23. New York: Garland Publishing.ISBN 0-8240-2098-7
• McEwan, Bonnie G. (2004). Fogelson, Raymond D. (ed.).Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast, Vol. 14. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 669–76.ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
• Milanich, Jerald T. (2006).Laboring in the Fields of the Lord: Spanish Missions and Southeastern Indians. University Press of Florida.ISBN 0-8130-2966-X
• Ricky, Donald (2001).The Encyclopedia of Georgia Indians: Indians of Georgia and the Southeast. Native American Books.ISBN 9780403097456.
• Schneider, Paul (2006).Brutal Journey: Cabeza de Vaca and the Epic Story of the First Crossing of North America. Henry Holt.ISBN 0-8050-6835-X

• Brown, Robin C. (1994).Florida's First People, Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc.ISBN 1-56164-032-8

• "Apalachee",Florida lessons, University of South Florida
• Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park – official site
• "Apalachee", Regional Folklife, Northern State University of Louisiana
• Jessica E. Saraceni, "Apalachee Surface in Louisiana",Archeology, 29 Jul 1997