Skip to Main Content

Native Americans: History, Culture, & Tribes: Apalachee

This guide covers the history and culture of Native American tribes. This guide is an ongoing project. As such, additional content will be added throughout the academic year.

Internet Resources

Mission San Luis Video Tour: The Apalachee and The Council House

In this video, our mestizo farmer tells you about the Apalachee Indians -- who lived at Mission San Luis more than 300 years ago -- while he shows you around their spectacular Council House!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cys7BjDZmSw

Men of God, Men of Greed, Part 2

A fleet of 42 pirate ships led by the Englishman Sir Francis Drake bore down on St. Augustine, and burned the entire town to the ground. By 1607 when Jamestown was founded, St. Augustine was undergoing urban renewal, but English colonists were ready to attack once again. In 1620 Plymouth was founded, and by 1664, 11 of the 13 British colonies had been established. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

Source: Films on Demand

Perspectives

The Native American World Beyond Apalachee

This is the first book-length study to use Spanish language sources in documenting the original Indian inhabitants of West Florida who, from the late 16th century to the 1740s, lived to the west and the north of the Apalachee. Previous authors who studied the forebears of Creeks and Seminoles from the Chattahoochee Valley have relied exclusively on English sources dating from the second half of the 18th century, with the exception of John R. Swanton, who had limited access to Spanish records for his classic works from 1922 to 1946. In this history of the region's Native Americans, Hann focuses on the small tribes of West Florida--Amacano, Chine, Chacato, Chisca and Pansacola--and their first contacts with Spanish explorers, colonists, and missionaries. He also gives significant perspective to the forebears of the Lower Creeks, with an emphasis on the late 17th century, when Spanish documents recorded the important events of the interior regions of the Southeast.  As Hann's fifth study of Florida natives, this book includes chapters on the Yamasee War and its aftermath and the early 18th-century dissolution of many societies and withdrawal of Spaniards from the region. This volume will be of great interest to archaeologists working in the Lower Southeast, historians and ethnohistorians specializing in Native American or Spanish colonial history, Latin American and Caribbean scholars concerned with Spanish colonial contexts, and anyone interested in Native Americans or Florida history.   

American Indians of the Northeast and Southeast

Sharing a number of traditions and practices, the Native American tribes of the Northeast and Southeast regions of the United States are sometimes considered as a single culture area known as the Eastern Woodlands. Despite their cultural similarities, however, each region, and each tribe within each region, has its own customs and histories that distinguish one from another. This engaging volume examines the history of the indigenous peoples, including their first encounters with European colonizers and conquerors, as well as the various native languages, rituals, kinship, and characteristics that have survived despite Western influence and assimilation practices.

Indians of the Greater Southeast

"If you have ever wondered about the Indian tribes who lived in the American Southeast at the time of European settlement, this book is for you. . . . Eleven of the nation's top historical archaeologists tackle eleven of the Indian nations that occupied the territory from Florida to Texas. They include some of the best known but little-understood American tribes--the Cherokee, the Natchez, and the Caddo."--American Archaeology "A critically needed summary of current knowledge of southeastern Native Americans during the colonial encounter. . . . For historians, archaeologists, and ethnohistorians, this is a valuable source of information which was previously hard to find."--Elizabeth J. Reitz, University of Georgia "This important volume will be of interest to anyone, whether scholar or layman, who wants to learn about the Indians of the southeastern United States. The authors are among the most respected authorities on the Indian societies chosen for inclusion."--Chester B. DePratter, University of South Carolina This volume brings together a stellar group of scholars to summarize what we know of the development of native American cultures in the southeastern United States after 1500. The authors integrate archaeological, documentary, and ethnohistorical evidence in the most comprehensive examination of diverse southeastern Indian cultures published in decades. Contents Introduction by Bonnie G. McEwan 1. The Timucua Indians of Northern Florida and Southern Georgia, by Jerald T. Milanich 2. The Guale Indians of the Lower Atlantic Coast: Change and Continuity, by Rebecca Saunders 3. The Apalachee Indians of Northwest Florida, by Bonnie G. McEwan 4. The Chickasaws, by Jay K. Johnson 5. The Caddo of the Trans-Mississippi South, by Ann M. Early 6. The Natchez of Southwest Mississippi, by Karl G. Lorenz 7. The Quapaw Indians of Arkansas, 1673-1803, by George Sabo III 8. Cherokee Ethnohistory and Archaeology, by Gerald F. Schroedl 9. Upper Creek Archaeology, by Gregory A. Waselkov and Marvin T. Smith 10. The Lower Creeks: Origins and Early History, by John E. Worth 11. Archaeological Perspectives on Florida Seminole Ethnogenesis, by Brent R. Weisman       This title is published in conjunction with the Society for Historical Archaeology Bonnie G. McEwan is director of archaeology at Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, Florida. Her publications include The Spanish Missions of La Florida, The Apalachee Indians and Mission San Luis (with John H. Hann), and numerous monographs and journal articles.

Journals & Reference Materials (Log in Required)