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Calusa Indians
The languages spoken by
the Calusa and by the people next in order,
the Tequesta, are unknown to us, and thus
cannot be mentioned here as forming separate
linguistic stocks. I simply make mention of
these tribes, because they were regarded as
people distinct from the
Timucua and the
tribes of Maskoki origin.
The Calusa held the
southwestern extremity of Florida, and their
tribal name is left recorded in Calusahatchi,
a river south of Tampa bay. They are called
Calos on de Bry’s map (1591), otherwise
Colusa, Callos, Carlos, and formed a
confederacy of many villages, the names of
which are given in the memoir of Hernando d
Escalante Fontanedo (Mémoire sur la Floride,
in Ternaux-Compans’ Collection XX, p. 22;
translated from the original Spanish). These
names were written down in 1559, and do not
show much affinity with
Timucua; but since
they are the only remnants of the Calusa
language, I present the full list: "Tampa,
Tomo, Tuchi, Sogo, No (which signifies
beloved village), Sinapa, Sinaesta, Metamapo,
Sacaspada, Calaobe, Estame, Yagua, Guaya,
Guevu, Muspa, Casitoa, Tatesta, Coyovea,
Jutun, Tequemapo, Comachica, Quiseyove and
two others in the vicinity. There are others
in the interior, near Lake Mayaimi viz.,
Cutespa, Tavaguemue, Tomsobe, Enempa and
twenty others. Two upon the Lucayos obey to
the cacique of Carlos, Guarunguve and
Cuchiaga. Carlos and his deceased father
were the rulers of these fifty towns."
Fontanedo states that he was prisoner in
these parts from his thirteenth to his
thirtieth year; that he knew four languages,
but was not familiar with those of Aïs and
Teaga, not having been there.
One of these names is
decidedly Spanish, Sacaspada or
"Draw-the-sword"; two others appear to be
Timucua, Calaobe (kala fruit; abo stalk,
tree] and Comachica (hica land, country}.
Some may be explained by the Creek language,
but only one of them, Tampa (itímpi close to
it, near if) is Creek to a certainty; Tuchi
resembles tútchi kidneys; Sogo, sá-uka
rattle, gourd-rattle, and No is the radix of
a-no-kítcha lover, anukídshäs I love, which
agrees with the interpretation given by
Fontanedo. Tavaguemue may possibly contain
the Creek táwa sumach; Mayaimi (Lake), which
Fontanedo explains by "very large" the Creek
augmentative term máhi, and Guevu the Creek
u-íwa water.
The Spanish
orthography, in which these names are laid
down, is unfitted for transcribing Indian
languages, perhaps as much so as the English
orthography; nevertheless, we recognize the
frequently occurring terminal -esta, -sta,
which sounds quite like Timucua. There are
no doubt many geo graphic terms, taken from
Seminole Creek, in the south of the
peninsula as well as in the north; it only
remains to determine what age we have to
ascribe to them.
The Calusa bore the
reputation of being a savage and rapacious
people, and B. Romans (p. 292) denounces
them as having been pirates. He informs us
(p. 289), that "at Sandy Point, the southern
extremity of the peninsula, are large
fields, being the lands formerly planted by
the Colusa savages;" and that "they were
driven away from the continent by the
Creeks, their more potent neighbors." In
1763 the remnants, about eighty families,
went to Havannah from their last possessions
at Cayos Vacos and Cayo Hueso (hueso, bone),
where Romans saw the rests of their stone
habitations (p. 291); now called Cayos bajos
and Key West.
On the languages spoken
in these parts more will be found under the
heading"
Seminole Indians."
Back to:
Southern Families of Indians
Notes About Book:
Source: Gatschet, Albert S., A Migration Legend of the Creek Indians.
Pub.
D.G. Brinton, Philadelphia, 1884.
Notes about Online Publication: This manuscript has been ocr'd and heavily
edited. Many of the Native American words have been reproduced as clearly as
online publication will allow us, but not all are exactly the way they were in
the original work. The structure of this manuscript has been changed to allow
better online presentation.
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