Chisca facts for kids
The Chisca were a group of Native Americans who lived in what is now eastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia during the 1500s. They are no longer a separate tribe today. It is believed that many Chisca people joined with the larger Shawnee tribe.
Spanish soldiers and explorers met the Chisca people in the 16th century. One Spanish sergeant, Moyano, attacked the Chisca from a fort in North Carolina. He reported that he and his men, along with some Native American allies, fought the Chisca near what is now Saltville, Virginia. A large number of Chisca people were killed during this conflict. After this, some surviving Chisca may have joined other towns in the area.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| The Chisca tribe no longer exists on its own. They likely joined with the Shawnee people. |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Tennessee and Virginia | |
| Languages | |
| They might have spoken a language called Oli'ichi'tlawilano. | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Shawnee and/or Yuchi |
Contents
Chisca History: What We Know
We know about the Chisca mainly from two big Spanish trips in the 1500s. These trips explored the southeastern parts of North America.
First Encounters with Spanish Explorers
In 1542, the explorer Hernando de Soto led an expedition. He sent a small group of his men to explore near the Nolichucky River in the upper Tennessee River area. The Chisca warriors attacked this group, and de Soto's men were defeated. Because of this, de Soto did not explore much more in Chisca lands.
Later, in 1567, Captain Juan Pardo also explored the same region. His group traveled through the mountains beyond a large Native American town called Joara. Pardo's soldiers had built a fort there called Fort San Juan. When Pardo's group met the Chisca, they also faced armed resistance. Pardo called them "Chisca," but his writer called them "Uchi." Pardo's men destroyed a Chisca settlement called Maniatique, which is thought to be where Saltville, Virginia is today.
Spanish Leave the Area
In 1568, Pardo left the area and went to Santa Elena in what is now South Carolina. The Spanish had a colony there. He left other soldiers in charge of his forts. Later that year, most of his soldiers were killed, and the six Spanish forts were destroyed by Native Americans who resisted their presence. After these events, the Spanish stopped trying to build colonies in the interior of the Southeast. They kept their colonies in La Florida, like St. Augustine. The name Chisca was rarely seen in Spanish records after the 1500s.
Chisca and the French
In 1683, a French explorer named La Salle found a village that his group called "Cisca." This village was located between the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, in what is now northern Tennessee. This area was also home to the Yuchi people.
La Salle convinced the villagers and some Shawnee people to move. He wanted them to live under French protection at Fort St. Louis in what is now western Illinois. Around this time, it seems the Chisca joined with the Shawnee and were sometimes called "Chaskepe." They followed the Shawnee as they moved through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio between 1692 and 1754.
La Salle reported that the Chisca had originally lived in the Appalachian Mountains to the east. He said their town was burned down by colonists from Florida, whom he mistakenly called English (they were Spanish). By the 1700s, the Chisca tribe seemed to have disappeared as a separate group. Their descendants likely married into other tribes and became part of those communities.
