Yustaga facts for kids

The Yustaga were a group of Timucua people who lived in what is now northwestern Florida. They were around during the 1500s and 1600s. They were the westernmost Timucua group. Their homes were between the Aucilla and Suwannee Rivers. This area is in the Florida Panhandle, just east of the Apalachee people. The Yustaga were important in the politics of their region. They might have been organized as a loose group of up to eight smaller chiefdoms.

The Yustaga were close with the Northern Utina people. The Northern Utina lived on the other side of the Suwannee River. The Yustaga probably spoke a different dialect of the Timucua language, perhaps Potano. The Yustaga were among the first Timucua to meet Europeans. This was because their land was near the Apalachee. Many explorers passed through Yustaga territory looking for the Apalachee. After many years of resisting, they joined the Spanish mission system in the 1620s. Like all Timucua groups, their population greatly decreased after Europeans arrived. This was especially true after raids by English-allied Native Americans from the north. The Yustaga who survived eventually moved closer to the Spanish capital of St. Augustine. They mixed with other Native Americans in the missions and lost their original identity.

Where the Yustaga Lived

The Yustaga were the most western of all Timucua groups. Their land reached into the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia. They lived in the western Suwannee River valley. This was roughly between the Aucilla and Suwannee Rivers. Today, this area is in Madison and Taylor Counties.

On the east side of the Suwannee River lived another Timucua group, the Northern Utina. Their land stretched to the St. Johns River in the east and the Santa Fe River in the south. The Northern Utina were closely connected to the Yustaga. However, they spoke a different dialect of the Timucua language. To the west of the Yustaga was the Apalachee Province. This area was home to the Apalachee people and others.

Ancient History of the Yustaga

The Yustaga region has been lived in for thousands of years. Around 1 to 900 AD, the people there were part of the Weeden Island culture. This culture was found across much of western Florida and beyond. Around 900 AD, a new culture began among the people of the Suwannee River Valley. These were the groups later known as the Yustaga and Northern Utina. This culture is called the Suwannee Valley culture. It is known for its special pottery. This culture was still present when Europeans arrived. It was similar to the Alachua culture of the Potano people. The Potano were a Timucua group in what is now Alachua County.

We are not completely sure what dialect the Yustaga spoke. This is because they were not part of the mission system when Father Francisco Pareja studied the Timucua language. He did his language work between 1612 and 1627. However, a letter from the Yustaga chief Manuel to the Spanish king from 1651 still exists. The language in this letter is very similar to writings from the Potano tribe. Because of this, experts like Julian Granberry believe the Yustaga spoke the Potano dialect.

Archaeological findings suggest the Yustaga lived in separate village groups. These were probably small local chiefdoms. About eight such groups were known in historical times. Expert John Worth thinks these might have been part of a larger, loose regional chiefdom. This larger chiefdom would have existed from at least the early time of European contact. In this setup, the leader of the most important town, Cotocochuni or Potohiriba, would have been the main chief over all others. Spanish lists of Yustaga chiefs always named them in order of their town's importance, with Potohiriba always first. Also, the Spanish built a mission at Potohiriba first. This was true even though it was far away. This suggests it was already a very important place in the region.

However, Worth also notes that the Yustaga chiefdom was not as unified as some eastern Timucua chiefdoms. For example, the Saturiwa and (eastern) Utina were more unified. Pottery styles might have been different from one community to another. This suggests some disunity in the region. Also, no large monuments like platform mounds have been found in Yustaga land. These mounds often show that a regional chiefdom was very unified.

First Meetings with Europeans

A possible path for the first part of the de Soto Expedition. It shows them passing through Uzachile and the Yustaga area. This map is based on Charles M. Hudson's 1997 map.

The Yustaga likely met the expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez in 1528. One survivor, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, wrote about meeting a great chief named Dulchanchellin. This chief lived east of Apalachee. He might have been an early leader of the Yustaga.

The name "Yustaga" first appears in the writings of Hernando de Soto's expedition in 1539. These writings describe Yustaga as the area right east of Apalachee. During de Soto's time, the chiefdom was led by a chief named Uzachile. He was allied with the main chief on the other side of the Suwannee, Aguacaleycuen. Aguacaleycuen's land was where the Northern Utina later lived. Uzachile might have been the main leader over different chiefdoms on both sides of the river. They may have had an alliance to protect themselves against the Apalachees, the Utina (from the St. Johns River valley), and the Potano.

When de Soto reached Aguacaleycuen's village, he captured the chief. This was his usual way of doing things. He planned to release the chief once his group safely reached Uzachile's village. Later, some chiefs offered to take de Soto to Uzachile. They said Uzachile wanted an alliance against the Apalachee. But instead, they led the Spanish into a surprise attack. De Soto eventually won the fight. He then punished Aguacaleycuen and other captives. By the time he reached Yustaga, the villages were empty. De Soto and his men arrived at Uzachile's town on September 25. They stayed there for four days. One writer said the town had 200 houses. It also had plenty of corn, beans, and pumpkins.

French records from Fort Caroline, a settlement built in 1564, mention a chief named "Houstaqua." This name is probably a different way of saying Yustaga. The French understood that Houstaqua and his neighbor, Onatheaqua (likely a Northern Utina chief), lived east of the Apalachee. However, they thought these chiefs lived near mountains with gold (the Appalachian Mountains). French soldiers visited the Yustaga twice. They exchanged gifts with the chief and stayed among his people for several months. The French reports said Houstaqua had 3000 to 4000 warriors.

The Mission Period

The Spanish took over Florida from the French in 1565. They set up a system of missions to teach the native people about Christianity. Most Timucua groups asked the Spanish for missionaries. But the Yustaga actively resisted Spanish efforts to send missionaries. Spanish records show that the main chief of the Yustaga kept refusing to let missionaries into his land until the 1620s. This was more than twenty years after missions had started among the Northern Utina and other groups.

Around 1623, the chief of Cotocochuni finally agreed to let two friars enter his territory. Cotocochuni was probably the main village of the Yustaga chiefdom. However, the chief told his people not to get baptized or give the missionaries food. Eventually, both the chief and his daughter converted to Christianity. After that, the Yustaga people converted quickly. Mission San Pedro de Potohiriba was built at Cotocochuni. Over time, missions were built at the main villages of the other local chiefdoms. This project made Yustaga a province of the Spanish mission system. It was the most important project of its kind in the early 1600s.

The Yustaga had less contact with Europeans and the diseases they brought. Because of this, their population stayed stable longer than any other Timucua group. At the start of the mission period, the Yustaga Province was the most populated. It had an estimated 12,000 people. The Timucua Province had only 7,500 people at that time. The Timucua Province included the Northern Utina, Potano, and other groups.

The Yustaga played a game often called the "Apalachee ball game." A missionary wrote about the Yustaga ball game in 1630. He said the game had 50 or even 100 players on a team. Large crowds would gather to watch the games. The Apalachee stopped playing the game in 1677 because missionaries pressured them. But the Yustaga refused to stop. They said their version of the game did not have the same problems as the Apalachee version. The Yustaga continued to play the game into the 1680s.

The Western Timucua groups, which included the Potano, Northern Utina, and Yustaga, rebelled against Spanish rule in 1656. Lúcas Menéndez, chief of San Martín de Ayacutu and main chief of the Northern Utina, led the revolt. Diego, chief of Potohiriba and the most powerful Yustaga chief, also led the revolt. Potohiriba was the main meeting place for the rebels. The rebels killed several Spaniards, a Mexican, and some African slaves. However, no missionaries were killed. The chiefs of Machaba and Potohiriba were among the rebel leaders captured by the Spanish. They were severely punished for their part in the rebellion.

Four missions were still in use in 1688. These were Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Potohiriba, Santa Elena de Machaba, San Miguel de Asile, and San Matheo de Tolapatafi. San Miguel de Asile might have been an Apalachee mission. In 1689, there were 330 families living at these four missions. Raids by English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their Native American allies in 1704 and later years destroyed the missions in Yustaga.