9. La Caroline in the Mocama World
“Building la Caroline” National Park Service display
“During those days, the Paracousi Satouriona, who was our closest neighbour and on whose lands we were building our fort, would come.” – René Goulaine de Laudonnière, 1564
As you begin to approach the replica of the French fort, you are still in Mocama territory. The Mocamas only allowed the French to stay on their lands because of a treaty they entered into in 1564. Parucusi Saturiwa, the high chief of the Mocamas, took charge of negotiating the treaty. The French could build their fort and settlement in Mocama territory, but they would have to follow Mocama foreign policy - by allying with Mocama allies, and warring against their enemies. This was a military alliance. But it was not an alliance made by equals. The French not only lived in Mocama territory but also depended on the Mocamas for food, information, and connections to other Indigenous communities.
Mocama leaders hoped the French would prove to be good allies but were rightfully cautious. The French were a military force - almost entirely men and mostly soldiers and sailors, as well as some craftsmen who could build ships and a fort. In the Mocama world, women played an essential role in diplomacy because women governed Mocama families and created the ties that truly bound people together. But both in 1562 and 1564, the French brought few women and they did not have the authority that Mocama women wielded. In Mocama society, power and political authority ultimately came from a balance of women and men who led their families, towns, and nation.
Parucusi Saturiwa also supervised the French construction of the original fort in Mocama. He monitored French activities, assessing French usefulness as military allies. Mocamas partly constructed the fort and surrounding houses. French carpenters built the fort’s walls from wood but didn’t know how to weave palm fronds into roofs for their homes. Saturiwa organized 70 to 80 skilled Mocama men to thatch their roofs. Over time, the French tried to claim Fort Caroline as their own colony. The Mocamas disagreed. This was still Mocama territory. The French were guests. They were not permanent residents and land owners.
