WHO ARE THE MOCAMA?
More changes were underway by the mid-fifteenth century, giving rise to the Indigenous societies encountered by European invaders. Though we may never know what the Natives of Northeast Florida called themselves, we do know that the seventeenth-century Spanish referred to them as Mocama. In truth, the word does not identify as a group of people as much as a dialect of the broader Timucua language. Meaning ocean or sea, Mocama was the maritime dialect spoken by Indigenous tidewater groups between the St. Johns River in Florida and the Satilla River in Georgia.
WHERE DID THEY LIVE?
The Mocama, like other Timucua speakers, were village dwellers who lived in communities of less than 100 to as many as 500 people. UNF archaeologists have unearthed evidence of Mocama villages in our region at places like Sarabay on Big Talbot Island, Alimacani on Fort George Island, Vera Cruz on Black Hammock Island, and Atore (San Pablo) on the Greenfield Peninsula (Queen’s Harbour).
SUBSISTENCE: WHAT DID THEY EAT?
Like the people who proceeded them, the Mocama used traditional methods of fishing, hunting, and gathering to acquire most of their food. Taking advantage of a resource-rich estuarine environment, fishing dominated their subsistence efforts. They also collected shellfish, like oyster and clam, from nearby salt marshes and mudflats. They hunted and trapped a variety of local mammals, birds, and reptiles and foraged for wild fruits, berries, nuts, and roots. With this bounty, they made stews, chowders, soups, and breads.
THE ADOPTION OF GARDENING
Around 1450-1500 C.E. the Mocama began to cultivate maize for the first time, although it was only a small part of their diet. Grown in small garden plots along with squash and beans, the Mocama practiced slash-and-burn farming. After burning plots and allowing the ashes to fertilize the ground, women and perhaps men, too, worked the fields with wooden and shell tools before planting the maize.
