The Chacato People

The Chacato People. . The original builders of the Omussee Creek mound had abandoned the site by around 1550, but the area continued to be occupied by Native American groups well into the early nineteenth century. As early as the 1630s, Spanish missionaries from Florida recorded the presence of native villages in the vicinity of the mound. These communities were associated with the Chacato people based in what is now northern Florida. This widely scattered but powerful tribe exerted influence over a wide region that includes modern Houston County, Alabama. By the 1670s, Spanish authorities had established two missions to the Chacato nearby, San Carlos and San Nicolas in modern Jackson and Washington counties of Florida. Soon several hundred members of the tribe had nominally converted to Christianity. , The good will proved to be short-lived, however. The Chacato resented constant Spanish meddling in their cultural affairs, and growing tensions erupted into open conflict after an altercation between a Spanish friar and a leading chieftain known as Dioscale. The friar is believed to have scolded Dioscale for having more than one wife, even though polygamy was a custom among his people. To Dioscale, choosing only one wife would have resulted in a considerable loss of prestige, and in anger he is believed to have plotted to kill the friar. Dioscale fled to Chacato settlements in what is now Houston County when Spanish authorities sent troops to the region after learning of the unrest, but was eventually captured and imprisoned. In the aftermath of the affair, the missions at San Carlos and San Nicolas were abandoned., Although the Spanish later established another mission to the Chacato, the difficulties with the Spanish and periodic raids by native groups allied with England forced many to leave the area. By the early 1700s most of the Chacato were living to the west in the Pensacola and Mobile Bay areas, and some as far away as Louisiana. The area to which they long laid claim was occupied by groups loosely associated with the Seminoles and Creeks for more than another century, however. A Creek village known as Yamassee was located near the Omussee Mound around 1750. It is believed that Omussee Creek received its name from a corruption of the name of this settlement. , Inset , The Spanish Mission System , Between the late 1500s and early 1700s, Spanish colonial authorities established a series of missions in what are now northern Florida and southern Georgia. The purpose of these outposts was to convert Native Americans to Christianity and simultaneously increase Spanish influence in the region. Most were led by Franciscan friars, members of a religious order which dedicated themselves to following the teachings of thirteenth century spiritual leader Francis of Assissi. The mission system remained active in the region until the early 1700s when altercations between Spain, England, and their respective allies resulted in large-scale migration out of the area., Captions , Left middle map: This map gives the approximate locations of native settlements, Spanish missions, and Chacato territory ca. 1675. The name of the Choctawhatchee River, which flows through a large portion of southeastern Alabama, is believed to have been derived from a corruption of the words "Chacato" and "hatchee," a word for river. From The Native American World Beyond Apalachee: West Florida and the Chattahoochee Valley, by John H. Hann Courtesy of the University Press of Florida , Right middle map: This map of North America, drawn in 1747 by Emanuel Bowen, shows the approximate locations of several native groups in the lower Chattahoochee Valley River region. Courtesy of the David Rumsey Map Collection , Right bottom map: Approximate locations of Spanish missions jn the southeast Courtesy of Dr. John Worth, University of West Florida , Bottom right: Buildings at Spanish missions in this area were usually built with wooden posts and walled with wattle and daub or thatch. This image of the reconstruction of Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, Florida provides a depiction of what they may have looked like. Courtesy of Mission San Luis