Appearance and customs

Thanks to various French and Spanish observers, we have views of how Timucuan people actually looked. They were tall, handsome, and athletic. The men wore their hair pulled up in top knots. Women wore Spanish moss skirts and jewelry made of shell and bone. Both men and women sported striking tattoos of red, blue, and black.

Drawing by John White (altered) 1670
Florida State Archives

Among the Timucuan practices noted by Europeans:

When a woman's husband died, she cut her hair short and scattered it over the ground. She could not remarry until it grew back to shoulder-length.

Warriors drank a kind of tea brewed from holly leaves. "Cacina" was taken before battles or council meetings as an emetic for ritual cleansing. Those who could hold it in their stomachs longest were considered the best warriors.

Chiefs were selected by clans, and the head chief came from the White Deer clan. Shamans, or men with special powers, served as the people's spiritual leaders.

The succession to chiefdom was matrilineal. A deceased chief was replaced by his eldest sister's son or daughter rather than by his own children. Not much is known about female chiefs, but there definitely were some.