The People
Perhaps 350,000 to one million Native people lived in Florida in the early 1500s. These people shared some characteristics, such as how their societies were organized, their basic spiritual beliefs, and their participation in trade. In other ways, they were different. They spoke many different languages, ate different foods, and had varying levels of political complexity.
Florida’s Native population was impacted severely by European colonization beginning in the 1500s. By the late 1700s, some Native cultures had perished, while others merged with newly arrived Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples or migrated elsewhere. All Native peoples experienced major changes in their traditional ways of life.
Land of Many Cultures section in Forever Changed: La Florida, 1513–1821
Florida's Native Peoples Map of regional cultures
Regional Archaeological Cultures, A.D. 1200 to 1500
We learn about Florida’s Native peoples by studying their tools, pottery, and other artifacts they left behind. European narratives and drawings provide an outsider’s view of Native cultures. Scholars also research ancient beliefs and customs by studying modern Native American traditions. We can combine this information to form a picture of Florida’s Native cultures.
Based on pottery, other artifacts, and other criteria, archaeologists recognize a number of different culture regions in Florida.
The names assigned often reflect modern geographical places. Each region probably was inhabited by dozens of separate tribes.
