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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 2/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

their area extended north of the Santa Fe and east of the Suwa­
nee rivers.2

Timucuan life was based upon hunting, fishing and agricul­
ture. They collected shellfish from freshwater rivers and lakes,
and saltwater marshes. They also ate alligator, snapping and
softshell turtle, gopher tortoise, deer, opossum, raccoon, rabbit,
brown bear, skunk, fox and grey squirrel, cotton rat, mud eel,
bowfin, catfish, garfish, sunfish and bream. They planted corn,
beans, squash and tobacco. The latter was smoked in pipes.
Hickory nuts, walnuts and acorns constituted an important part of
their diet and were often boiled to extract their oils which were
used for cooking purposes.
The villages of the Timucuans were usually built near fresh­
water streams or next to lakes. Dugout canoes were used for
transportation as well as for fishing. A typical dwelling was a
circular structure about twenty-five feet in diameter with wall
posts every two to three feet supporting a palm thatched roof.
Palm thatches covered the side walls as well. Beds were probably
built on platforms supported by corner posts while smudge pots
presumably were used to repel insects at night. The attics of these
dome-shaped structures were used for food storage. Cooking was
done within the house in circular or bell-shaped pots. These
dwellings were of sufficient size to house fifteen to twenty people,
but it is not known whether or not joint families occupied them.
Large families may have been common as chiefs and other tribal
leaders frequently had more than one wife. Other buildings found
in the villages included round council houses, public granaries and

information on the Timucuan Indians found in this chapter has primarily
been drawn from materials provided by Dr. Jerald T. Milanich of the Florida State
Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville. Particularly useful were the following
publications: Jerald T. Milanich, “Timucua Ethnography,” Miscellaneous Project'
Report Series Number 9 (The Florida State Museum, The University of Florida,
Gainesville, October, 1976), pp. 1-7; Jerald T. Milanich, The Alachua Tradition of
North-Central Florida (Gainesville, 1971), pp. 1-46.

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