Page 14 - a-history-of-columbia-county-florida-(1996)-edward-f-keuchel

A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 3/340

The Early Beginnings: The Period Before United States Acquisition

separate family storage houses built on elevated posts. Open
ceremonial squares with wooden benches were also found in the
villages.
Descent among the Timucuans was through the mother: a
chief was succeeded by his sister’s son, rather than his own. When
a man said he was going home, he meant that he was going to the
house of his mother. There are instances where women ruled a
tribe, but generally the tribal chief was a man. Family clans
within the tribe carried such names as Panther, Bear, Fish,
Buzzard or Quail, and were ranked in importance. Chiefs and
other officials came from specific clans with the head chief always
coming from the White Deer or Great Deer clan. Chiefs were
supported by a share of the tribe’s produce which was reserved in a
central storehouse. Field work and other services was required by
the chief as well.
The drawings of LeMoyne and other sources indicate that the
Timucuans wore little in the way of clothing. They all went
barefoot, and children wore no clothing at all. Women wore skirts
of Spanish moss with an occasional sash over their shoulders. A
woman’s hair was unbound. Upon the death of her spouse it was
cut short, and she was not allowed to remarry until it again
covered her shoulders. Chiefs’ wives were often tattooed and
decorated with neck, wrist and ankle beads. Fingernails and
toenails were worn long and served as weapons as well as decora­
tion. Both men and women wore inflated fish-bladder ear plugs
frequently dyed red.
Men kept their hair long and piled high in a knot at the top of
their heads. Headdresses of feathers or single feathers were worn
as war dress. Breechclouts were worn by the men, and frequently
skins or stuffed animals were worn on the head or attached to the
back of the breechclout. Chiefs and subchiefs were tattooed over
almost the whole body, and they wore bracelets, armbands and
legbands. Turkey spurs were sometimes used as ear plugs.
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