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him, instead of to his overlord at Ocute. De Soto replied that the previous relationship should stand. De Soto erected a cross and left behind a cannon somewhere in the chiefdom. He summoned the paramount chief of Ocute, and then visited his main town, apparently at the
Shoulderbone site, on April 9. He received gifts and set up another cross, and the army rested for two days. On April 12, De Soto visited another subject chiefdom, Cofaqui, which was governed by a young noble named Patofa on behalf of his elderly uncle. Patofa reiterated his compatriots' policy of amity and gave the army provisions and porters.
298:, suggesting its location may have been chosen to trade with or defend against people to the east. For a time, the Oconee province interacted with the Savannah Valley chiefdoms. These chiefdoms thrived in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were abandoned entirely by 1450, with at least part of the population moving west into the Oconee province. It appears that increasing enmity with the South Carolina paramount chiefdom eventually known as
176:. However, subsequent archaeological research has found that this site's population had declined by the mid-16th century, weakening its identification with Ocute, but it remains the best fit of the currently known sites. Altamaha was located downstream to the south at the Shinholser site. Cofaqui was to the north, evidently at the
33:
367:
mission that hoped to proselytize the province. The mission was warmly received in
Altamaha, where the people nominally accepted Christianity. At Ocute, however, the chief threatened to kill them if they proceeded, invoking De Soto's invasion, and Altamaha also became hostile, so the mission returned
290:
around 1200 and then to the Scull Shoals site in about 1275. Also around 1275, a second, probably independent chiefdom developed at the
Shinholser site 55 miles south. This local phase of Mississippian culture is known as the Savannah period. A third chiefdom arose around 1325. Located at a new mound
315:
By 1500, the population had expanded considerably. There were at least five mound centers (although the
Shoulderbone site's population had declined dramatically) and several hundred smaller towns and other settlements. Ocute enters the historical record in the chronicles of the expedition of Spanish
375:
In the 1620s, the
Spanish sent five military expeditions to investigate rumors of mines and other Europeans in the interior, but only two reached La Tama, in 1625 and 1627. The first crossed the Wilderness of Ocute but was turned back at Cofitachequi due to the old war, while the second was allowed
338:
On April 3, the
Spanish approached the chiefdom of Altamaha, led by a chief named Zamuno, who always bore arms in case of attack by Cofitachequi. It is unclear if De Soto entered the main town at the Shinholser site. Zamuno exchanged gifts with De Soto and asked if he should pay tribute directly to
342:
De Soto then determined to set out for
Cofitachequi. The people of Ocute explained that the great wilderness separated them, and that no one alive had ever crossed it due to the war, despite what De Soto's guide had claimed. Nevertheless, the army departed on April 13. A party from Ocute initially
241:
Judging by the organization of other paramount chiefdoms such as Coosa and
Cofitachequi, Hudson argues that Ocute's power may have extended beyond the core Oconee province. He suggests Ocute's sphere included Ichisi, as well as the Guale and the unknown chiefdom at the Savannah River headwaters.
426:
provinces, La Tama refugees established four towns descended from the ancient interior
Georgia chiefdoms: Altamaha, Okatee (Ocute), Chechessee (Ichisi), and Euhaw (apparently descended from Toa); Altamaha remained the leading town. Within the Yamassee confederacy, these towns formed the Lower
302:
was a major factor driving the abandonment of the
Savannah. This created the "wilderness of Ocute", which served as a buffer zone against Cofitachequi. From about 1350, farmsteads expanded rapidly and the people adopted more complex coiled ceramics, marking the start of the Lamar phase of the
415:, in 1675. There were 300 people in two settlements at the mission in 1675, growing to 400 by 1689, but declining after that as Yamasees left to move closer to the English. The mission may have lasted until 1704, when the remaining Yamasees moved to English territory in the aftermath of the
360:. The mounds themselves were no longer used after about 1580. However, the total population continued increasing until about 1600. In this period, Altamaha eclipsed Ocute as the paramount town; contemporary Spanish records refer to the province as "La Tama", derived from Altamaha.
105:
The chiefdom remained a significant regional power into the 17th century, although Altamaha eclipsed Ocute as the primary center, leading the Spanish to refer to the paramountcy as La Tama. In the 1660s the chiefdom fragmented due to slave raids by the English-allied
921:
400:. Many La Tama people were enslaved, and the rest abandoned the Oconee valley entirely. Some survivors scattered to the nearby Muskogean and Escamacu chiefdoms, while others fled to the provinces of the Guale, Apalachee, and Timucua in
286:" pottery, and the residents established mound centers, starting by reoccupying the Middle Woodland period Cold Springs mound. This was apparently the first chiefdom in the Oconee valley, although the town evidently relocated to the
274:, the mound sites were abandoned and the population dispersed. Inhabitants developed simple pottery known as Vining Stamped ware, and primarily lived in small, corn-farming homesteads in and around the Oconee valley.
355:
in 1565, which caused Indian polities to realign in response to the new regional power center. Ocute's population dispersed from the mound centers in favor of decentralized farmsteads, and some began migrating into
238:. In earlier times the Savannah River area had been densely populated and home to sizable chiefdoms, but it was entirely abandoned by about 1450, apparently due to the conflict between Ocute and Cofitachequi.
281:
took hold in the Oconee province. Inhabitants abandoned the old homesteads for new settlements near the river, taking advantage of the rich floodplain soils well suited for corn. Ceramics styles shifted to
335:, on March 30. The chief of Ichisi cooperated fully, and informed the Spanish about the nearby paramount chief, Ocute. De Soto erected a wooden cross on one of the mounds before heading to Ocute.
331:
De Soto came to the chiefdom of Ichisi on March 25, 1539, and told the locals he would be merciful if their chief submitted. He visited two small towns and entered the main town of Ichisi, at the
250:, home to the Guale, and alliances to the north and south would have given Ocute relative parity with their enemies, Cofitachequi. Hudson also entertains the possibility that Toa, perhaps on the
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which Spanish chroniclers referred to as the "desert of Ocute" or the "wilderness of Ocute". Beyond the wilderness were Ocute's great enemies, the chiefdom of
388:
By around 1630, European diseases struck the province, and the population began to decline precipitously. In 1661 and 1662, Guale and Tama were raided by the
266:. At least three mound centers – Cold Springs, Little River, and Lingerlonger – developed, along with smaller settlements. The inhabitants had similar
368:
to Spanish territory. A military venture in 1602 found La Tama to be a fertile, populous province, and the chief of La Tama visited Spanish Governor
1145:
1083:
Worth, John E. (1994). "Late Spanish Military Expeditions in the Interior Southeast, 1597–1628". In Hudson, Charles; Tesser, Carmen Chaves (eds.).
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and the formation of the eastern buffer zone may signal that all the Oconee polities were integrating into a paramount chiefdom in this period.
320:, which came through the chiefdom in 1539 on its way to Cofitachequi. They had learned about Ocute from two young men they had captured in
427:
Yamassee, while Guale towns and some others formed the Upper Yamassee. The Yamaseee shifted alliances and later relocated to present-day
1130:
372:
in Guale in 1604. The Spanish determined La Tama would be a valuable region to colonize, but never realized their plans to do so.
1111:. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Conference of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. Austin, Texas.
343:
joined the Spanish to raid Cofitachequi, but De Soto sent them home upon realizing there was no easy way through the wilderness.
215:
lived on the Georgia coast to the southeast, downstream from Ocute. Northwest of Ocute was the much larger paramount chiefdom of
404:. Thereafter, they were among the peoples who became known as the Yamasee, who numbered between 700 and 800 in Florida in 1682.
86:
The Oconee valley area was populated for thousands of years, and the core chiefdoms of Ocute emerged following the rise of the
351:
The paramount chiefdom changed substantially in the late 16th century. A large impetus was apparently the founding of Spanish
1041:
291:
center, the Shoulderbone site, it was almost exactly equidistant to the other two. Hudson identifies this site with Ocute.
1021:
999:
859:
17:
407:
A mission called "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Tama" or "La Purificación de Tama" was established close to
922:"Summary Guide to Spanish Florida Missions and Visitas With Churches in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries"
1092:
1073:
973:
882:
875:
Another's Country: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives on Cultural Interactions in the Southern Colonies
852:
From Chicaza to Chickasaw: The European Invasion and the Transformation of the Mississippian World, 1540-1715
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in 1685. They remained a significant power in the Southeast until the British settlers defeated them in the
408:
870:
964:(1994). "The Hernando de Soto Expedition, 1539–1543". In Hudson, Charles; Tesser, Carmen Chaves (eds.).
871:"The Yamassee in South Carolina: Native American Adaptation and Interaction along the Carolina Frontier"
41:
159:
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in 1539. At that time, Ocute was locked in a longstanding war with the rival paramount chiefdom of
68:
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of 1715–1717, after which they integrated into the multiethnic settlements in Spanish Florida.
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263:
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are subsumed under one political order. The core area comprised three chiefdoms located in the
172:
and his colleagues locate the main town of Ocute at the Shoulderbone mound site, northwest of
278:
251:
87:
271:
72:
1040:. University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology Series, Report Number 32. Archived from
8:
181:
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The Spanish sent several expeditions to La Tama between 1597 and 1628, beginning with a
83:
of Ocute held sway over the nearby chiefdoms of Altamaha, Cofaqui, and possibly others.
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along with various associated settlements, with the chief of Ocute being paramount.
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The Shoulderbone site is 8 miles east of the Oconee River along a key trail to the
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styles and there is little evidence of corn agriculture in this period. During the
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1012:(2009). "The Social Context of the Chiefdom of Ichisi". In Hally, David J. (ed.).
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The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521-1704
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The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521-1704
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The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521-1704
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211:. Further southeast were smaller chiefdoms including Toa and Capachequi. The
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around 1100. Ocute was invaded by the expedition of the Spanish conquistador
32:
899:
Hann, John (October 1989). "St. Augustine's Fallout from the Yamasee War".
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231:
155:
135:
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76:
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138:, home to the core chiefdoms of Ocute, is highlighted. It meets with the
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into Cofitachequi. After this, Spanish expansion efforts focused on the
1060:
Williams, Mark (1994). "Growth and Decline of the Oconee Province". In
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The area first saw substantial population around A.D. 150, during the
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Yamassee Origins and the Development of the Carolina-Florida Frontier
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expedition route through Ocute and other nearby chiefdoms. Based on
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and Apalachee provinces west of St. Augustine rather than Georgia.
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869:
Green, William; DePratter, Chester B.; Southerlin, Bobby (2002).
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162:: Ocute, Altamaha, and Cofaqui. Each included a main town and
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To the east lay a vast uninhabited area on both sides of the
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Former Native American populated places in the United States
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142:(home to Ichisi) to form the Altamaha (home to the Guale)
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573:
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184:. The people of Ocute spoke a language later known as
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Archaeological Investigations at the Dyar Site, 9GE5
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458:
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1087:. University of Georgia Press. pp. 104–122.
1068:. University of Georgia Press. pp. 179–196.
828:Green, DePratter, and Southerlin 2002, pp. 19–20.
819:Green, DePratter, and Southerlin 2002, pp. 15–17.
787:Green, DePratter, and Southerlin 2002, pp. 16–17.
453:
199:Another chiefdom possibly associated with Ocute,
110:people, though several of its towns relocated to
1141:Indigenous culture of the Southeastern Woodlands
1117:
968:. University of Georgia Press. pp. 74–103.
257:
75:in the 16th and 17th centuries. Centered in the
1136:Native American tribes in Georgia (U.S. state)
733:Green, DePratter, and Southerlin 2002, p. 16.
150:, a political organization in which multiple
873:. In Joseph, J. W.; Zierden, Martha (eds.).
797:
795:
793:
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121:
907:(2). Florida Historical Society: 180–200.
219:; also to the north was a chiefdom at the
203:, was located to the southwest, along the
59:and sometimes known conventionally as the
790:
392:, a group allied to the English who used
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246:were both located on tributaries of the
125:
31:
1146:South Appalachian Mississippian culture
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1008:
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854:. University of North Carolina Press.
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990:Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun
417:destruction of the Apalachee Missions
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192:tongue that may have been similar to
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384:Decline and the Yamassee confederacy
223:headwaters whose name is unknown.
24:
27:Native American paramount chiefdom
25:
1157:
1131:Former chiefdoms in North America
396:and were heavily involved in the
1064:; Tesser, Carmen Chaves (eds.).
901:The Florida Historical Quarterly
1016:. University of Georgia Press.
1014:Ocmulgee Archaeology, 1936-1986
994:. University of Georgia Press.
877:. University of Alabama Press.
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1031:Smith, Marvin T. (May 1994).
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333:Lamar Mounds and Village Site
258:Archaeology and early history
209:Lamar Mounds and Village Site
920:Hann, John H. (April 1990).
631:Williams 1994, pp. 184, 190.
71:region of the U.S. state of
7:
721:Williams 1994, pp. 191–192.
649:Williams 1994, pp. 190–191.
622:Williams 1994, pp. 189–190.
595:Williams 1994, pp. 186–187.
482:Williams 1994, pp. 179–180.
10:
1162:
422:In the Guale and Timucuan
850:Ethridge, Robbie (2010).
712:Hudson 1997, pp. 165–166.
703:Hudson 1997, pp. 164–165.
694:Hudson 1997, pp. 162–164.
685:Hudson 1997, pp. 160–162.
676:Hudson 1997, pp. 158–159.
667:Hudson 1997, pp. 129–130.
640:Hudson 1997, pp. 152–153.
577:Hudson 1997, pp. 182–183.
565:Hudson 1997, pp. 165–172.
505:Smith 1994, pp. 180, 183.
473:Hudson 1997, pp. 162–163.
347:La Tama and later history
769:Worth 1994, pp. 111–115.
760:Worth 1994, pp. 110–111.
751:Worth 1994, pp. 109–110.
742:Worth 1994, pp. 105–108.
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122:Description and location
63:, was a Native American
1102:Worth, John E. (1999).
837:Hann 1989, pp. 180–181.
523:Hann 1989, pp. 187–189.
234:in present-day eastern
114:and formed part of the
778:Williams 1994, p. 193.
658:Williams 1994, p. 191.
613:Williams 1994, p. 189.
604:Williams 1994, p. 187.
586:Williams 1994, p. 186.
305:agricultural expansion
264:Middle Woodland period
158:valley in the Georgia
143:
45:
810:Hann 1990 pp. 489–480
279:Mississippian culture
129:
88:Mississippian culture
35:
1047:on December 14, 2017
556:Hudson 1997, p. 165.
544:Hudson 1997, p. 148.
535:Hudson 2009, p. 178.
514:Hudson 1997, p. 174.
496:Hudson 2009, p. 179.
272:Late Woodland period
146:Ocute was a sizable
464:Hudson 1994, p. 82.
450:Hudson 1997, p. 30.
284:complicated stamped
413:Apalachee Province
398:Indian slave trade
311:De Soto expedition
148:paramount chiefdom
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65:paramount chiefdom
46:
36:A map showing the
411:, the capitol of
394:flintlock muskets
170:Charles M. Hudson
79:valley, the main
51:, later known as
42:Charles M. Hudson
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300:Cofitachequi
293:
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232:Cofitachequi
225:
198:
168:
156:Oconee River
145:
136:Oconee River
134:system. The
104:
96:Cofitachequi
85:
77:Oconee River
60:
56:
52:
48:
47:
29:
1051:February 4,
890:February 3,
801:Worth 1999.
433:Yamasee War
252:Flint River
44:'s 1997 map
1120:Categories
1094:0820316547
1075:0820316547
975:0820316547
884:0817311297
844:References
365:Franciscan
242:Ocute and
182:Greensboro
946:0003-1615
322:Apalachee
288:Dyar site
190:Muskogean
178:Dyar site
152:chiefdoms
986:(1997).
913:30148065
409:San Luis
268:ceramics
194:Hitchiti
160:Piedmont
81:chiefdom
69:Piedmont
53:Altamaha
954:1006866
378:Timucua
326:Florida
207:at the
186:Yamasee
116:Yamasee
73:Georgia
67:in the
57:La Tama
1091:
1072:
1020:
998:
972:
952:
944:
911:
881:
858:
424:Mocama
244:Ichisi
201:Ichisi
164:mounds
1109:(PDF)
1045:(PDF)
1038:(PDF)
950:JSTOR
909:JSTOR
439:Notes
390:Westo
217:Coosa
213:Guale
180:near
108:Westo
49:Ocute
1089:ISBN
1070:ISBN
1053:2016
1018:ISBN
996:ISBN
970:ISBN
942:ISSN
892:2016
879:ISBN
856:ISBN
130:The
934:doi
102:.
55:or
1122::
948:.
940:.
930:46
928:.
924:.
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903:.
792:^
726:^
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549:^
528:^
487:^
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328:.
196:.
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1078:.
1055:.
1026:.
1004:.
978:.
956:.
936::
915:.
894:.
864:.
282:"
20:)
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