Francisco de Chicora was the baptismal name given to a Native American kidnapped in 1521, along with 70 others, from near

Winyah Bay The Winyaw were a Native American tribe living near Winyah Bay, Black River, and the lower course of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The Winyaw people disappeared as a distinct entity after 1720 and are thought to have merged with the Wacc ...

by Spanish explorer Francisco Gordillo and slave trader Pedro de Quexos, based in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

and the first Europeans to reach the area. From analysis of the account by Peter Martyr, court chronicler, the

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

John R. Swanton John Reed Swanton (February 19, 1873 – May 2, 1958) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and et ...

believed that Chicora was from a Catawban group. In Hispaniola, where he and the other captives were taken, Chicora learned Spanish, was baptized a Catholic, and worked for Lucas Vasquez de Ayllón, a colonial official. Most of the natives died within two years. Accompanying Ayllón to Spain, de Chicora met with the chronicler Peter Martyr and told him much about his people. Martyr combined this information with accounts by explorers and recorded it as the "Testimony of Francisco de

Chicora Chicora was a legendary Native American kingdom or tribe sought during the 16th century by various European explorers in present-day South Carolina. The legend originated after Spanish slave traders captured an Indian they called Francisco de C ...

," published with his seventh ''Decade'' in 1525. In 1526 Chicora accompanied Ayllón on a major expedition to North America with 600 colonists. After they struck land at the

Santee River } The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, and is long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage for the coastal areas of southeastern South Carolina and navigation for the central coastal plain of ...

and the party went ashore, Chicora escaped and returned to his people.

Spanish encounter with natives at the Pee Dee River

The Spanish had made repeated expeditions to the southeastern part of what is now the United States, where they explored areas around the Santee River in present-day South Carolina and

and other areas.

Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón (c. 1480 – 18 October 1526) was a Spanish magistrate and explorer who in 1526 established the short-lived San Miguel de Gualdape colony, one of the first European attempts at a settlement in what is now the United State ...

, ''oidor'' (judge) of the royal ''Audencia'' of Santa Domingo, commissioned Francisco Gordillo to make an expedition to the continent in 1520. Gordillo sailed north from Hispaniola through the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

, where near the island of Lucayoneque he fell in with a

caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing win ...

commanded by the slave raider Pedro de Quexos (Pedro de Quejo), who was trying to capture

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Great ...

to sell as slaves, without success. Quexos happened to be a relative of Gordillo's pilot Alonzo Fernandez Sotil, and decided to join Gordilla's expedition, and in June 1521 the two struck land at what they called the River of ''San Juan Bautista'' (St. John the Baptist), traditionally identified as

based on coordinates but more recently alternatively suggested as the Pee Dee River by linguist Blair A. Rudes. A crowd of curious natives gathered on the shore to watch the strangers. The natives fled when the Spanish approached in shallops, but two were caught, taken aboard a ship, given Spanish clothes, and returned ashore. The natives again swarmed the beach, seeing their comrades' return and changed appearance as a wondrous sign, since they had worn only

buckskins Buckskins are clothing, usually consisting of a jacket and leggings, made from buckskin, a soft sueded leather from the hide of deer. Buckskins are often trimmed with a fringe – originally a functional detail, to allow the garment to s ...

before. The chief ordered 50 of his subjects to bring food for the Spanish. Once ashore, the Spanish were given presents and a guided tour for several days. They claimed the land for their king, and invited the natives aboard to see their ships. Gordillo had been ordered by de Ayllón to cultivate friendly relations with the people to prepare for later colonization. De Quexos, eager for slaves, persuaded him to trick the natives; the Spaniards suddenly raised anchor and set sail for

with 70 of the natives still aboard, including the man who would be named Francisco. When they arrived, Ayllón condemned the leaders for their treachery. He took the matter before a commission headed by

Diego Columbus Diego Columbus ( pt, Diogo Colombo; es, Diego Colón; it, Diego Colombo; 1479/1480 – February 23, 1526) was a navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He served as the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indie ...

. The commission declared the captive natives to be free, and ordered them returned to the mainland, but such a trip never took place, as it was considered too costly. As recounted by Peter Martyr the court chronicler, according to colonial reports, most of the natives died within two years; many wandered the streets of Santo Domingo as vagrants, and few survived. One who survived was baptized Francisco de Chicora; he learned Spanish and worked for Ayllón. Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón took the engaging young Indian to Spain and presented him to the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

, where he told fantastical tales about his homeland of

, and the neighboring provinces of what is now the Carolinas. "Chicora" (the name the Spanish gave to the area) was evidently one of several Siouan-speaking territories subject to the chief Datha of Duahe (also recorded in Spanish as ''Duhare''). Francisco de Chicora described the people of Duhare as "white" and having "blond hair to the heels", and told of a gigantic Indian king called Datha who ruled a race of giants and of another race of men who grew long tails. Chicora met the court chronicler, Italian historian Peter Martyr, and recounted to him much about the customs of his people in

and about the neighboring provinces. After returning to the Caribbean, in 1526 Ayllón led an expedition to North America with three ships and 600 colonists, bringing de Chicora with him. After striking land at what Ayllón named the Jordan River (now the

in South Carolina), one of his ships went aground. As the party went ashore, de Chicora immediately abandoned the Spanish and fled to rejoin his own people. He disappeared from the historical record.

Modern scholarship

Researchers have worked to identify the provinces and tribes described by Chicora. They have analyzed phonetics of 16th-century Spanish, as well as the many languages of the North American tribes in the area, to reach their conclusions. * Francisco's home province, considered by Swanton to be on the lower Pee Dee River, was called ''

''. Scholars generally consider the people a

Catawba Catawba may refer to: *Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas *Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family *Catawban languages Botany *Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other N ...

n group. Swanton (1940) proposed a connection with the Sugaree or Shakori; Rudes (2004) suggested

Coree The Coree (also Connamox, Cores, Corennines, Connamocksocks, Coranine Indians, Neuse River Indians) were a very small Native American tribe, who once occupied a coastal area south of the Neuse River in southeastern North Carolina in the area no ...

. * ''Duahre'' (or ''Duhare'', many variant spellings) was a neighboring province described as home to Datha, the principal chief of several provinces. Ayllon is said to have marched through this province in 1526, en route to ''Guadalupe'', where he built the short-lived colony of

San Miguel de Guadalupe San Miguel de Gualdape (sometimes San Miguel de Guadalupe) is a former Spanish colony in present-day Georgetown County, South Carolina, founded in 1526 by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón.In early 1521, Ponce de León had made a poorly documented, disast ...

. The location and ethnicity of the actual people referred to in Chicora's tall tales of Duhare has been debated; candidates have included Catawban,

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16t ...

, and

Cusabo The Cusabo or Cosabo were a group of American Indian tribes who lived along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in what is now South Carolina, approximately between present-day Charleston and south to the Savannah River, at the time of European colon ...

. In 2004

Blair Rudes Blair Arnold Rudes (May 18, 1951 – March 16, 2008) was an American linguist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte best known for his expertise in Native American languages. He was hired in 2004 to reconstruct the long e ...

asserted that other linguistic evidence in Martyr's account points to the Iroquoian

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

tribe, and specifically their town on the

Neuse River The Neuse River ( , Tuscarora: Neyuherú·kęʔkì·nęʔ) is a river rising in the Piedmont of North Carolina and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in ...

called ''Teyurhèhtè''. He suggests, for example, that Old Tuscaroran ''Teeth-ha'' (king) corresponded with the name "Datha", which he says may have been a title rather than proper name. He also notes close similarities between accounts of a religious ceremony as recounted by Francisco de Chicora, and one among the Tuscarora recounted by a European in the early eighteenth century. * ''Xapita'' - a province near Duahre where pearls were found, was identified with the name of the

Sampit River The Sampit River begins in a swampy area of western Georgetown County, South Carolina, USA. It flows in an easterly direction to Winyah Bay at Georgetown. Only small crafts can navigate the upper parts of the river. The lower river merges int ...

. *''Hitha'' (''Yta'') - a province ruled by Datha, possibly Etiwaw (Eutaw), a

subtribe. *''Tihe'' - a province under Datha and inhabited by a priestly tribe. *''Xamunambe'' - another of Datha's provinces. *''Arambe, Guacaya, Quohathe, Tanzaca (Tanaca), Pahoc'' - These were other regions which the Spanish recorded visiting, where they noted the indigenous peoples had dark brown skin. Swanton suggests that ''Guacaya'' may correlate to

Waccamaw The Waccamaw people were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who lived in villages along the Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers in North and South Carolina in the 18th century.Lerch 328 Language Very little remains of the Waccam ...

(a Siouan tribe), and ''Pahoc'' to "Back Hooks". Rudes connects ''Quohathe'' with ''Coweta'' (a

Muscogee (Creek) The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsHernando de Soto (1541), also the Mississippian-culture village called ''Herape'' by Juan Pardo (1568), and the later Creek town ''Hilibi'', which had moved farther west. *''Inziguanin'' - described as a nation whose inhabitants had a myth that crocodile-like men had once lived in their land. Rudes suggested ''Inziguanin'' could be a reference to the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

, though they were not attested in the southeast until long afterward. Other sources, such as Oviedo, Navarrete, Barcia, and ''Documentos Ineditos'' list additional provinces derived from Francisco de Chicora, some of which have been tentatively identified by Swanton and other researchers: *''Yamiscaron'' - the Yamacraw or

Yamasee The Yamasees (also spelled Yamassees or Yemassees) were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans who lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida. The Yamas ...

tribe (Guale) *''Orixa'' - a Cusabo subtribe on the

Edisto River The Edisto River is one of the longest free-flowing blackwater rivers in North America, flowing over 250 meandering miles from its sources in Saluda and Edgefield counties, to its Atlantic Ocean mouth at Edisto Beach, South Carolina. It rises i ...

*''Coçayo'' - the "Coosa" subtribe of the Cusabo, who lived on the upper South Carolina rivers. These "Coosa" were probably not related to the Muskogean-speaking

Coosa chiefdom The Coosa chiefdom was a powerful Native American paramount chiefdom in what are now Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia, in the United States.Waxhaw tribe. *''Aymi'' - possibly the ''Hymahi'' of De Soto and Pardo, placed by Hudson (1990) on the

Congaree River The Congaree River is a short but wide river in South Carolina in the United States; It flows for approximately 53 miles (85 km). The river serves an important role as the final outlet channel for the entire Lower Saluda and Lower Broad wate ...

, near where it joins the Santee. *''Sona'' - possibly a Cusabo subtribe on the Stono River *''Yenyohol'' - the Winyaw of

*''Anica'', ''Xoxi'', ''Huaque'', ''Anoxa'' - uncertain

References

{{Portal, Indigenous peoples of the Americas * John R. Swanton, "Early History of the Creek Indians and their Neighbors", ''Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 73'', Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1922, pp. 32–48
"First Descriptions of an Iroquoian People: Spaniards among the Tuscarora before 1522"
Dr.

, Coastal Carolina Indians Center, 2004 16th-century indigenous people of the Americas Native American history of South Carolina Spanish colonization of the Americas Pre-statehood history of South Carolina