The Surruque people lived along the middle Atlantic coast of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
during the 16th and 17th centuries. They may have spoken a dialect of the
Timucua language
Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua peoples. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish colonization in Florida. Differences among the ...
, but were allied with the
Ais AIS may refer to:
Medicine
* Abbreviated Injury Scale, an anatomical-based coding system to classify and describe the severity of injuries
* Acute ischemic stroke, the thromboembolic type of stroke
* Androgen insensitivity syndrome, an intersex ...
. The Surruque became clients of the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
government in
St. Augustine, but were not successfully brought into the
Spanish mission system.
Demography
The Surruque lived around the
Mosquito Lagoon
Mosquito Lagoon is a body of water located on the east coast of Florida in Brevard and Volusia counties. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon system and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It extends from the Ponce de Leon Inlet to a point north ...
(called Surruque Lagoon by the Spanish), near
Cape Canaveral
, image = cape canaveral.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
, map = Florida#USA
, map_width = 300
, type =Cape
, map_caption = Location in Florida
, location ...
, and along the Atlantic coast north from the Cape up to near
Ponce de Leon Inlet
The Ponce de Leon Inlet is a natural opening in the barrier islands in central Florida that connects the north end of the Mosquito Lagoon and the south end of the Halifax River to the Atlantic Ocean. The inlet originally was named Mosquito Inlet. ...
. The northern limit of Surruque territory was
Turtle Mound
Turtle Mound is a prehistoric archaeological site located south of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on State Road A1A. On September 29, 1970, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is the largest shell midden on the mainl ...
, which was called "Surruque" in the early 17th century. To the north of Surruque territory was the territory of the Timucua-speaking town of Nocoroco, at the mouth of the
Tomoka River
The Tomoka River is a north-flowing river in Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County, Florida, United States. It drains an area of about and has a length of .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe N ...
. Its territory extended south of the Ponce de Leon Inlet to Caparaca, near present-day New Smyrna Beach. The northern boundary of Surruque territory was around Turtle Mound. The province of Ais was to the south of the Surruque, along the
Indian River. The
Mayaca
''Mayaca'' is a genus of flowering plants, often placed in its own family, the Mayacaceae (or Mayaceae in earlier systems). In the APG II system of 2003, it is assigned to the order Poales in the clade commelinids. The Cronquist system, of 1981, ...
and
Jororo
Mayaca was the name used by the Spanish to refer to a Native American tribe in central Florida, to the principal village of that tribe and to the chief of that village in the 1560s. The Mayacas occupied an area in the upper St. Johns River valley ...
people lived to the west of the Surruque, in the
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
valley.
The language of the Surruque is unknown. While some authorities state that the Surruque probably spoke a dialect of Timucua, Hann notes that there is some evidence that the Surruque language was related to the Ais language.
History
The French, in their brief occupation of northeastern Florida around
Fort Caroline
Fort Caroline was an attempted French colonial settlement in Florida, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in present-day Duval County. It was established under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière on 22 June, 1564, followin ...
, reported hearing of a place named ''Sorrochos'' or ''Serropé'', said to be next to a large lake of the same name, which they placed in the interior of southern Florida. Swanton states that location is much too far to the south and east, and understood the "large lake" to be one of the lagoons near Cape Canaveral. The Spanish drove the French out of Florida in 1565, and established St. Augustine that year. The Spanish largely ignored the peoples of the coast south of St. Augustine, including the Surruque, for some 30 years after the city was established. In 1595 the Spanish took steps to secure control of that coast. The chief of Surruque, along with the chief of Ais, traveled to St. Augustine, and agreed to allow missionaries into their lands, to provide parties of laborers to St. Augustine, and to report any non-Spanish ships or men along the coast.
In 1597, during a revolt in the
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 16th ...
province, the Ais refused to allow Spanish ships to land. In retaliation, Timucua Indians allied with the Spanish attacked the Surruque, killing 60 and taking 54 men, women, and children back to St. Augustine as slaves. A royal order in 1600 freed all Indian slaves. The freed Surruque were settled on an island near St. Augustine. In 1599, Juan Ramirez de Contreras, who spoke Ais, was sent to teach the Surruque and Ais, but he was killed by the Surruque before he reached Ais territory.
Alvaro Mexia, a Spanish soldier from St. Augustine, stayed with the Surruque Indians for 8 days in 1605, waiting for permission to continue on a diplomatic mission to the Ais. Also in 1605, the Surruque and Ais sent men to help the Spanish repel French raiders in Guale. At least one mission may have been established close to Surruque, and Spanish cattle ranches were established along the coast as far south as Surruque.
[Sweet and Sheppy: 38]
Notes
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{{authority control
Archaeology of the Americas
Pre-Columbian cultures
Native American tribes in Florida