Urriparacoxi, or Paracoxi, was the chief of a Native American group in central

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 ...

at the time of

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...

's expedition through what is now the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. "Urriparacoxi" was a title, meaning "war leader". There is no known name for the people he led, or for their territory.

Encounter with de Soto

Hernando de Soto landed on the west coast of the peninsula of Florida in the summer of 1539 with a large contingent of men, with the intention of exploring and colonizing the country. The exact place at which de Soto landed has been controversial, but a number of historians accept

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...

as the site. Soon after landing de Soto encountered Juan Ortiz, a Spanish sailor who had been held captive by local chiefs for eleven years. Ortiz told de Soto of a chief called Urriparacoxi who lived inland, who had a lot of

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, and to whom the local chiefdoms, including

Mocoso Mocoso (or Mocoço) was the name of a 16th-century chiefdom located on the east side of Tampa Bay, Florida near the mouth of the Alafia River, of its chief town and of its chief. Mocoso was also the name of a 17th-century village in the province o ...

and Uzita, paid tribute. De Soto sent one of his lieutenants, Baltazar de Gallegos, with between 80 and 180 men (the chronicles of the expedition differ) to visit Urriparacoxi on June 20. The people of Urriparacoxi's town abandoned it when the Spanish approached. The Spanish found fields of corn, beans and pumpkins at the town. Urriparacoxi refused to meet personally with de Gallegos, negotiating via messengers. He told de Gallegos that there was a large town, called

Acuera Acuera was the name of both an indigenous town and a province or region in central Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. The indigenous people of Acuera spoke a dialect of the Timucua language. In 1539 the town first encountered Europeans when ...

, three days away, and another large town,

Ocale Ocale was the name of a town in Florida visited by the Hernando de Soto expedition, and of a putative chiefdom of the Timucua people. The town was probably close to the Withlacoochee River at the time of de Soto's visit, and may have later been m ...

, 2 more days beyond that. Urriparacoxi claimed that both towns had a lot of maize, and that Ocale kept turkeys in pens and herds of tame deer. He also told the Spanish that the people of Ocale had quantities of gold, silver and pearls. De Soto left his base on the coast for Urriparacoxi's territory with the bulk of his army on July 15. Six days later he was joined by de Gallegos at a place called Luca (Milanich and Hudson tentatively place Luca near the present town of Lacoochee). From Luca de Soto's army proceeded to Ocale, and had no further contact with Urriparacoxi. Urriparacoxi disappears from the historical record after his encounter with de Soto's army.

Location

The chronicles of the de Soto expedition variously place Urriparacoxi's town at 20, 25 or 30 leagues from the coast. Milanich and Hudson place Urriparacoxi's town about 25 leagues () northeast of eastern Tampa Bay, in southeastern

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and southwestern

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

counties, near Lake Louisa, Lake Butler, Lake Tibet, and Big Sand Lake. Mounds near Lake Butler, some of which were excavated late in the 19th century, contained Spanish artifacts, at least some of which are compatible with the de Soto expedition. Urriparacoxi was the most powerful chief in region. His territory might have reached as far west as Luca, but there is no evidence one way or the other, so de Soto and the bulk of his army may have never entered Urriparacoxi's territory.

Title

"Urriparacoxi" was a

Timucuan The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The var ...

term for a war leader. "Paracousi" was Timucuan for "prince or war-prince", and "iri" (or "urri") was Timucuan for "war-counselor, war-prince, or warrior". While this may indicate that Urriparacoxi and his people spoke Timucuan, the title might have been borrowed by non-Timucuan speakers. Borrowing between different languages was common in the region. For example, the title "holata" for "chief" was used both in Timucua and in several

Muskogean languages Muskogean (also Muskhogean, Muskogee) is a Native American language family spoken in different areas of the Southeastern United States. Though the debate concerning their interrelationships is ongoing, the Muskogean languages are generally div ...

. Scholars have differed on the direction of borrowing. "Urri" or "iri", meaning "war" was borrowed by Muskogean languages from Timucua. Hann notes, however, that while "holata" was common in various languages in the

, the use of "urriparacoxi" is otherwise unknown outside of Timucuan-speakers.Hann: 5

Notes

References

* * * {{authority control Spanish Florida Native American tribes in Florida