Part 2 - Chapter 1

The Spanish exploration of the Southeast in the sixteenth Century.  

As the first part of the book painted a picture of the various customs of the Southeast Indians circa 1550 ± 50 years, the second part will start to address the issues of the dress and adornment of the these Indians beginning around first exploration in 1500.

This time period offers an insight into what the natives wore prior to contact with the Europeans because the Spanish contact with the Indians was relatively light due to "the Indians's reluctance to associate with them."1 In addition, archaeological finds have shown few trade goods of European origin other than glass beads, looking-glass fragments, and similar items for the period of 1500-1600.2

"The few European materials acquired by the aborigines had little effect upon their material culture. The historic trade materials were, for the most part, of an ornamental nature." [And as previously noted few].3

Even with the mission system that appeared very early in the settlement of Florida,

"certain European technological elements (tools, clothing, ornaments) appear to have been adopted when available, but changes in aboriginal technology as a result of contact have not yet been clearly documented."4

Soon after Christopher Columbus officially discovered the New World, other Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors set out to explore the New World for riches, the glory of Spain, and the glory of Christianity. The main explorers and/or narrators who ventured into the region of Florida were:

1513 Juan Ponce de León 1521 Juan Ponce de León (second attempt)
1516 Diego Miruela 1528 Pánfilo de Narváez and Cabeza de Vaca
1517 Francisco Hernandez de Córdova 1539 Hernando de Soto5
1519 Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda 1545 Hernando de Escalante Fontanedo6
1520 Lucas Vasquez de Ayllón 1566 Juan Pardo

Map # 3 Routes of Cabeza de Vaca and Escalante Fontaneda 
map3sm .jpg (58004 bytes)Many of these men or others in their entourage left descriptions of the country, of their conquests, and of the Natives. In order to be able to attempt to extricate fact from fiction among the written commentaries of the New World, it is necessary to understand the type of person who saw and wrote about the Indians of this New World.

"The conclusion of the Moorish wars [in Spain] had thrown out of employment a multitude of men, trained in arms. Incidents of personal encounter and single combat had endued them with a spirit of adventure and enterprise in which they eagerly took their lives in their hands in search of renewed excitement. With difficulty these cavaliers tried to adapt themselves to the arts of peace, and consequently they swarmed over to the new World, prepared to conquer kingdoms for themselves and their followers."7   
    Juan Ponce de León (a nobleman by blood) was one of these adventurers. When he returned from his first voyage, he was granted a charter in 1514` by King Ferdinand V of Spain, to settle the island of Bimini and also the "island" of Florida. In addition, Ferdinand V gave him the edict to employ any means necessary to convert the Indians to the Holy Catholic Faith and to make war on any Indian Nation that refused to convert.8                           

 

In 1520, the new King of Spain, Charles I, revoked the part of the edict that allowed the conquistadors to "employ any means necessary...." and issued an order that kinder means must be used to convert the Indians. In addition, King Charles ordered that war with the Indians was only to be made if the latter were the aggressors; the Spanish conquistadors, however, still continued in their process of mass annihilation of the Indians. As Woodbury Lowery stated:

"But alas! a purpose, however wise, can produce but indifferent results if its execution is committed to impotent or corrupt agents."9

One of the most brutal of the Spanish conquistadors was Hernando de Soto. Four authors wrote narratives of his career; these four were: A Gentleman of Elvas, Luys Hernandez de Biedma, Rodrigo Ranjel, and Garcilaso de la Vega. All but Garcilaso de la Vega were present on the expedition.

The most well known among the Spanish explorers who left descriptions of the natives of the Southeast were Cabeza de Vaca and Hernando de Soto. However, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllón and Escalante Fontaneda also left informative accounts. During that same time frame, an Italian explorer, Giovanni Verranzano, ventured into the area on the Southeastern coast not too far from Ayllón's area of exploration. What makes the descriptions of the last two explorers mentioned of particular importance is that their descriptions are the only ones that dealt with the Indians inhabiting the coast from Charleston, South Carolina north to Cape Fear, North Carolina (and, possibly, Virginia) circa 1520-1524.

The area explored by Ayllón in 1520 was in the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina and called by him Chicora. Four years later, Giovanni Verranzano (John Verarzanus) landed on the coast, also. However, there is disagreement about where he actually landed and which Indians he saw. John Winter Jones in his notes accompanying a rendition of Hakluyt Diverse Voyages stated that Verrazano sighted land near either Charleston, South Carolina or Savannah, Georgia, but he does not say where he actually landed.10 

Map # 5 Landings of Ayllón and Verrazano  
map5sm.jpg (37966 bytes)Charles Hudson in his book The Southeast Indians has Allyón landing near Winyaw Bay in South Carolina and Verrazano landing at a latitude of 34 degrees which is much closer to Cape Fear than it is Charleston or Savannah.11 This concurs with Lescarbot's statements which also had Verrazano landing at a latitude of 34 degrees.12

Ayllón and his servant, Francisco Chicorano, related their descriptions of the natives of Chicora (the Cusabo Indians) and the immediate environs.

F. W. Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians, states that the designation Cusabo represented "a collective term" that encompassed the Indians living between Charleston, South Carolina and the Savannah river. The area they inhabited was the same as that explored by Ayllón and called Chicora.13

Peter Martyr D'Anghera in his book, De Orbe Novo, in the section entitled the "Seventh Decade," recorded descriptions of the Indians given by Allyón and Francisco de Chicora (Chicorano). The original text was in Latin and translated into other languages soon after it was first published. The last few "Decades" sections were published posthumously.14

These Spaniards are historically considered the first Europeans to have had contact with the Natives of the Southeast.

"What impressed them [the Natives] most was the sight of the beards and the woollen and silk clothing."15

Whether it was the Indians' semi-nude state "for they only wear the skins of lions and other wild beasts" or a desire on the part of the Spanish to impress them, the Spaniards presented an Indian man and a woman, whom they had captured, with European clothes.16

Peter Martyr D'Anghera described the Natives of this region as being brown skinned and black haired; the men were described as being beardless17. Unfortunately, his original words were translated differently by different authors. Thus, both translations will be given.

"The men let their hair grow to the waist and the women wear theirs longer. Both sexes plait their hair and they are beardless."18

"Los hombres se dejan crecer el negro cabello hasta la cintura; las mujeres lo tienen más largo y recogido en rizos; ambos sexos se lo atan."19

"The men let their black hair grow to the waist; the women have it longer and gathered in curls; both sexes bind it."20

The words in italics represent the discrepancies. A discussion of the probability of the women wearing their hair "gathered in curls" will be found in Part Two, Chapter Two.

The descriptions of the land of the Natives of Duhare, which is a province near Chicora, have always baffled anthropologists because these descriptions appear to be contextually impossible. However, MacNutt, one of the translators of De Orbe Novo stated that:

"Vestiges of ancient stone buildings have been found in various parts of the territory."21

The Natives of the Province of Duhare (Duhahre) were described as being white men with long brown hair that came to their knees. They were governed by a King, Datha, who was a giant and his wife who was also a giant.22

Hodge (BAE Bulletin 30, volume 1, page 405) concurs with this report.

The people of Duhare are also known to have had idols which they dressed for special festivals in "artistically worked cotton stuffs" and "adorned with feather mantles of various colors".23

Feather garments were created by imbedding the feathers in a net-like structure so that the feathers overlapped each other.

Another group of people identified by Ayllón were the priests of Tihe (Hodge BAE Bulletin 30, volume 2, page 749).

"[These] inhabitants wear a distinctive priestly costume, and they are regarded as priests and venerated as such by their neighbors. They cut their hair, leaving only two locks growing on their temples, which are bound under the chin."24

Other regions in the same area near Chicora were Xamunambe and Hatha. All of these provinces mentioned by Ayllón, according to Hodge and others, were probably situated on the coasts of the Carolinas and of Georgia.

Farther north and on the coast were the regions of Arambe, Guacaia, Quohathe, Tazacca, and Tahor. These were probably located on the Virginia and Carolina coasts.25

According to both translators of De Orbe Novo, MacNutt and Carlo, the women in these areas knew how to spin and sew.

"Although they are partially clothed with skins of wild beasts, they use cotton such as the Milanese call bombasio, and they make nets of the fibre of certain tough grasses just as hemp and flax are used for the same purposes in Europe."26

"Las mujeres hilan y cosen, si bien la mayoría se viste con pieles de fiera; poseen no obstante, el algodón, que nuestros lombardos llaman `bombaso', y de las membranas de ciertas hierbas resistentes extraen hebras, como entre nosotros se hace con el lino y el cáñamo."27

Neither the words "bombaso" or "bombasio" could be found in Italian, Spanish, English, French, or Latin dictionaries. Since no exact equivalent of these words could be found, it is possible that the two translators, MacNutt and Carlo derived these words from the Latin "bombycinus -a -um", an adjective that means silken.28

It is, also, possible that the Spanish word "bombaso" is equivalent to the Spanish word "bombasí" whose English equivalent is "bombasine". However this word, bombasine - "A twilled dress-material composed of silk and worsted, cotton and worsted, or worsted alone"29 - did not come into existence in the English language until 1559 while the Latin word "bombycinus" has been in existence since the time of Pliny.

What is important is that the Indians were creating a woven material similar to what was created in Milan, a principal city in the Lombardy region of Italy known for its weaving.

Throughout the various early narratives, the clothes of the Indians not made from hides, are often compared to fine quality European woven fabrics.

The division of labor of these people who lived on the Virginia/Carolina coasts seems to be different than that of other tribes in the Southeast.

"The men engage in mechanical occupations, especially carpenter work and tanning skins of wild beasts; while the women busy themselves with distaff [sp. rueca], spindle [sp. huso], and needle [sp.aguja]."30

Another Explorer, the Italian, John Verarzanus, touched ground for a very brief time in possibly the same vicinity as did Allyón in 1524. As stated earlier, however, there is disagreement as to where Verrazano actually landed, but the most prevalent opinion is that he landed further North which would account for the fact that his descriptions of the Indians do not concur with those of Allyón; and the Indians he saw were not the Cusabo. Verarzanus described these Indians as:

"goe[ing] altogether naked, except only thet they cover their privie31 partes with certaine skinnes of beastes like unto a narrowe girdle made of grasses, verye artificially [probably, artfully] wrought, hanged about with tailes of divers other beastes, which round their bodies hang dangling downe to their knees."32

Marc Lescarbot, in his Histoire de La Nouvelle France, published in 1618, used the French word "tissuë" meaning "woven" in conjunction with the description of the "grasse girdle" cited by Verarzanus.33 However, the renditions of the same narratives found in Hakluyt's works do not include the word "tissuë".34

Even though Hakluyt's rendition of Verarzanus's narrative does not directly state that the Indians being described are male, the type of clothes are those worn by male Indians. In addition, Lescarbot used male gender pronouns when referring to these Indians.

While most of the coastal male Indians were described as having long hair which was trussed up in the back, these Cusabo Indians were described as having hair that was:

"blacke, thicke, and not very long, which they tye togeather in a knot behinde, and weare it like a taile."35

This description of the men's hair is most similar to that of the Spanish translation of De Anglería.36

Lescarbot, also, stated that they wore their hair like a tail, but he does not say that they specifically wore it behind, as does Hakluyt. Instead, Lescarbot says they wore it like a tail but "on the head" or "sur la tête."37

In Hackluyt's versions of Verarzanus, he wrote that "Some of them weare garlandes of byrde feathers."38 Lescarbot added to the description of the garlands and stated that they were "as or like hats"39.

This is the only reference of this period to garlands of feathers. If they were worn like hats, then they would be similar to diadems. However, the word "garlands or Fr. guirlandes" is not a common word used to describe early Southeast Indian headdresses.

De Soto is the only one of the major Spanish explorer to have followed an inland route that took him from Ocita, looped north into Tennessee, then south to the present city of Mobile in Alabama, then north again into Arkansas; and, finally, south down the Ouachita River to New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico.

Cabeza de Vaca paralleled de Soto's route from Ocita to Appalachee, but, then, he followed the coast along the Gulf of Mexico until he reached the Mobile River. At that juncture, he crossed the Gulf of Mexico and arrived at the tip of the Louisiana Peninsula.

Fontanedo was shipwrecked on the west coast of the Florida peninsula south of Ocita in the province of Carlos.40 During his years of captivity, he, too, paralleled the routes of de Soto and Cabeza de Vaca from Ocita to Apalachee.

These three men described the Natives in a similar fashion. However, they did note differences in their dress.

The Natives that lived on the Florida Peninsula south of Apalachee used basically four types of materials to cover themselves: skins of animals, dressed to be very soft and fine, with and without fur; the inner bark of the Mulberry tree and other barks pounded and spun into yarn; woven split-palm leaves; and long straw-like mosses that grew wild on trees.

Cabeza de Vaca noted upon reaching the town of Aute, south of Appalachee that:

"All the Indians we had so far seen in Florida had been archers. They loomed big and naked and from a distance looked like giants. They were handsomely proportioned, lean agile, and strong."41

The word naked seems to be a misnomer or one that was used by the Europeans as a contrast to the amount of clothing and armor that they wore.

"These Indians do not wear clothing, not even the women. They go naked, except for some deer-skin made into breech-clothes, with which they only conceal their shame. The females cover themselves about the waist with the straw [often referred to as moss] that grows on the trees. This plant is like tow, or wool, but is brown instead of white."42

Instead of a covering of moss, the women sometimes wore a covering from the waist downward of palm-leaves split and woven.43

Fray Andreas de San Miguel was a Spanish monk who was shipwrecked on the eastern coast of Florida near the City of Saint Augustine in 1592 and spent the next three years with the Guale Indians.44 He stated that the Indian women in the area wore mainly garments of moss, but also, some wore garments of tanned deer-skin:

"The garment of the women is a kind of shirt without sleeves [güeypil] and an underskirt or petticoat of long moss [pastle], which grows on its own on trees, like a fringe. The güeypil hangs from the neck down to below the waist and the underskirt from the waist to the ground."45

San Miguel also saw the two wives of a casique wearing garments made of deer-skin instead of moss so that they could be "grander than the rest."46

It is important to note that the early writers were mostly men and used words from their own language to describe the clothes. The basic garment of dress of the Native women was a sort of skirt that wrapped around the waist and extended to the knees. Since there was not a word for this type of garment, San Miguel called it a "naguas" (modernly known as an enaguas) meaning an underskirt or petticoat while Fontaneda called this same garment a "Mantellin"47 which roughly translated means a shawl.48

From the available evidence, it can be deduced that when one shawl was referred to by the European commentators that piece of material was used to cover the body from the waist downward. When two shawls were worn, the second was used as a covering for the upper body. In The Narratives of De Soto, Elvas described a cache of deer-skins and blankets found in the town of Toalli. In reference to the blankets, he wrote:

"These are like shawls, some of them made from the inner bark of trees, and others of a grass resembling nettle, which by treading out, becomes like flax. The women use them for covering, wearing one about the body from the waist downward, and another over the shoulder, with the right arm free, after the manner of the Gypsies."49

In Apalachen [Appalachee], Cabeza de Vaca found:

"Many deer skins and, with them, poor quality shawls woven of thread. The women partially cover their nakedness with such garments."50

In the same area, in a town known as Ichisi or Chisi near the Flint river in the central part of the present state of Georgia, the Indian women were described by Rangel as being clothed in white garments.

"The white cloathing, with which the Indian women are clothed, were mantles apparently of homespun linen and some of them were very thin. They make the thread of them from the bark of the mulberry tree, not the outside, but the intermediate layers; and they know how to make it and to spin it, and to dress it as well as to weave it....And the thread is of such a quality that one who was there assured me that he saw the women spin it from the mulberry bark and make it as good as the best thread from Portugal that women can get in Spain for their work, and finer and somewhat like it and stronger."51

Further south, in Southwest Florida, archaeologists have unearthed various artifacts made of deer antlers. One such was a headdress from the Middle Archaic period. It was described as being

"....decorated with an engraved linear motif. The hair [of the wearer] was drawn through a slot in the antler pieces on each side of the head and held in place with a racoon penis."52

Fontaneda was one of the few early Spanish explorers to describe the Calusa Indians of the southwest coast of Florida. In his description of the adornment of the Natives, he reported that the societies was striated. Differences in ornamentation were used as a means of separation.

"The paramount chief was clearly differentiated from the rest of the populace in terms of sumptuary display. He had a forehead ornament of gold, beaded leg band, and a wooden bench or stool which represented his title to office."53

In an area of Florida called Cañogacola, Fontaneda stated that "They [the Natives] go naked, although some of them are clothed in skins; and they are great painters, and whatever they see they paint."54

Skins were dyed and painted to perfection, according to Elvas, and "when of vermillion, they looked like fine red broadcloth and when black, the sort in use for shoes, they are of the purest."55

Cabeza de Vaca recalled seeing a "chief in a painted deerskin riding the back of another Indian."56 Since the chief gave Cabeza de Vaca the deerskin he wore, it must be assumed that it was a type of outer covering similar to a mantle.

Elvas, in his narrative about de Soto's journey, described the male Indians as wearing a breech-cloth of skins - "The loins being covered with a braguero [literally translated as bandage] of deer-skin after the fashion of the woollen breech-cloth that was once the custom of Spain."57 Unfortunately, Elvas does not state when it was worn in Spain nor does he describe it further.

The only item of dress that historically resembled a breechclout was a piece of cloth worn by men from the early centuries A.D. to the middle ages that looked like a pair of loose and shapeless trousers.58 In Latin they were called "Braccae" and in French "Brais"59. The Brais was held together by a draw string around the waist. The bottom edges were either tucked into the stockings or bound with leg wraps.60

For purposes of clarity, European hose, stockings, and leggings will be referred to synonymously unless otherwise noted. It is important to note that these stockings worn by European males did not fasten together at the crotch or the waist.61

By circa 1150 in parts of Europe, the Braccae or Brais, also known as Breeches, had become knee length and were considered only to be "mere linen underwear". The hose became the full leg covering with the breeches (the mere linen underwear) tucked into these hose. The hose had developed so that it was fitted to the leg and widened at the thigh to accommodate the breeches. The hose was held to a breech-girdle (the string that confined the breeches to the waist). The breech-girdle was also known as a "Brayer" or "Braïel".62 None of the early writers gave a graphic description of Indian breech-cloths. In its simplest form it was probably long enough to go between the legs and through a "belt like tie" around the waist so that it hung down in the front and back. When made of deer-skin, the deerskin was very soft. It was made that way by "beating it between the hands with [finger] nails that were never cut."63 The Spaniard Fontanedo stated that Indian men, also, wore breech-cloths of woven palms.64

The earliest description of a woven-palm breechclout is noted by Fray Andreas de San Miguel:

"All the Indians [male] from the coast didn't wear more than a breechclout woven of palmetto or [can also be translated palm] leaves four fingers wide with three branches [or ends] two encircling the waist and the other hanging down and each one ending in a tassel of the same palmetto and all three together make a broom that covers part of the buttocks65.

From the basic construction and purpose of the above breechclout, it can be deduced that the end that did not go around the waist went between the legs from the front to the back and was fastened to the other two ends. Whether this type of breechclout is the same as mentioned by Fontanedo cannot be determined.

This garment of clothing that covered the male genital area is known by different names -  those being mainly breech-cloth, breechclout, or flap. The terms seem to be used by the early writers synonymously. However, whether the flap is in actuality the same as a breech-cloth or breechclout cannot be definitely determined. Unless otherwise stated, the three terms will be used synonymously.

The coverings worn over the shoulder, like the coverings worn from the waist down, were also made of various materials. Near Toalli, the men, in a similar fashion to the women, wore woven cloaks over their shoulder.66

Cloaks of fine skins were worn by the Caciques (Rulers of the towns or regions). One such cloak made of civet-martin skins was described as smelling like amber and musk and being so fine that it was even unequalled in the world.67 Other cloaks were made of combinations of skins - lion and marten combined to form handsome patterns.68

Garcilaso de la Vega, known as the Inca because of his mixed parentage, Inca and Spanish, wrote from Europe about de Soto's travels. Everything he heard about the country and the Indians, was, at a minimum, second hand. He is known to have exaggerated and made errors. One such error might be found in the last sentence of the following paragraph.

"Indian men go naked, wearing only certain little cloths of varicolored chamois, something like extremely short pants, which modestly cover all parts of their body necessary to conceal, both in front and behind. Instead of cloaks they have robes [matchcoats] which are fastened at the neck and extend to the middle of their legs. Some are made of very fine marten fur and smell of musk, whereas others are of cowhide and different skins of small animals such as bucks, roes, stags, bears, lions, and various species of cats. These skins they dress to the utmost perfection, preparing a cowhide or bearskin without removing the hair. Thus it remains soft and smooth, and can be worn as a cloak or can serve at night on their beds. Their hair they permit to grow, wearing it caught up in a large knot on the head. [often times they used it as a quiver for arrows.] As an adornment, they use a thick skein of thread, of whatever color they wish, which encircles the head and falls over the forehead. In the ends of the skein they tie two half knots, so that each end hangs over a separate temple down to the bottom of the ears. The women dress in chamois69, keeping their whole body modestly covered."70

The majority of reports of the early 16th century dress of the Indian women do not have them wearing garments that covered their whole body. An exception can be found in reference to the Natives of Cofitachequi (also spelled Cutifachiqui) who were described as wearing cloaks to their feet.

"All the Indians went clothed down to their feet with very fine skins well dressed and blankets of the country and blankets from sable fur and others of the skin of wild cats which gave out a strong smell. The people are very clean and polite and naturally well conditioned."71

Ranjel's narrative contained in Oviedo's Historia General y Natural de Las Indias,72 possibly, explained the difference in dress of the people in the province of Cofitachequi by speculating that:

"The Indians must have been taught by the followers of the lawyer Lucas Vasquez de Ayllón since they make hose and moccasins and leggings with ties of white leather, although the leggings are black, and with fringes or edgings of colored leather as would have been done in Spain".73

However, this statement, as was Garcilaso's, must be questioned and one must realize that these writers often expressed ethnocentric views.

Since the "Indians of Cofitachequi, one of the tribes later known as the Creeks"74 wore leggings, Swanton believed, based on the de Soto narratives, that the Creek Indians were the earliest tribe in the Southeast to wear leggings.75

Shawls and mantles were made not only of fibers and skins but also of feathers. In the Village of Tascaluça near the present city of Mobile, Alabama, the Cacique:

"wore a pelote76 or mantle of feathers down to his feet. His head [was] covered by a kind of coif like the Almaizal, [a gauze veil worn by the Moors] so that his headdress was like a Moor's which gave him an aspect of authority."77

When the Cacica (female chief) of Cutifachiqui met de Soto, it is reported that she told him he could have the provisions found in the baracoas (storage containers) of abandoned towns in the area from which the Indians had moved due to a pestilence in the land.

"In the Baracoas were large quantities of clothing, shawls of thread, made from the bark of trees, and others of feathers, white, gray, vermillion, and yellow, rich and proper for the winter. There were also many well-dressed deer-skins, of colors drawn over with designs, of which had been made shoes, stockings, and hose."78

The last part of this statement and the next quotation, as reported by Elvas, echo Ranjel's description of how the Indians of Cutifachiqui wore shoes, stockings and hose. However, neither Ranjel nor Elvas defined or described these articles of dress any further. Since these reports do not agree with other early reports on Native dress, either the people of the province of Cofitachiqui dressed in a totally different fashion or the words shoes, stockings, and hose were used to refer to garments that were not meant to replicate the European meaning of the words.

Another translation of the above quotation comes from The DeSoto Chronicles and might offer a better explanation of the articles in the baracoas. This translation differs in the following ways: Firstly, there were no gray feathers. The word "gray" should have been translated "green"; secondly, the above translation lists certain articles of clothing as: shoes, stocking, and hose. The translator of the DeSoto Chronicles states that the hose might be equivalent to leggings.79

"The inhabitants [of Cutifachiqui] are brown of skin, well formed and proportioned. They are more civilized than any people seen in all the territories of Florida, wearing clothes and shoes."80

As stated earlier, the Natives used feathers to form garments. They were also used frequently to decorate their heads. Garcilaso reported that these feather headdresses were used to differentiate nobles from common people and could often be "half a fathom in height."81

The Cacique of Coça is pictured as wearing a "diadem of plumes" when he came to meet de Soto. He was, also, "borne in a litter on the shoulders of his principal men, seated on a cushion, and covered with a mantle of marten skins of the size and shape of a woman's shawl."82

Near the town of Quizquiz, paint and feathers were used to demonstrate this Cacique's rank.

 "The next day the Cacique arrived, with two hundred canoes filled with men, having weapons. They were painted with ochre, wearing great bunches of white and other plumes of many colors, having feather shields in their hands, with which they sheltered the oarsmen on either side.....The barge in which the Cacique came had an awning at the poop, under which he sat."83

Awnings were commonly used to shield the caciques or casicas. The awning of the Cacique of Tastaluca which was made out of deer-skin "extended over cross-sticks, quartered with red and white, which at a distance made it look of taffeta, the colours were so very perfect."84

Although many of the Native males of Florida are described as wearing their hair in a knot on top of their heads, Cabeza de Vaca reported that the men near Mobile in Alabama wore their hair "loose and very long".85

Since the Choctaw Indians were reported to have lived in the area from 1540 - 1833, Swanton theorizes that these long haired Indians were probably Choctaw, especially since they were known to their neighbors by the appellation "Long Hairs."86

San Miguel described the Guale Indians of both sexes as wearing their hair long in back, but cutting the part that came over their foreheads.87

The Spaniards not only found in some of the towns, caches of beautiful skins, but also many thousands of pearls. The Cacica of Cutifachiqui told de Soto that many pearls were to be found in abandoned towns and it is reported that he "found three hundred and fifty pounds' weight of pearls, and figures of babies and birds made of them."88 She also gave him a strand of large pearls from around her neck as a gesture of friendship.89

However, since the Indians used heat to pierce the beads to wear them around their neck and wrists, many of them appeared burnt and were considered of little value by the Spaniards90.91

The Indians also used glass beads (traded from the Europeans) and beads of Amber. San Miguel described a casique:

"His dress was natural to which he added a breechclout differentiating himself from the rest in the vigor and elegance of his person and in the respect that all showed him. And in the many beads with which he adorned his person hanging strings of beads four to six fingers wide about his neck, the fleshy part of his limbs, his wrists, under his knees, above his ankles, and around his ankles. In this the King differentiated himself from his vassals. This Cazique wore more amber [beads] than all the others from all the shores from which we departed."92

The Indians also adorned themselves with paint, especially when engaged in battle.

"Many [Indians] were armed, walking upon it [their fortification], with their bodies, legs, and arms painted and ochred, red, black, white, yellow, and vermillion in stripes so that they appeared to have on stockings and a doublet. Some wore feathers, and others horns on their head, the face blackened, and the eyes encircled with vermillion, to heighten their fierce aspect."93

They also adorned their bodies with tattoos. Juan Ortiz, a native of Sevilla, had lived among the Indians since he had gone into that country with Páphilo de Narvaez. When he encountered de Soto's men, he was"naked and sunburnt, his arms tattooed in their [the Indian's] manner."94

Both tattooing and painting were popular forms of adornment for the Southeast Indians. C. C. Jones aptly described the purpose and frequency of this method of adornment.

"Dwelling under warm skies, which permitted them to pass the greater part of the year in a state of almost entire nudity, The Southern Indians delighted in painting their bodies with the most brilliant colors they could command. Their persons being uncovered, the fullest opportunity was afforded not only for the display of skin ornamentation in various lines and curious devices, but also for the exhibition upon any part of the body of necklaces, gorgets, and sundry articles of shell, bone, and stone jewelry, if indeed that word may be properly used to describe these representatives of barbaric fancy. Hence the taste for personal decoration was more general and pronounced among them, than among their more northern brethren, whose principal labor in this regard was bestowed upon the ornamentation of their clothing."95

There is mention in the narratives of de Soto of there being a forge in the province of Chisca that was used for "copper or other metal of that colour, though brighter, having a much finer hue."96

Whether this was mentioned to the Spaniards by the Indians in order to direct them elsewhere, preferably out of their region, can only be surmised because there is no mention in the narratives by any of the Spaniards of the use of metal jewelry.

Indian society appeared to be fundamentally consistent regarding the difference between the dress of men and women; however Juan de La Bandera, a notary in the Juan Pardo Expedition, made note in his journal of having seen "an Indian [male] walking among the Indian women with an apron before him as (the women) wear it and he did what they did."97

When the Cacique of Cauchi (also spelled Canchi) in the present state of North Carolina near the Tennessee border was asked why this male Indian was dressed as he was, the Cacique replied that:

"he was his brother and that because he was not a man for war nor carrying on the business of a man, he went about in that manner like a woman and he did all that was given to a woman to do."98

The Indians shared with the Spaniards food, pearls, skins, etc. The Spaniards, in turn, also gave tokens of "their friendship" to the Indians; clothing was given most often.

"Then a shirt and some other articles of clothing were directed to be given to the chief."99

The type of yard goods from Europe that was most frequently given to the Indians by the Spaniards was taffeta, red, green, or colored. The other types of material were: satin, linen, silk, London cloth, and other cloth of a red color.100

The Spanish, also, presented the coastal Indians with "Indian cloth and blankets that they obtained from the interior Indians."101 It is known from reports that as the Spanish continued to settle La Florida they aimed to convert to Christianity as many Indians as possible. For these Indians to please the missionaries, the women had to alter their dress and cover their bodies more fully. As early as 1595, San Miguel noted the change in appearance of a Cazique and his wife.

"They were Christians and the Cazique spoke Spanish well. He called himself Don Juan and dressed like a Spaniard; and when the Cazica went out, she covered herself with a mantle [manto] like the Spanish."102

Since apparel was distributed to the Indians by the Spaniards and the Indians's dress is described by the Spanish in narratives, it is necessary to know what the latter wore in order to ascertain whether these Spanish garments had any influence over how the Indians subsequently dressed.

It is known that the Spaniards wore armor when they met the Indians:

"Where the arrow meets with no armour, it pierces as deeply as the shaft from a crossbow."103

However, It is only logical to assume that the Spaniards also wore civilian or a combination of civilian and military dress.

By the end of the 15th century, richly encrusted and colored cloaks were worn over a full harness or suit of armor. The armor of the 16th century, itself, was decorated with gold and silver inlay, plumes of feathers, and beaten metal ornaments. By the end of the 16th century, a full suit of armor to be worn in battle was becoming outmoded.104

The 16th century was the "Golden Age of Spain" with money coming in steadily from the discoveries in the New World (South and Central America and the neighboring Islands).

The Moors influenced Spanish dress and the Spanish influenced the dress of the rest of Europe with certain decorative techniques. Men's dress is roughly divided into three periods in the 16th century - 1500-1530, 1530-1575, and 1575-1600.105

Other than San Miguel who was in Florida, initially, in 1592, the three Spanish explorers whose narratives gave the public the most information about the Southeast Indians' dress were written toward the middle and end of the 16th century even though their explorations took place in the beginning and middle of the 16th century.106

Throughout the 16th century, Spanish men wore variations of the braies. The English labeled them drawers.

Early Spanish men's shirts were made of linen and cut full with long raglan sleeves. They were gathered around the neck and often decorated at that place with embroidery or cut work. By the end of the century, the shirts had become more ruffled and a square collar had started to show from under the neckline of the doublet. The end of the century also showed separate neck ruffs that were very wide, often of lace, and stiffly starched.

Over the shirt was worn a doublet laced to the hose. The doublet was waist length and was comprised of a padded jacket which opened at the front and was tied together with lacings. The sleeves were puffed out at the shoulders and narrow at the wrists.

The hose was seamed or joined into one garment and had a codpiece at the front. The codpiece was a "bag like" item used to conceal the front opening of the breeches.

The second phase of Spanish dress emphasized fullness, contrasting colors, and the use of decorative slashings and panes (narrow inserts usually of contrasting color), especially in the sleeves of the doublet.

The hose was still laced to the doublet, but now the legs of the hose were divided around the knee into what was known as upper stocks and nether stocks or lower stocks. The upper stocks began to be called breeches and were cut fuller than the nether and looked as if they were a separate garment.

        Costume Plate # 1
16th Century Non-Military Dress
 01whm1500nm.jpg (18445 bytes)
By the end of the century, the doublet had a high neck again and unpadded and closely fitted sleeves. The waist followed the natural waistline in the back but dipped to a point in the front where padding emphasized its shape.

The hose, that also functioned as a "kind of breeches," was now called a trunk-hose. The upper part was in the shape of a melon, fullest at the hip, and fitting snugly to the rest of the leg.

A new item of dress was introduced called a canion. This was tubular in shape and extended from the end of the full section of the trunk hose to the knee or below where it was fastened to separate stockings. Knitted stockings began to replace the long joined hose.

Jackets or jerkins were articles of clothes similar in shape to the doublet and worn over it. In the early and mid part of the century, they did not always have sleeves. By the end of the century, they had a short puffed sleeve. If they did not have sleeves, around the armseye (armhole), they had tabbed edges called picadils. In this case, the sleeve of the doublet became the outer sleeve.

Throughout the beginning and middle of the century, men also wore bases which were a sort of stiff, short skirt, initially separate from other articles of attire. It was worn over the doublet or jacket for civil dress or over armor for military dress. It was made in the style of lined or stiffened gores. By the middle of the century, doublets or jerkins were sometimes cut with gored skirts similar to bases.

The outermost sleeves of apparel were still cut very full from the shoulder to the elbow and cut to fit snuggly from the elbow to wrist.

From about 1550 - 1600, breeches became a separate part of dress. They were often known as "Venetians". These were worn with stockings and varied from strictly skin tight garments to those that were wide and full throughout.

Throughout the century, robes and gowns were worn over the doublets and jackets. These were basically loose and flowing and could be either long or short, enhanced with fur or faced with contrasting colors.

In the beginning and middle of the century, capes were worn as outer garments. From the middle to the end of the century, outdoor garments - long or short capes - had replaced gowns.

There were different styles of "cape like" garments. A Capa reached to the ankle and was similar to a mantle; a Capaz was a cloak or cape with a hood; and a Capote differed from a regular cape because it had a different type of hood and a round collar.107

 

When armor was worn, it was worn over the doublet or jacket, hose or trunk-hose. As stated previously, bases were often worn over the armor.

Men's hair varied in length from a "Buster Brown" style to that which consisted of long and flowing locks. After 1530 Beards and mustaches were popular and remained so.

Hats were shaped like a pill box with an upturned brim although other styles of hats were popular throughout the century. It is interesting that even with the Moorish influence on dress, mentioned in the beginning of this discussion on fashion, the Turban was not "depicted in portraits or secular wood cuts."108 Even though it was still worn, it was not a frequently depicted form of headgear.It was also known as an Almaizar or Alhareme.

Many different styles of shoes were worn. One style of shoe is referred to in many of the description of the New World. It was called a "Buskin". This type of shoe was soft, light, and flexible in the form of a half boot with laces, sometimes on the side. It was introduced into England in the early 16th century and made of Spanish leather or velvet. Sometimes it was lined with fur.109

Since the Indians of the Southeast did not come into ready contact with Spanish women, a very brief mention will be made of women's dress only as it pertains to words from Spanish narratives used to describe Indian women's dress.

Women wore many layers of garments. The undermost layer was a chemise or in the 15th century called a Camicia. This garment did not undergo radical changes, so its 15th century definition can also be applied to the 16th century. It was a loose garment that was cut full length with raglan sleeves. It was often embroidered around the neck and armseyes. Toward the latter part of the century, the decorative neck was displayed at the neckline of gowns even though it was an undergarment, peasant women often wore it as their outergarment when working in the field or in the summer.110

Spanish women also sometimes wore an underdress or an underskirt. The skirt of the overdress was usually looped up to reveal the underskirt.111

It is easy to imagine how strange these many garmented men appeared to the spartanly dressed Natives. It is also easy to imagine why the Spaniards, and, later, the French and the English referred to the Indians as naked.  


1. Smith and Gottlob, "Spanish_Indian Relationships", Tacachale, p. 12.

2. Ibid., p.12

3. Ibid., p. 13.

4. Kathleen A. Deagan, "Spanish-Indian Interaction in Sixteenth Century Florida and Hispaniola," Culture in Contact, p. 303.

5. Some of these dates vary among the known authorities. The dates used here are from various reports by John Swanton, especially BAE 137, pp. 34-40.

6. This date is not exactly known and can vary slightly.

7. Woodbury Lowery, The Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of the United States, pp. 130-131.

8. Ibid., p. 147.

9. Ibid., pp. 152-153.

10. .John Winter Jones's notes accompanying the Hackluyt's text of the Divers Voyages Touching the Discovery of America, p. 56.

11. Hudson, The Southeastern Indians, pp. 103-104.

12. Marc Lescarbot, Histoire de La Nouvelle France, p. 33.

13. Hodge, BAE Bulletin, # 30, Part 1, p. 373.

14. The translations used in this book are those of MacNutt (1912) and Carlo (1965).

15. D'Anghera translated by MacNutt, vol. 2, p. 256.

16. Ibid., p. 256.

17. Ibid., p. 258.

18. Ibid., p. 258.

19. De Anglería, translated by Carlo, vol 2, p. 596.

20. Translated by the author.

21. D'Anghera, De Orbe Novo, translated by MacNutt, vol. 2, p. 262.

22. Ibid., p. 259.

23. Ibid., p. 263.

24. Ibid., p. 260.

25. Ibid., p. 261. These regions are described in footnotes as probably being on the aforementioned coasts.

26. Ibid., p. 261 and in the Carlo translation p. 598.

27. Carlos translation of Anglería, vol. 2 p. 598.

28. Cassell's Latin Dictionary, p. 73.

29. The Oxford Universal Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 1955, p. 200.

30. MacNutt, vol. 2 p. 266 and Carlo, vol. 2, p. 602.

31. The letter "V" is substituted for the original "U" where appropriate and the "U" for the "V".

32. Verarzanus, "The Discovery of Morum Bega" in Hackluyt's Diverse Voyages Touching the Discovery of America, p. 57.

33. Lescarbot, Histoire de La Nouvelle France, p. 32.

34. Hakluyt, Principal Navigations, vol. 8, 1904, p. 425 and Diverse Voyages, p. 57.

35. Verarzanus, "The Discovery of Morum Bega" in Hakluyt's Diverse Voyages Touching the Discovery of America p. 57.

36. De Anglería, translated by Carlo, p. 596.

37. Lescarbot, Histoire de La Nouvelle France, p. 32.

38. Hakluyt, Principal Navigations, vol. 8, 1904, p. 425 and Diverse Voyages, p. 57.

39. Lescarbot, Histoire de La Nouvelle France, p. 32.

40. Lowery, The Spanish Settlements, p. 352.

41. Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, p. 42.

42. Fontaneda, Memoirs  d'Escalante Fontaneda Respecting Florida. Translated and annotated by Buckingham Smith, p. 30. This description referred to the Indians around Abalachi [Appalachee].

43. Ibid., p. 27.

44. All references to San Miguel, unless other noted, are from Dos Antiguas Relaciones de La Florida, by Genaro Garcia.

45. Ibid., p. 193. The word güeypil has become güipil which according to Pequeño Larousse Ilustrado, 1914 means camisa sin mangas de las Indias or Indian shirt without sleeves. The term is one attributed to Mexican Indian dress. The translation for pastle comes from Swanton, BAE 137, p. 471.

46. Ibid., p. 194.

47. Fontenado, Memoirs d'Escalante Fontaneda Respecting Florida, p. 68.

48. Since the word Mantellin could not be found in Cassell's Spanish Dictionary other than to refer to Mantellina which is translated as Mantilla, Buckingham Smith's translation of the word meaning Shawl seems to be appropriate.

49. Smith, Vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of De Soto, pp. 53-54.

50. Covey, Cabeza de Vaca, p. 39. The Spanish text translated the same. Page 521 in Naufragios y Relacion.

51. Smith, vol. II (Ranjel), Historia General and Natural de Las Indias, pp. 87-88.

52. Randolph J. Widmer, The Evolution of the Calusa, p. 66.

53. Ibid., pp. 3 & 4.

54. Fontaneda, Memoirs  d'Escalante Fontaneda, p. 31.

55. Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of De Soto, p. 54.

56. Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, p. 37.

57. Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto p. 54.

58. Doreen Yarwood, The Encyclopedia of World Costume, pp. 48-49.

59. Francis M. Kelly & Randolph Schwabe, A Short History of Costume and Armour, vol.1, p. 5.

60. Yarwood, The Encyclopedia of World Costume, pp. 48-49.

61. Douglas A. Russell, Costume History and Style, p. 116.

62. Kelly & Schwabe, A Short History of Costume and Armour, vol I, p. 6.

63. Genaro Garcia, Dos Antiguas Relaciones de La Florida, p. 193.

64. Fontaneda, Memoirs d'Escalante Fontaneda, p. 66 translated from the Spanish "Brageros tejidos de palmaque".

65. Garcia, Dos Antiguas Relaciones de La Florida, pp. 208-209.

66. Smith vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of De Soto, p. 54.

67. Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, p. 49.

68. Ibid., p.51.

69. A Chamois is a goat-like antelope with a very fine hide, native to Europe.

70. Garcilaso de l Vega, The Florida of the Inca, p. 16.

71. Smith vol.II (Ranje)l, Historia General and Natural de Las Indians, p. 99.

72. Ranjel's original manuscript has been lost, but his account was recorded by Oviedo. Ranjel was de Soto's private secretary.

73. Smith vol.II (Ranje)l, Historia General and Natural de Las Indians, p. 101.

74. Swanton, BAE 137, p. 442

75. Ibid., p. 807.

76. In the modern Cassell's Spanish-English dictionary, Pelote means goat's hair.

77. Smith, vol. II (Ranjel), Historia General and Natural de Las Indias. p. 120.

78. Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto, p. 66.

79. Lawrence Clayton, Vernon Knight Jr., & Edward C. Moore, The DeSoto Chronicles, p. 83.

80. Ibid., pp. 66-67.

81. Garcilaso de la Vega, The Florida of the Inca, p. 15.

82. Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto, p. 81.

83. Ibid., p. 113.

84. Ibid., pp. 87-88.

85. Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, p. 51.

86. Swanton, BAE 137, map with face page 34 and p. 504.

87. Garcia, Dos Antiguas Relaciones de La Florida, pp. 193-194.

88. Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto, p. 66.

89. Ibid., p. 65.

90. "Su natural color salía ofendida del fuego". Herrera, Historia General de Los hechos de Los Castellanos, p. 92.

91.  Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto, p. 23.

92. Garcia, Dos Antiguas Relaciones de la Florida, pp. 209-210.

93. Smith,vol I (Elvas) Narratives of de Soto, p. 108

94. Ibid., p. 26.

95. C.C. Jones, Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 512.

96. Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto, p.77.

97. Hudson, The Juan Pardo Expeditions, p. 267.

98. Ibid., p. 267

99. Smith, vol. I (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto, p. 34.

100. Henry Dobyns, Spanish Colonial Frontier Research, p. 71.

101. Ibid., p. 71.

102. Garcia, Dos Antiguas Relaciones de La Florida, p. 200.

103. Smith, vol I, (Elvas), Narratives of de Soto, p. 26.

104. Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 2, 11th edition, section on arms and armour.

105. Phyllis Tortora & Keith Eubanks, Survey of Historic Costumes, pp. 128-134. All discussions of clothes will be from Tortora and Eubanks unless otherwise noted.

106. First published work about Cabeza de Vaca - 1542. Covey edition, p. 15. Publication about de Soto, Elvas - 1557; Garcilaso - 1605; Biedma - 1544; Oviedo's account of Ranjel's original narrative - 1851. Text of Rangel written by him much earlier since he was de Soto's private secretary. De Soto Expedition Commission Final Report.

107. Ruth Matilda Anderson, Spanish Costumes 1480-1530, pp. 107-111.

108. Ibid., p. 45.

109. Ibid., p. 79.

110. Tortora & Eubank, A Survey of Historic Costume, p. 118.

111. Ibid., p. 135.