APALACHEE INDIANS

THESE FOLKS ARE FOUND IN GEORGIA AS WELL AS LOUISIANA. THEIR FIRST FLORIDA SETTLEMENT WAS AT VELDA MOUND @ 1450 A.D. THEY ENCOUNTERED SPANISH AROUND 1500 A.D. EUROPEAN DISEASES DRASTICALLY THEY LIVED AT THE HEAD OF APALACHEE BAY. THEY SPOKE MUSKOGEAN - APALACHEE BAY. THEY SPOKE MUSKOGEAN - IT IS EXTINCT. EUROPEAN DISEASES DRASTICALLY REDUCED THEIR POPULATION. THEY MIGRATED TO MOBILE AND LOUISIANA BY THE LATE 1700'S.

THEY CULTIVATED CROPS. THEY WERE INFLUENCED BY FLORIDA NATIVES. THEY GREW SURPLUS CROPS. FOR TRADING. THEY SPECIALIZED IN ART GOODS.
BY 1500 THEIR CAPITAL WAS ANHAICA OR TALLAHASEE, FLORIDA. THEY WERE MOUND BUILDERS AND BUILT SMALL HOUSES. THEY GREW CORN, BEANS AND SQUASH, AND PUMPKINS, AND SUNFLOWERS. THEY GATHERED WILD STRAWBERRIES. THEY HAD A HUGE TRADE NETWORK THAT EXTENDED FROM THE GULF COAST TO THE GREAT LAKES. THEY ACQUIRED COPPER ARTIFACTS, MICA SHEETS, GREENSTONE AND GALENA FROM DISTANT LOCATION. THEY PAID FOR THE IMPORTS WITH SHELLS, PEARLS, SHARK TEETH, PRESERVED FISH AND SEA TURTLE MEAT, SALT AND CASSINO LEAVES AND TWIGS.

THEY MADE TOOLS FROM BONE, STONE, AND SHELL. THEY MADE POTTERY , WOVE CLOTH AND CURED BUCKSKIN. THEIR HOUSES WERE COVERED WITH PALM LEAVES. THE WOMEN MADE SKIRTS OF SPANISH MOSS. MEN PAINTED THEIR BODIES WITH RED OCHRE AND PLACED FEATHERS IN THEIR HAIR. THE MEN SMOKED TOBACCO. THE APALACHEE ARE CONSIDERED BY SOME TO BE THE MOST ADVANCED INDIGENOUS NATION IN FLORIDA, GEORGIAN WITH A DENSE POPULATION AND A COMPLEX CHIEFDOM.

TODAY THEIR TRIBAL OFFICE IS IN LIBUSE, LOUISIANA.

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