Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe by Jerald T. Milanich


Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe
Title : Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0813016363
ISBN-10 : 9780813016368
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 304
Publication : First published June 22, 1998

"An authoritative overview of the development of Florida's aboriginal peoples . . . blended with accounts of the European invasions and the dire consequences for the natives of their contacts with the newcomers. . . . Particularly valuable for its use of archaeological and historical data."--John H. Hann, San Luis Archaeological and Historic Site, Tallahassee "An exciting book that brings together for all of Florida the earliest historic records of indigenous peoples and Old World invaders alike, combining archaeology and history to reconstruct events and lifeways of ethnic groups so quickly devastated by the European presence."--Nancy White, University of South Florida When the conquistadors arrived in Florida in the early sixteenth century, as many as 350,000 native Americans lived in the territory. For more than twelve centuries their ancestors had resided here, fishing, hunting, gathering wild plants, and sometimes cultivating crops. Two and a half centuries later, Florida's Indians were gone. Focusing on those native peoples and their interactions with Spanish and French explorers and colonists, Jerald Milanich delineates this massive cultural change. Using information gathered from archaeological excavations and from the interpretation of historical documents left behind by the colonial powers, he explains where the native groups came from, where they lived, and what happened to them. He closes with the tragic disappearance of the original inhabitants in the eighteenth century and the first appearance of the ancestors of Florida's present Native Americans. With maps, photographs, drawings, and a vivid writing style, Milanich creates a sense of history and place--an opportunity to correlate modern towns to colonial events and sixteenth-century trails to twentieth-century highways--that will illuminate history for residents and tourists of Florida as well as for archaeologists and historians.

Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe Reviews

  • Rob Smith, Jr.

    This is a very thorough book. Covering Florida's early history, how the Spanish explorers roamed the state, the indian interactions, archaeological evidence found. There is an enormous amount of information set in a very readable format.

    I did find an unevenness to it all, though. I found another book I read involving Milnach. It seems to me the unevenness may be caused because of the large amount of details and a tough time arranging it all. This is a minor swipe, but something to bring up if others feel it, too. It's almost a good reason to set the book aside and come back to it.

    A larger concern is the charge that the indians mostly died due to disease. The author at one point points out that there is no "documented evidence" that the indians died of disease, then proceeds to continue leaning on the idea. One minute the author is very concerned about the archaeological backing of presumptions and then tosses evidential concerns aside when writing about the fate of the entire indian population in Florida at the time.

    About the wiping out of the indian population, I'm becoming more convinced that, based on documented evidence that a good amount of the indian population was massacred and the rest were enslaved by the thousands and thousands and hauled off the peninsula by the Spanish explorers. Both are touched upon and then quickly run away from. I wonder why.

    Overall, this, in being one of the few of it's kind, is an important book to read involving Florida's history - just with a wary eye at times.

  • Josh Liller

    This is a history of Native Americans in Florida during the first Spanish Colonial Era (1513-1763) and is intended to serve as a companion to one of the author's other books,
    Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. This book felt a bit uneven, with some parts of the topic being covered pretty well (early Spanish expeditions, the Mission system) while other parts get too little attention, particularly the central and southern Florida tribes. The English-sponsored raids into Florida are mentioned, but I felt the subject was skimmed over. I have to wonder if Milanch made some decisions about what to focus on in this book based on an awareness that
    Indians of Central and South Florida, 1513-1763 was in the works? (The two books were published a few years apart and Milanich wrote the Foreword of Hann's book.) Hann is a skilled researcher and archaeologist, but I think Milanich is a better writer.

    Mild recommendation. This is a satisfactory, but not great introduction to the subject matter.