Apalachee Province

History

Since 12,000 years ago, groups of Native Americas inhabited the hilltops and lake shores of what are now Leon County and Jefferson County. They lived by hunting, fishing and gathering. Eventually they became permanently sedentary, making stone tools, pottery, and then domesticating plants. By 1000 A.D., they developed agriculture and cultivated numerous plants, particularly varieties of maize, as the main staple food. Native Americans lived in many towns and farmsteads, gradually growing agricultural surpluses that supported larger populations.

Apalachee Province was closely linked by trading and cultural exchange to other Native American nations throughout the interior Southeast, including the later Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC). As many as 60,000 people lived in 40 towns in Apalachee Province. Growth of maize aided in the construction of towns and more complex material cultures. Leaders organized workers to construct complex earthworks such as mounds, for religious, political and ceremonial purposes.

The Apalachee occupied what archaeologists call the Velda Mound site from about 1450 CE-1625 CE, although they mostly abandoned the site soon after the beginning of the Spanish Mission Period, c. 1565. After the Spanish began colonization and brought in missions, they called this area the Apalachee Province.

The Apalachee Province was heavily depopulated because of Carolina Governor James Moore's raids into the area during Queen Anne's War. Most of the Spanish missions in the province were destroyed during the Apalachee massacre.