The Itsate-speaking Creeks of southern Florida traditionally called themselves Mayas, until forced to change their name by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1955!
Before we present a glossary of Itza, and Tamulte Maya place names in the United States . . . I will provide a brief explanation of the previous article, which told readers that the ethnic name, “Maya” actually originated in southern Florida.
After completing the series on the profound (I am part Maya!) evidence of Mesoamerican immigration into Georgia, we will take readers on a journey through the rich cultural heritage of the Sunshine State.
The Mayas In Georgia Series
by Richard L. Thornton, Architect & City Planner
Around 450 BC an advanced indigenous culture began developing in the basin around Lake Okeechobee, Florida. An archaic form of American corn (maize) was definitely grown on raised platforms of chemically-altered soil. Nevertheless, the rather sophisticated peoples of southern Florida have been largely ignored by archaeologists and the media outside of Florida.
The pollen from a much more primitive strain of maize has been identified in the sediment of Lake Shelby near the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was radiocarbon dated to about 1500 BC! Several species of domesticated southeastern North America plants have been radiocarbon-dated to around 3,500 – 2,000 BC (depending on the plant species). So, it is clear that the portrayal by typical archaeological literature and the media of indigenous Americans in the Southeast being primitive hunters and gatherers until around 900 AD, is not accurate.
A network of permanent towns and villages developed both around Lake Okeechobee, FL and Lake Shelby, AL . . . interconnected by roads. They apparently did not cultivate large fields, because of the extreme acidity of wetland soils, but were able to thrive on raised bed agriculture combined with exploitation of the regions’ natural flora and fauna. By around 600 AD, these peoples were digging sophisticated canals and raised causeways to facilitate commerce between these communities.
Wakate – Capital of the Mia-am-i from around 900 AD to 1150 AD
The large towns around Lake Okeechobee were suddenly abandoned around 1150 AD. It is not known whether climatic changes, a severe hurricane or human invaders cause the population collapse. A migration legend told by Micco Tamachichi to General James E. Oglethorpe of Savannah, suggests that many of the people migrated northward to Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama . . . perhaps farther.
Not all of the people of Mia-am-i left the region. When the Spanish, based in St. Augustine began exploring the remainder of the peninsula in the late 1560s, the occupants of southern Florida still called themselves Mia-am-i or Miakoa.
At some point in the past, some of the Miayam began migrating southward to the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. These immigrants absorbed many of the cultural advancements of large cities, but their population continued to prosper and grow after many Classic Period Maya cities were abandoned (between 800 and 940 AD). Around 1250 AD the regional lords established a capital, named Miapaan (Mayapan in Spanish.) The was the only city-state in Mesoamerica, where the occupants called themselves a word similar to Maya.
Mia-paan (Mayapan) – Capital of the Mia-am in the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The Americas Revealed 