The Last Timucuan*

Three wars fought and lost, thousands dead,   and still the Timucuan and Apalachee  Indians of La Florida suffer under cruel domination of 17th Century Spanish tyrants. Fifty Catholic missions stretch to the north from San Augustin, and westward to the rich fields of Apalachee corn.

A shadow falls across the land as musket-bearing Chisca and Yamassee, armed by their  English masters, terrorize the mission and villages, murdering Indians and priests, burning  churches and taking women and children to feed the slave market at Charles Town.

The Indians face a terrible choice: To defend their oppressors with their blood, or to submit to the destruction of their villages and risk the slavery and death that presses in on all sides.

The year is 1704. The Spanish colony of La Florida hangs by a thread when Chief Patricio Hinachuba refuses to make war against the English. To the Governor in San Augustin, it is the ultimate betrayal. To the beleaguered Indians, it is the final act of defiance, a prayer for justice too long denied.

*“Outstanding contribution to Florida History” Presidential Citation, Florida Historical Society, 2009

 

Beyond the River of the Sun*

A new Timucuan Chief emerges, a Christian. Soon the Franciscan missionaries are welcomed where they had feared to go, Beyond the River of the Sun, to the nations of Potano, Utina and even further to the west, to the land of Apalachee.

Pagan souls are saved, but still the seeds of discontent are sown: Old ways, legends and ceremonies are forbidden. The Indians are made into beasts of burden, carrying food to the starving Spanish colony of San Augustin. Thousands perish.

The aging Spirit Warrior, Atichicolo-Iri seeks to foment rebellion. He is laughed at and scorned by his own people, until a stubborn Spanish governor makes a miscalculation on how much the Indians will endure.

The year is 1656, and a fuse has been lit.

*Best Fiction, 2008. Florida Historical Society, Patrick D. Smith Award

 

 

Wekiva Winter

Five priests are dead, brutally murdered by the people God had sent them to this dark land to save. One survived, the young friar who was enslaved and tortured, but who has refused to testify against the killers.

And what of Marehootie, the old Indian who speaks many tongues? Does he allow himself to be held captive? Is Father Pareja wise to use the old man in his language studies? What danger does he present to the priest, the mission and the young altar boy, Juan de Coya?

The year is 1602. The place is Mission San Juan del Puerto, where the ancient Timucuan River of the Sun flows into an uncertain future.

*Best Fiction, 2006. Florida Historical Society, Patrick D. Smith Award