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Sakíta Confederation

Sakíta Confederation Kámasana Sakítaea
Capital	Sakíta
Other languages	Sakíta, Timucua, Muskogee, Calusa, Apalachee, Chacato, Mayaca-Ais
Establishment	ca. 1200
Area
• Total	100,000 km2 (39,000 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	~400,000

The Sakíta confederation (Sakíta: Kámasana Sakítaea) was a pre-Columbian and contact period polity in what is now the Southeastern United States. Oral tradition and archaeological research suggests that the confederation emerged ca. 1200 AD as a network of villages along Florida's North Central gulf coast in . By the 16th century, the nation exerted authority over much of Florida, coastal Georgia,and parts of southern Alabama.

History

Origins

The ethnic origins of the Sakíta are disputed, with the Sakíta language being widely regarded as an isolate. Due to an observer genetic and archaeological continuity, anthropologists traditionally favor an autochthonous origin along the Florida coastline from modern day Tampa Bay to the Aucilla River.

The earliest ancestors of the Sakíta were Pleistocene Paleoindian hunter-gatherers that exploited Florida's natural resources. The peninsula in this period was much larger, as sea levels were almost 100m lower than they are today. The climate was also cooler and drier, with the characteristic coastal wetlands being largely absent.

The inhabitants of Pleistocene Florida likely hunted the various megafauna species present in the region, including mammoths, mastodons, bison, and giant tortoise. Tools were made from wood, shell, bone, ivory, and rock. Spears and atlatls were common implements, as were stone adzes.

Agriculture spread to Florida during the late Archaic period, ca. 2000 BC. There is evidence of sumpweed and sunflower cultivation among these proto-Sakíta at this point, however, foraging still appears to have been the primary means of subsistence. Also more prevalent was the development of more advanced and intricate shell-based accessories and tools, possibly for trade as well as local use.

Sakíta civilization developed considerably during the Woodland period, beginning ca. 1000 BC. It was marked by an increased reliance on cultivation, favoring of permanent settlements over semi-permanent communities, and intensified trade and interaction between groups. The Deptford cultural, reaching the Sakíta ca. 500 BC, marked the transition from splintered forager tribes to politically organized settlements and chiefdoms. The volume and complexity of manufactured goods such as shell and grit-tempered ceramics and copper items also increased dramatically.

The Mississippian culture saw the widespread dissemination and adoption of maize, bean, and gourd agriculture throughout the Southeast, reaching the Sakíta by ca. 1000 AD. By ca. 1200, increased interactions between native Floridians and the Taíno peoples of the Caribbean led to the integration of many of their cultural and economic traits, including their staples of yuca and sweet potato which grew well in native soils. The Sakíta thus developed as a liminal culture, adopting Mississippian and Arawakan cultural features along with local native Floridian ones. This intermixing, combined with the uniqueness of their language and material culture, has made categorizing their identity within larger cultures a problematic task.

Society

Environment

Pine flatwoods, a type of subtropical savanna dominated by conifers, grasses, and scrub vegetation, were endemic to the coastal plain.

The Sakíta confederation emerged within the ecological niche of the Southern Coastal Plain, an ecoregion of the southern United States characterized by low-lying, flat terrain, warm climate, and high humidity and rainfall levels. The region is considered to be entirely humid subtropical, with hotter temperatures than most temperate areas, but cooler conditions than found in the tropics.

Sakíta territory was dominated by wetlands, coniferous woodlands, and savannas, the latter developing as a result of high but seasonally variable precipitation levels. Although the region has flat terrain, swampy soil and dense foliage made navigation challenging at times, The Sakíta manipulated their environment, promoting or hindering natural wildfires to alter the degree of vegetation cover as needed. They also leveraged the numerous waterways dotting the area as a means of transportation and trade.

Agriculture

The Sakíta cultivated numerous maize varieties, such as flint corn which could be used to make hominy.

Although the Sakíta did engage in significant foraging and fishing, they were primarily a sedentary agricultural society where farming was the most prominent means of subsistence. They adopted cultivars from North and South America, including the "three sisters" (maize, beans, and squash), cucumbers, pumpkins, sunflowers, berries, peppers, and melons, as well as cassava, sweet potato, guava, papaya, and peanuts adopted from Caribbean Taíno peoples.

Coastal-plain soils are dominated by podzol, sand, and red clay, making them generally of poor quality. To overcome this challenge, the Sakíta employed extensive tactics to improve crop productivity, such as application of charcoal to create "black earth", the creation of agricultural mounds, and the development of complex irrigation systems such as canal networks. The diversity of crops that were cultivated enabled rotation and intercropping - which reduced the risk of depleting already infertile soils, and helped to mitigate the impact of periodical drought, flooding, and blight.

In addition to food crops, the Sakíta cultivated a variety of inedible crops for numerous purposes. Cotton was cultivate for use as a textile and for the manufacture of sails used on canoes. Tobacco was also grown and used as a narcotic, as was yaupon holly (I. vomitoria), a type of holly used to brew the coffee-like Black Drink (kasinó). Various other medicinal, contraceptive, abortifacient, and narcotic plants were also cultivated.The Sakíta also practiced apiculture, using domesticated native bees such as the American bumblebee.

Fishing and Foraging

An engraving of indigenous Floridians trapping fish.

The Sakíta extensively employed aquatic resources provided by their environment. They constructed artificial fish ponds, corrals, and weirs to capture, preserve, and even cultivate seafood and gather shells. They were also skilled sailors who used canoes to navigate coastal seas and rivers.

The white-tailed deer was an important game animal, valued for its meat and its hides.

The Sakíta relied on seafood and wild game for protein, as the only domesticated terrestrial animals they had were bees and dogs, neither of which were consumed for their food. Although fishing provided the majority of consumed meat, hunting was also important for subsistence. Frequently consumed animals include alligators, deer, turkeys, bears, rabbits, manatees, turtles, raccoons, whales, and crabs.

Wild edible and medicinal plants were also abundant in the region, and included cocoplum, hickory nuts, acorns, pond apples (which provided piscicides as well as food), palm fruits, and swamp cabbage. Medicinal plants such as red maple, sweetgum, and beautyberry were also widely exploited. Coontie, a cycad containing edible starch, was a common staple and was both gathered and cultivated in plantations for food and medicinal value.