Florida's Lost Tribes

by Jerald T. Milanich, Theodore Morris (Illustrator)

With an artist's sense of wonder and a historian's respect for accuracy, the 58 rich and colorful images in this book present a fascinating and thoroughly researched glimpse into the lifestyles and cultures of Florida's ancient Indians.            Theodore Morris's sensitive rendering of Florida's vanished heritage reflects his passion to create a pictorial record of the state's pre-Columbian peoples, the tribes who have been forgotten through the centuries. The artist's detailed paintings and drawings are based on historical evidence and his own careful research, conducted side-by-side with archaeologists and anthropologists at excavation sites throughout the state. Morris re-creates the appearance of the ancient peoples, portraying them at work and at play, and discusses the archaeological significance of each work and the creative muse that inspired it.            An accompanying essay by noted author and archaeologist Jerald Milanich provides an overview of the various tribes represented in the paintings. Milanich questions the ethnographic veracity of Theodore de Bry’s famous 16th-century engravings depicting Florida Indians and the settlement of Fort Caroline northeast of modern Jacksonville, which have long been thought to be based on lost paintings by the cartographer Jacques Le Moyne. Milanich argues that de Bry instead borrowed heavily from images of other New World Indians, including Amazonian tribes, and that Le Moyne's Florida paintings in fact may never have existed. If Milanich's assertion is true, the informed images of Theodore Morris take on added significance as an educational tool.            The book also brings the story of Florida's Indians up to the present and includes a website address with links to museums and archaeological sites open to the public, where visitors can learn and experience more about Florida's lost tribes. This arresting journey back through time will be welcomed by general readers and everyone interested in Florida's past.           

Genres: History, Archaeology, Anthropology, Native American

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Jerald T. Milanich is an American anthropologist and archaeologist, specializing in Native American culture in Florida. He is Curator Emeritus of Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville; Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida; and Adjunct Professor, Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. Milanich holds a Ph.D in anthropology from the University of Florida.

Milanich has won several awards for his books. Milanich won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Archaeological Council in 2005 and the Dorothy Dodd Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Historical Society in 2013. He was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010.

Milanich's research interests include Eastern United States archeology, pre-Columbian Southeastern U.S. native peoples, and colonial period native American-European/Anglo relations in the America. In May 1987 he was cited in a New York Times article:

Milanich is married to anthropologist Maxine Margolis, also a professor at the University of Florida. They are the parents of historian Nara Milanich, who teaches at Columbia University.

Reviews

[Tom Harr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was short and sweet and served as a decent introduction to the original tribes of Florida. My one complaint is that it should've had maps. The illustrations were fascinating though, and it was a good segway from my previous read, "Florida's First People."

[Ashley H]

Started out really excited to read this, but quickly noticed that the writing seemed almost amateurish. Didn't finish it.