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repartimiento labor draft (Mont 5.10)

Source: The Struggle for the Georgia Coast #129

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(Worth SGC)
DOCUMENT 5: ORDERS REGARDING THE PROVINCE OF GUALE

ORDER 10: GUERRA Y VEGA TO AISPIOLEA, JANUARY 16, 1669
Below is the last of the present series of yearly labor draft orders to Guale and Mocama issued during the term of Governor Guerra y Vega. In structure and wording it is largely identical to the rest, but the 1669 order marks a small departure from the three previous drafts in the enumeration of Indian laborers listed for the draft, as will be discussed below.

[f.29]
Order that Adjutant Francisco de Aizpiolea goes to the province of Guale to bring Indians for the cultivation, drafting from each town the number which are provided in the instruction, year of 1669.

Don Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega, governor and captain general of this city of St. Augustine, Florida, and its provinces for the King our lord. Inasmuch as today I have dispatched to the provinces of Timucua and Apalachee to look for the people who are customarily brought for the labor of the infantry who serve His Majesty in this presidio, as an indispensable thing, so that they might sustain themselves better, and so that the post will have the necessary provision; and it is suitable to make a draft from the provinces of Guale and Mocama, as has been done for time immemorial in this place, and for this draft and transport, it is suitable to send a person who is capable among the [f.29,vto.] natives, so that he brings them wisely; and because I am informed that most who are in the habit of coming are pagans; and because I am well-informed of the person of Adjutant Francisco de Aispiolea, I have deemed it advisable to name him, as for the present I elect and name him, so that as soon as he receives this [order] he should leave from this city and go to the province of Guale, where having arrived, he should in my name give to understand to its micos, caciques, and principals the suitability to the service of His Majesty, the common good, and the conservation of this post, that they remit the field hands who are requested, according to the instruction which I have commanded him to turn over, assuring them all good treatment, [f.30] and that I will have them paid for all their labor, and in case some Indians should wish to come of their own will, outside of the quantity which are ordered, he will endeavor with the best attention which he can to conduct them to this city with the rest, endeavoring to leave their micos and caciques pleased, doing everything with the zeal which I expect from his person; and when they are recovered, he will endeavor to leave from those provinces at a time which he sees he can arrive at this city on the coming twenty-second of February, without permitting or making exception that they come burdened, only with their provision, for the importance which His Majesty (God preserve him) charges their good treatment. And below this order I command all the micos, caciques, mandadores, and remaining [f.30, vto.] principals of the towns through which the said Adjutant Francisco de Aispiolea passes to give him all the support and aid which he asks them for, without any limitation, on pain that I will command that anyone who does the contrary be punished in public, by thus being suitable to the service of His Majesty. The copy of this order will be taken in the governmental secretary's office, which is dispatched for this, signed by my hand, sealed with the seal of my arms, and endorsed by the undersigned, my secretary. Given in the city of St. Augustine, Florida on the sixteenth of January, sixteen sixty-nine, Don Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega. By order of the governor and captain general, my lord, [f.31] Manuel de Torres y Villa Bicencio, secretary.

The copy of the above order by the senior governor and captain general remains in the governmental secretary's office by his order, and the original was turned over to the aforementioned for its execution. Of this I swear, Juan Moreno y Segobia, public and governmental notary.

Instruction and order which Adjutant Francisco de Aispiolea, reformado in this presidio, is to observe in the draft of the Indians from the province of

Guale, conforming to the order which I have ordered him to turn over, as follows: 
Firstly, from the village of Guadalquini, five Indians.
From the village of Asao, four. [f.3 1, vto.](41)
NOTE 41. This is the first time that the village of Asao appears on the repartimiento labor-draft orders presented here. This might suggest that Asao had received an influx of new population, or perhaps that a previous exemption from the labor draft had expired (see Overview).

From the village of Santa Catharina, four.
From the village of Satoache, four.(42)
NOTE 42. Unlike the instructions dating to 1666-1668, this enumeration lists Santa Catalina and Satuache separately, with four Indians to be supplied by each. Although the total number is identical to that requested from the two villages when listed together (eight), the present enumeration reveals that laborers were drafted in equal numbers from the population of each village.

From the village of Zapala, four Indians.
From the village of Tupiqui, four Indians.
From the village of San Phelipe, four.
And it is consistent with this reckoning if it is suitable to draft more people. He will see the disposition which there is in each one of the villages, according to the people they have, altering the quantities if it is suitable, bringing a count and copy of the people who go, and how many from each village, so that with the same [count] they can return to their villages upon finishing the cultivation. And likewise he will give the Yamase caciques who find themselves in that [f.32] province to understand the great necessity which there is of people in order to cultivate the said fields, and by being suitable to the service of His Majesty, I order them to give as many Indians of their nation as they can for the said purpose, assuring them on my part good treatment, and that I will have them paid for their labor. And in all he will do and fulfill according to what I trust from his person, adjusting all to this instruction. Given in the city of St. Augustine, Florida, on the sixteenth of January, sixteen sixty-nine, Don Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega. By order of the governor and captain general, my lord, Manuel de Torres [f.32, vto.] y Villa Bicencio, secretary.

The copy was taken in the governmental secretary's office, I swear, Juan Moreno y Segobia, public and governmental notary.

Agrees with the order previously inserted, according to how the copy appears in one of the books of the governmental archive at my charge, to which I refer. And by verbal order of the senor Colonel Don Manuel de Montiano, governor and captain general of this post and its provinces, I give the present in Florida on the eleventh of August, seventeen thirty-nine.

In true testimony,
Francisco de Castilla
Governmental Notary