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A Spanish captive recorded the only known remnants of the Calusa language

Source: Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors #121

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All that is now known of the Calusa language is a considerable number of place names, for a few of which translations are given, and a single expression, abo translated. Practically all of these come from the Memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a Spaniard held captive among the Calusa Indians for 17 years, somewhere between 1550 and 1570.3 Attempts to find equivalents in known Indian tongues have been made by Buckingham Smith (1854) and A. S. Gatschet (1884).4 Although better equipped for this task, the latter was handicapped, as always, by a lack of critical acumen in the treatment of etymologies, and unfortunately he chose for comparison Spanish, Timucua, and Creek, the two last because they were the Indian languages of the region with which he was most familiar. Smith, on the other hand, without a tithe of Gatschet's philological ability, was favored by fortune in happening to depend for his interpretations on several Choctaw Indians, including the famous chief, Peter Pichlynn. Smith seems not to have had any true appreciation of the differences between Indian languages and to have assumed that the authority of an Indian of almost any southeastern tribe was equally good. By mere luck, however, he chose a representative of that tribe with which we have since discovered grounds for believing the Calusa stood in a particularly close relation. But even so, he was unable to obtain interpretations for most of Fontaneda's Calusa names, and most of the remaining etymologies suggested to him must be rejected as improbable. Yet it is interesting to note that the impression made upon his informants by these names was similar to that certain to be impressed upon anyone familiar with the Muskhogean tongues. He says: "My monitors say that all these words are eminently Chahta in their sounds, but that sometimes they are too imperfectly preserved to be understood, or that their sense can be detected only in part."

Of the translations obtained by Smith of names not furnished with interpretations by Fontaneda only that of Calaobe (from kali hofobi, "deep spring") and perhaps that of Soco (from su'ko, "muscadine") seem to have some probability in their favor. Translations are, however, furnished for a few by Fontaneda himself, and while the literal correctness of these must not be assumed, they present a somewhat more promising field of investigation. These words are Guaragunve, a town on the Florida keys, the name of which is said to mean in Spanish Pueblo de Llanto, i. e., "the town of weeping;"

Cuchiyaga, a second town on these islands, the name signifying "the place where there has been suffering;" Calos or Calusa, "in the language of which the word signifies a fierce people, as they are called for being brave and skilled in war;" the Lake of Mayaimi, so called "because it is very large;" Zertepe, "chief and great lord" (though possibly this is a specific title); Guasaca-esgui, a name of the Suwanee, "the river of canes;" No or Non, "town beloved;" Cafiogacola, or Caflegacola, " a crafty people, skillful with the bow;"
se-le-te-ga, " run to the lookout, see if there be any people coming! " The first of the above is almost the only one in which an r appears—
though Carlos is used for Calos occasionally—and it is possible that this town may be one which Fontaneda informs us to have been occupied by Cuban Arawaks. In English the name would be pronounced nearly as Waragunwe, and if we assume the r has been substituted for an original I, we might find a cognate for the first part of it in Choctaw wilanli, to weep, while the second part might be compared with Choctaw koun or kcPwi, woods, a desert, but I do not feel sure that this order is permissible, and little confidence can be placed in the rendering.

For Cuchiyaga Smith's informants suggested ku-cfti (cha) ya-ya, "going out to wail," though he remarks that the interpretations of the names of this town and the preceding may have become transposed. Calos was explained to Smith as an abbreviation of the Choctaw words ka-la and lusa, "strong (and) black," but the form without a terminal a seems to be nearer the original, and I would suggest katto, strong, powerful, or violent, followed by an article pronoun such as ash, the aforesaid, or osh. In case the final a were original the second word in the compound might be ansha, to sit, to be. Mayaimi recalls Choctaw maiha, wide, and mih, it is so, it is like that, although mih is usually initial in position.

I can do nothing with Zertepe, but, as suggested, this may not be a generic word. Guasaca-esgui should probably be pronounced Wasaka-esgi, and both parts bear a strong resemblance to the Choctaw uski or oski, cane, though of course, in any case, only one would represent that word ; the Choctaw word for river is hacha. In explanation of No, Gatschet cites Creek anokitcha, "lover," anukidshas, "I love," the Choctaw equivalent of which is anushkunna, no or nu being assumed as the radix, but anoa, "famous," "noted," "illustrious," may also be mentioned in this connection. Perhaps the most suggestive of all of these words is Cafiogacola, because the ending looks suspiciously like Choctaw okla, people, which we often find written by early travelers ogala or okala. The first part might be explained by Alabama kango, not good, bad, or as a shortened form of Choctaw inkai-a keyu, unfriendly. Finally, se-le-te-ga may contain cheli, you fly, you go rapidly AN15, followed by -t, used in connecting several verbs, and possibly haiaka, to appear, to peep, though I am not certain that this particular combination is admissible.
Romans is the only writer to attempt an interpretation of names along the southeastern Florida coast. He gives the name of Indian
River as Aisa hatcha and interprets this as meaning "Deer River." The word hatcha, however, was probably given by himself or else obtained from the Seminole Indians and there is no proof that it belonged to the ancient language of Ais, while the first was probably translated arbitrarily in terms of the Choctaw language with which Romans was to some extent familiar.

Upon the whole more resemblances between these words and Choctaw seem to occur than would be expected if the languages had nothing in common, and those which we find in Guasaca-esgui and Cafiogacola are almost too striking to be merely accidental.

In connection with the first of these reference should be made to the name of a province mentioned only once by Fontaneda and seemingly located near Tampa Bay. This is Osiquevede, in which it is possible we again have oski. The latter part of the word might be interpreted by means of Choctaw Juiha, to whirl or veer about. Putting all of the above evidence together, we may fairly conclude that a connection with Choctaw, or at all events some Muskhogcan dialect, is indicated, but we must equally admit that it is not proved.

In the interior of the country, about Lake Okeechobee, were many towns said to be allied with the Calusa chief, and from the names of these towns given us by Fontaneda they would appear to have been allied in language also.1

On the east coast of Florida were a number of small tribes settled in the various inlets. From south to north the most important were the Tekesta, Jeaga, and Ais. The name Tekesta resembles those of the Calusa towns in appearance, and so do the names of several smaller places in the same locality, one town, Janar, even having a designation absolutely identical with that of a Calusa settlement.2

We know little more of the Jeaga2 and Ais. They had many cultural features in common with the Calusa—including a uniform hostility to Christian missions—and their languages were at least markedly different from Timucua.