Description
The Acuera Indians belonged to the Timucuan linguistic division of the Muskhogean linguistic family. They lived near the the headwaters of the Ocklawaha River in what is now Florida. Freshwater Indians and the Unita Indians, are some of the related tribes with which the Acuera tribe later intermingled. These tribes were known collectively as the Timucua Indians, after the region in which they were located, although there was a dominant tribe in this confederacy also known singularly as the Timucua tribe. The population of the Acuera is not recorded until after they merged with the Timucua. The Timucua are collectively estimated by Mooney (1928) to have numbered 13,000 in 1650, including 3,000 Potano, 1,000 Hostaqua, 8,000 Timucua proper and their allies, and 1,000 Tocobaga.
Language
The indigenous people of Acuera spoke a dialect of the Timucua language.
Culture
Their existence was first noted by Europeans in April 1564 when a French Huguenot expedition under Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere went up the St. Johns to the mouth of the Ocklawaha and found several fortified villages. They were protected by palm trunk walls and united by roads cut thru the surrounding forrests. The people themselves were described as "splendid physical specimens" who had well-tended fields and abundant fish and game. Their religion appeared to be based on the stars and the moon, and recognized the sun as the primary deity. Each spring, the Acuera held a special ceremony honoring this supreme god and made offerings to it.