Description
The Ais were one of many tribes, consisting of several hundred thousand people, that lived in Florida prior to first contact with Ponce de Leon and the Spanish in 1513. Ais lived in what is now Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and northernmost Martin counties. Many lived along the shores of the great lagoon called Rio de Ais now known as the Indian River. We know that they lived in small villages, but we don't know much about their origins or their languages. Like the Calusa, the Ais were devastated by European diseases. Some of the survivors were probably sent to Cuba with the Calusas and Tequestas, while others may have merged with other Floridian Indians and eventually joined the Seminole tribe. Jonathan Dickinson made multiple observations on the appearance, diet and customs of the Ais at the end of the 17th Century and these were found in Jonathan Dickinson's Journal. The Ais did not survive long after Dickinson's recount of the time he spent with them. Shortly after 1700 settlers in Carolina started raiding the Ais to capture slaves. By 1743, when the Spanish established a mission among them, the Ais numbers were declining due to slave raids, disease and rum. The Ais were gone from the area by 1760.
Language
Their language was never recorded and some have guessed that it may have been related to Calusa, based on stories that people from the two tribes could communicate with each other.
Culture
The Ais or Ays as they are sometimes referred as, were hunters and gathers, not farmers. This Native-American tribe gathered fruits and nuts including sea grapes, coco plums, sea oats and palm berries. The Ais tribes fished using hooks made from the toe bones of deer they had hunted, taking full advantage of the great catches available off the coast of Florida. They hunted large game including deer and bears, along with whatever smaller game they could find.