Description
The Chine people were a group of Native American people living in Apalachee Province in Spanish Florida from the early 1670s until the end of the 17th century. They were served by a series of Spanish missions in the last quarter of the 17th century.The Chine may have migrated into Apalachee Province in the early 1670s. All of the peoples living beyond Apalachee Province in the 17th century, except for the Chiscas, spoke the same or a closely related language, as did the Chatot, but the Spanish viewed the Chatot and Chine peoples as separate bands. The Spanish used Chines as pilots and guides for at least three expeditions west of Apalachee Province. In 1777, the Spanish and Apalachee sent 190 men to attack a Chisca town near the Choctawhatchee River in retaliation for Chisca attacks on the Apalchee and their neighbors.
Language
They are believed to have spoken the same language as the Chatot, Amacano, Pacara, and Pensacola people, and have been described as a band of the Chatot people.
Culture
Chines and Chatots were drafted by the Spanish/Apalachee force to serve as guides to the Chisca town. They lived by hunting, fishing and gathering. Eventually they became more settled, making stone tools, pottery, and then domesticating plants. By 1000 A.D., the indigenous people developed agriculture and cultivated numerous plants, particularly varieties of maize, as the main staple food. Native Americans lived in scattered villages made up of farmsteads but gradually developed agricultural surpluses that allowed more population density.