What Did Timucuan Indians Wear?

Generally, the Timucua Indians wore loincloths and various accessories to go along with the loincloths. The clothing that the Timucua Indians wore was dictated by their lifestyle and the climate where they lived.

The Timucuans were hunter/gatherers. The warm climate in which they lived and their habits as hunters dictated their clothing:

• Timucua Indian clothing traditionally consisted of loincloths for both genders.
• The loin cloth worn by Timucuan men was typically made of tanned leather.
• The women wore something similar, but typically paired it with sashes, belts, and hanging skirts made from Spanish moss, a thick fluffy plant substance native to the area.
• Both genders typically wore clothing only on their bottom halves and left their chests bare.
• Children dressed in the same style as adults, although babies were typically left undressed.

Cold Weather Clothing of the Timucua Indians

If the weather grew colder than normal, the apparel of the Timucua Indians changed.

• Timucuan people had a garment referred to as a matchcoat.
• Typically made of animal hide, the matchcoat was simply a wrap worn around the shoulders that covered the body.
• The term “coat” is misleading since there were no arms.
• In rainy weather, a matchcoat made of feathers could be worn; the natural oil of the feathers, which caused water to slick off of birds, would perform the same service for the wearer of the coat.

Timucuan Indian Hairstyles and Tattoos

No understanding of the Timucua Indians appearance would be complete without a look at hair styles and tattoos.

• Timucuan men and women both wore their hair long.
• Men wore their hair traditionally wrapped into a bun on the tops of their heads.
• Both genders were also usually tattooed; in fact, tattoos played an extensive and important part of Timucuan culture, so the number of tattoos they wore were sometimes surprising.
• The tradition was that a person earned tattoos by performing certain deeds.
• The process began while they were still children; as they began to grow up and take on more tasks, and have more experiences, they began to receive tattoos as a way to indicate their development.

Who Were the Timucua Indians

The Timucua Indians were a tribe located in the area of northern Florida and southern Georgia.

• The term is used to refer to a group of various specific tribes, with cultural differences between them.
• However, because they lived in the same general territory and spoke the same language, the tribes were grouped together as Timucuan.
• This was an external name not used by the Indians themselves.

No Timucua Indians Remain

Timucua Indians have been extinct since the 1700s, due to diseases and violence both brought in by European settlers. Timucuans who survived the invasions were largely absorbed into the culture of the Spanish people who eventually settled permanently into the area.

Timucuans were taught the Christian beliefs of the Spanish settlers, and by 1763 the remaining Timucuans were officially Catholics. When the Spanish left Florida for Cuba that year, the remaining Timucuans, having joined the Spanish culture, went with them.