Notes from our October 17 talk in Philippe Park

Last Thursday, Laura and I were asked to speak to a continuing education class from Eckerd College in and about Philippe Park. Philippe Park is one of my favorite places in Safety Harbor—I go jogging there a few times a week—and the number of historic events that have occurred through the centuries on this small strip of land is really astounding. To summarize: About a thousand years ago, a group of indigenous people first established a permanent settlement there, relying on the abundant sea life of the bay for sustenance and the nearby springs for a source of fresh water. In the sixteenth century, Spanish explorers and missionaries came to the area, interacting with the descendants of those early Floridians while searching for riches and a waterway to the Atlantic coast. Later, in the mid-nineteenth century, pioneer Odet Philippe chose this spot to establish his homestead and plantation, eventually leading to the development of Florida’s citrus industry. In the twentieth century, lengthy excavations of the remains of the Tocobaga village in the park led to many discoveries about the culture shared by the early communities scattered around the Tampa Bay region, a society that is now known as the “Safety Harbor culture” in recognition of this extensive site. We only had an hour for this discussion, but I could talk all day about this place!

During our talk, we were asked whether the village here was always called Tocobaga. This is a great question. In truth, we know very little about the society that existed here, because they didn’t leave a written record of their history or day-to-day lives. Archaeologists have been able to piece together some details from what has been found during their excavations, but those details are mostly limited to the Tocobaga diet, their size (from skeletal remains), their pottery and tools, and their burial customs. The Spanish explorers and missionaries who visited the area in the mid-sixteenth century wrote something about the people they encountered here, but unfortunately their descriptions were brief and did not include much detail. The Spanish weren’t trained anthropologists, and they didn’t make much effort to describe the people or cultures they encountered during their expeditions. We don’t know, for instance, what sort of clothes the Tocobaga wore, or how they interacted with their children, and only have short anecdotal accounts of what their homes looked like.

There were also cultural differences between the Tocobaga and the Spanish, and this really shows with regard to the naming conventions. The native cultures here don’t seem to have had the same interest in giving everything their own names as the Europeans did. To them, things didn’t have to have their own names; everything just was. So when the Spanish tried to extract factual information from the local peoples, the likely result was almost comical. What was the name of their leader? “Tocobaga.” What was the name of their society? “Tocobaga.” What was the name of their village? “Tocobaga.” As far as researchers can tell, to the local people, all these things seem to have been one and the same—or at least were referred to by the same name.

What could be better than a morning in Philippe Park in the fall?

So, to answer the question: We really don’t know if the village was always called Tocobaga. We can’t even say for sure if the indigenous people used the word “Tocobaga” to refer to their village. Perhaps “Tocobaga” was simply the name of their chief, and that they had a custom of identifying themselves by the name of their leader during each generation. It’s also possible that “Tocobaga” was the name of a venerated previous leader, and that every subsequent chief would assume that name upon becoming their ruler. There really is no way to know for certain. All we have is a single snapshot of time from when Pedro Menendez visited Tampa Bay in 1567, which is the first known mention of the Tocobaga people. Previous expeditions may have also encountered the Tocobaga people, but they weren’t identified by this particular name in any surviving Spanish documents. Thus, we can only say with certainty that this was the name that the local people ascribed to themselves at this particular point in their history. After the 1560s, there appear to have been no formal attempts by Europeans to contact the Tocobaga around Tampa Bay. In 1677, a Tocobaga settlement was discovered near Tallahassee, but it is unclear whether these people self-identified themselves as Tocobaga (and if so, why) or whether they were classified as Tocobaga by the Spanish who encountered them there.

One of my biggest frustrations while conducting research on the history of Safety Harbor is that we know so little about the Tocobaga people. We just have little bits and pieces, and the most visible reminders of their society--large, plain, earthen mounds covered by vegetation--don’t provide a good picture of the scope and breadth of their communities, of what they may have been like as people, how they interacted with each other and what they did for entertainment. Perhaps someday future archaeological discoveries will shed more light on what must have once been a vibrant culture. I will keep hoping.

Laura, Warren, and the group from Eckerd College

In the meantime, if you are part of a group that is interested in a talk and short history tour of Philippe Park, please contact us through this website, and we’ll see if we can set something up for you.