Fort Center-500–1700 · Mayaimi (Belle Glade culture)Mayaimi (Belle Glade culture). ceremonial center. Earthworks and a charnel pond on Fisheating Creek by Lake Okeechobee (Mayaimi, 'big water,' the name Miami comes from); carved wooden birds and panthers. Also called: Mayaimi.William Sears, Fort Center (1982); https://www.floridastateparks.org/
Tequesta-500–1763 · TequestaTequesta. town. Town at the Miami River mouth for two thousand years; the Miami Circle (found 1998) is a structure footprint cut into bedrock; Spanish mission 1567; last Tequesta leave for Cuba in 1763. Also called: Miami Circle; mouth of the Miami River.https://www.historymiami.org/miami-circle/
Nanih Waiya0–2026 · ChoctawChoctaw. mother mound / origin site. The Choctaw origin mound and cave; returned to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians by the state in 2008. Also called: Mother Mound.https://www.choctaw.org/
Kolomoki350–750 · Woodland (Swift Creek / Weeden Island)Woodland (Swift Creek / Weeden Island). mound center. Nine mounds including a 56-ft platform; one of the largest Woodland sites in the Southeast, centuries before Cahokia. Also called: Kolomoki Mounds.https://gastateparks.org/KolomokiMounds
Spiro800–1450 · Caddoan Mississippian (ancestral Caddo and Wichita)Caddoan Mississippian (ancestral Caddo and Wichita). ceremonial center. The Craig Mound's Great Mortuary held the largest cache of engraved shell, copper and textiles in North America, looted 1933–35; Spiro traded from the Gulf to the Rockies. Also called: Spiro Mounds.https://www.okhistory.org/sites/spiromounds
Kituwa900–1838 · Cherokee (Ani-Kituhwagi)Cherokee (Ani-Kituhwagi). mother town. The Cherokee mother town on the Tuckasegee; its mound held the sacred fire; reacquired by the Eastern Band in 1996. Also called: Kituhwa; Mother Town.https://ebci.com/
Ocmulgee900–1715 · Mississippian; Muscogee (Creek) by their own traditionMississippian; Muscogee (Creek) by their own tradition. mound center / sacred ground. Earth lodge with a 1,000-year-old clay floor; the Muscogee name it a mother ground; Ocmulgee Old Fields trading post 1690–1715. National Historical Park 2019. Also called: Ocmulgee Mounds; Ichisi; Macon Plateau.https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/
Tocobaga900–1700 · Tocobaga (Safety Harbor culture)Tocobaga (Safety Harbor culture). capital. Principal town of the Tocobaga chiefdom on Old Tampa Bay; Menéndez de Avilés leaves a 30-man garrison in 1567, found dead in 1568; the chiefdom fades from record after 1718. Also called: Safety Harbor site.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocobaga
Etowah1000–1550 · South Appalachian Mississippian (ancestral Muscogee)South Appalachian Mississippian (ancestral Muscogee). city. Three large mounds, a 63-ft temple mound, the marble Etowah statues; visited by de Soto's army in 1540 as 'Itaba.' Also called: Etowah Indian Mounds; Itaba.https://www.worldhistory.org/Etowah_Mounds/
Cahokia1050–1350 · Mississippian (ancestral to Osage, Quapaw, Dhegiha and others; claimed by many)Mississippian (ancestral to Osage, Quapaw, Dhegiha and others; claimed by many). city. Largest city north of Mexico before 1800: about 120 mounds, a 50-acre plaza, Monks Mound at 100 ft, a population of 10,000–20,000 at peak, a woodhenge solar calendar. UNESCO site. Also called: Cahokia Mounds; Monkhttps://cahokiamounds.org/
Moundville1120–1650 · Mississippian (ancestral Choctaw and Chickasaw by tradition)Mississippian (ancestral Choctaw and Chickasaw by tradition). city. 29 mounds around a 185-acre plaza on the Black Warrior River; second-largest Mississippian center; engraved palettes and the hand-and-eye motif. Also called: Moundville Archaeological Park.https://moundville.museums.ua.edu/
Werowocomoco1200–1609 · Powhatan (Tsenacomoco)Powhatan (Tsenacomoco). capital. Capital of the Powhatan paramount chiefdom, seat of Wahunsenacawh; where John Smith was brought in 1607; identified 2003, now NPS land. Also called: Purtan Bay, York River.https://www.nps.gov/places/werowocomoco.htm
Cofitachequi1300–1670 · Cofitachequi (ancestral Catawba / Mississippian)Cofitachequi (ancestral Catawba / Mississippian). capital. The 'Lady of Cofitachequi' receives de Soto in May 1540 with pearls and a litter; Pardo 1567; last mentioned 1670. Center of the Wateree chiefdom. Also called: Mulberry site, Camden SC.Charles Hudson, Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun (1997); SC Encyclopedia
Coosa1400–1600 · Coosa paramount chiefdom (ancestral Muscogee)Coosa paramount chiefdom (ancestral Muscogee). capital. Paramount chiefdom spanning Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama; de Soto 1540, Luna 1560; the site is under Carters Lake since 1977. Also called: Carters Lake / Little Egypt site.Marvin Smith, Coosa: The Rise and Fall of a Southeastern Mississippian Chiefdom (2000)
Joara1400–1568 · Joara (ancestral Catawba)Joara (ancestral Catawba). town. Chief town where Juan Pardo builds Fort San Juan in 1567, the first European fort in the interior; burned by the Joara in 1568. Also called: Berry site; Fort San Juan, Morganton NC.Robin Beck, Fort San Juan and the Limits of Empire (2016); https://www.exploringjoara.org/
Mocoço1400–1600 · Mocoço (Safety Harbor; possibly Timucua-speaking)Mocoço (Safety Harbor; possibly Timucua-speaking). town. Town east of Tampa Bay (Alafia or Little Manatee River) whose chief sheltered Juan Ortiz, the Spaniard held eleven years, before de Soto; subject to Urriparacoxi. Also called: Mocoso.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocobaga
Uzita1400–1600 · Uzita (Safety Harbor culture)Uzita (Safety Harbor culture). town. Town occupied by de Soto's army after the 1539 landing on the south shore of Tampa Bay; its chief's village became the expedition's base. Landing site is argued (Milanich: Pinellas). Also called: Ucita; Terra Ceia (Madira Bickel Mound).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocobaga
Anhaica1500–1704 · ApalacheeApalachee. capital. Apalachee capital where de Soto's army wintered 1539–40 (the Martin site, found 1987); the Spanish mission San Luis de Talimali is founded beside it in 1656. Also called: Martin site; Tallahassee.Florida Division of Historical Resources, Governor Martin site; https://www.missionsanluis.org/
Croatoan1500–1720 · Croatoan / HatterasCroatoan / Hatteras. town. Manteo's town; the word carved at Roanoke in 1590; Lawson in 1709 meets Hatteras people claiming English ancestors. Link to the Lumbee is argued. Also called: Hatteras Island.John Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina (1709); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatan . Disputed: Lumbee descent from Croatoan
Kiawah / Cusabo towns1500–1720 · Cusabo (Kiawah, Etiwan, Stono, Edisto)Cusabo (Kiawah, Etiwan, Stono, Edisto). towns. The Kiawah cacique invites the English to found Charles Town in 1670; Cusabo lands are taken by 1720, and the Stono people's name survives on the river where the 1739 rising began. Also called: Charleston harbor.Gene Waddell, Indians of the South Carolina Lowcountry (1980)
Potano1500–1706 · Timucua (Potano)Timucua (Potano). chiefdom seat. Potano chiefdom around present Gainesville; de Soto passes 1539; Spanish missions from 1606; destroyed in the 1702–06 Carolina raids; the Alachua savanna later becomes Seminole Cuscowilla. Also called: Gainesville / Alachua.Jerald Milanich, The Timucua (1996); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potano
Saturiwa1500–1600 · Timucua (Saturiwa chiefdom)Timucua (Saturiwa chiefdom). chiefdom seat. Chief Saturiwa hosts the French at Fort Caroline in 1564; Le Moyne's drawings and Laudonnière's account record the towns and the Timucua war with Utina. Also called: Fort Caroline area; Jacksonville.https://www.nps.gov/timu/
Catawba town1540–2026 · Catawba (Iswa)Catawba (Iswa). capital. Catawba Nation seat on the Catawba River; absorbed Cheraw, Waxhaw, Sugeree and others after 1715; the only federally recognized tribe in SC (1993). Also called: Nassaw; Catawba Nation, Rock Hill SC.https://www.catawbaindian.net/
Mabila1540 · Tascalusa's chiefdom (ancestral Choctaw/Muscogee)Tascalusa's chiefdom (ancestral Choctaw/Muscogee). town. Battle of Oct 18, 1540: Tascalusa's warriors fight de Soto's army inside the palisaded town; the Spanish burn it with 2,500 or more inside. The nation's name survives: the French name Mobile Bay and River for the Mobilians (Mauvila) in 1702. Thttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mobile,_Alabama
Santa Catalina de Guale1587–1680 · GualeGuale. mission town / capital. Chief town of the Guale and northernmost Spanish mission, excavated by the American Museum of Natural History since 1974; abandoned 1680 under Carolina and Westo pressure. Also called: St. Catherines Island.David Hurst Thomas, St. Catherines: An Island in Time (1988); https://www.amnh.org/
Accomac (Gingaskin) town1600–1813 · Accomac / GingaskinAccomac / Gingaskin. town / reservation. Eastern Shore town patented 1,500 acres in 1641, 650 in 1680; trustees 1792; allotted and dissolved by the Virginia Assembly in 1813, the first reservation termination in U.S. history. Also called: Gingaskin Reservation; Indiantown, Northampton County.https://uncommonwealth.lva.virginia.gov/blog/2011/11/16/the-gingaskins-of-virginia
Cheraw town1600–1750 · Cheraw (Saura)Cheraw (Saura). town. Cheraw towns on the Pee Dee, then Drowning Creek (Lumber River) by 1737, where a 'mixt crew' of Cheraw and others are reported in 1754; the ground the Lumbee rise from. Also called: Saura; Cheraw SC / Drowning Creek.Lumbee Tribe history, https://www.lumbeetribe.com/history
Nansemond town1600–2026 · NansemondNansemond. town. Nansemond towns on the Nansemond River at the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp; the English burn them in 1608 and 1622; Nansemond federally recognized 2018. Also called: Chuckatuck / Suffolk.https://nansemond.org/
Occohannock1600–1700 · OccohannockOccohannock. chiefdom seat. Chief town of the Occohannock, the northern Eastern Shore chiefdom under Debedeavon ('the Laughing King'); land patents to English begin 1640s; people absorbed into Gingaskin and Pocomoke by 1700. Also called: Onancock area, Accomack County.Rountree and Davidson, Eastern Shore Indians of Virginia and Maryland (1997)
Pamunkey town1600–2026 · PamunkeyPamunkey. town / reservation. Oldest reservation in the U.S. (1646/1677 treaties); seat of Cockacoeske, signer of the 1677 Treaty of Middle Plantation; federally recognized 2015. Also called: Pamunkey Reservation.https://pamunkey.org/
Pohoy1600–1740 · PohoyPohoy. chiefdom seat. Chiefdom on the east and south shores of Tampa Bay; Spanish 1612 expedition kills the Pohoy and Tocobaga chiefs; Pohoy dominate the bay into the 1700s, then vanish from record. Also called: Pooy; Posoy.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohoy
Tuckabatchee1600–1836 · Muscogee (Upper Creek); Tukvpvcke tvlwvMuscogee (Upper Creek); Tukvpvcke tvlwv. capital. Upper Creek capital on the Tallapoosa; keeper of the sacred brass plates; Tecumseh speaks here in 1811; the National Council meets here. Also called: Tukabatchee.https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/tuckabatchee/
Ayubale1640–1704 · ApalacheeApalachee. mission town. Site of the Jan 25, 1704 battle: Col. James Moore's Carolina force and Creek allies take the mission; hundreds of Apalachee are killed or marched to Carolina as captives. Also called: Mission La Concepción de Ayubale.Hann (1988); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apalachee_massacre
Chickasaw Old Fields1650–1837 · ChickasawChickasaw. capital region. Chickasaw homeland towns around present Tupelo; defeated the French at Ackia in 1736; removed 1837. Also called: Chokkilissa'; Tupelo.https://www.chickasaw.net/
San Luis de Talimali1656–1704 · Apalachee (with Spanish mission and garrison)Apalachee (with Spanish mission and garrison). capital / mission. Western capital of Spanish Florida and seat of the Apalachee paramount chief; 1,400 residents; council house 120 ft across; burned by the Apalachee themselves in 1704 ahead of Moore's Carolina raid. Also called: Mission San Luis.https://www.missionsanluis.org/
Pocotaligo1685–1715 · YamaseeYamasee. capital. Yamasee chief town in the Beaufort lowcountry; the Yamasee War opens here on April 15, 1715 with the killing of Carolina's Indian agents; the Yamasee then move to St. Augustine. Also called: Yamasee principal town.William Ramsey, The Yamasee War (2008); https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/yamasee-war/
Coweta1690–1826 · Muscogee (Lower Creek); Coweta tvlwvMuscogee (Lower Creek); Coweta tvlwv. capital (war town). Mother war town of the Lower Creeks on the Chattahoochee; seat of Brims, then of William McIntosh, who signed the 1825 Indian Springs cession and was executed for it. Also called: Kawita.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coweta_(tribal_town)
Kasihta1690–1836 · Muscogee (Lower Creek); Kasihta tvlwvMuscogee (Lower Creek); Kasihta tvlwv. capital (peace town). Peace town paired with Coweta; the Kasihta migration legend recorded in 1735 (Chekilli) is the oldest Muscogee origin text written down. Also called: Cusseta.Chekilli's migration legend, 1735, Georgia Colonial Records; Swanton, Early History of the Creek Indians (1922)
Catechna / Fort Neoheroka1700–1713 · TuscaroraTuscarora. capital / fort. Chief Hancock's town where the Tuscarora War opens in 1711; Fort Neoheroka falls March 1713 to Moore's Carolina force with ~400 Tuscarora sold as captives; survivors go north to the Haudenosaunee. Also called: Contentnea Creek, Snow Hill NC.https://www.ncpedia.org/tuscarora-war
Chota1700–1788 · Cherokee (Overhill)Cherokee (Overhill). capital. Overhill Cherokee capital and 'beloved town' of peace on the Little Tennessee; seat of Attakullakulla; under Tellico Lake since 1979. Also called: Chote; Itsati.Tennessee Encyclopedia, https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/chota/
Drowning Creek settlements1750–2026 · Lumbee (Cheraw and others, by their own account)Lumbee (Cheraw and others, by their own account). town / homeland. Families later known as Lumbee appear in Bladen and Robeson records from the 1750s; listed 'free persons of color' in 1790; recognized by NC 1885 as 'Croatan'; federal recognition act passed by the House repeatedly, pending. Also calhttps://www.lumbeetribe.com/history
Cuscowilla1760–1830 · Seminole (Alachua band under Cowkeeper, then Payne and Micanopy)Seminole (Alachua band under Cowkeeper, then Payne and Micanopy). capital. Seminole town on the Alachua savanna described by William Bartram in 1774; Bartram notes its Black residents; the town moves to Payne's Town, then Okahumpka. Also called: Alachua; Micanopy.William Bartram, Travels (1791); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuscowilla
Pilaklikaha1813–1836 · Black Seminole (allied with Micanopy's Seminoles)Black Seminole (allied with Micanopy's Seminoles). town. Largest Black Seminole town in Florida, home of Abraham, Micanopy's interpreter and counselor; 100+ residents, cattle and fields; burned by Gen. Eustis's army March 31, 1836. Also called: Peliklakaha; Abraham's Town.Kenneth Porter, The Black Seminoles (1996); Terrance Weik, archaeology of Pilaklikaha (2002), https://www.jstor.org/
Prospect Bluff1814–1816 · Red Stick Creek, Seminole, Choctaw and Black (Colonial Marine) garrisonRed Stick Creek, Seminole, Choctaw and Black (Colonial Marine) garrison. fort / town. British post built 1814 on Apalachee ground; after the British leave in 1815 it is held by about 300 Black and Indigenous people under Garçon; U.S. gunboats blow its magazine July 27, 1816, killing most inside. Alshttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/prospect-bluff.htm
Minatti1821–1836 · Red Stick Creek and Black refugeesRed Stick Creek and Black refugees. town. Refugee town at the Peace River headwaters formed by survivors of Angola and Lower Creek refugees after 1821. Also called: Lake Hancock.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angola,_Florida
New Echota1825–1838 · Cherokee NationCherokee Nation. capital. Capital of the constitutional Cherokee Nation, with the Phoenix press and the Supreme Court; the unauthorized 1835 treaty is signed here; abandoned on removal in 1838. Also called: Gansagi.https://gastateparks.org/NewEchota