A Mayan connection to Florida & Georgia Indians?

Mayan words in the Hitchiti Language & Mayan glyphs on Swift Creek pottery suggest ancient connections. By Gary C. Daniels, http://www.LostWorlds.org December 30, 2011 The Hitchiti language, one of many languages spoken by Creek Indians, was spoken in Georgia and Florida during the Colonial Period by tribes including the Hitchiti, Chiaha, Oconee, Sawokli, Apalachicola and Miccosukee. Based on the number of place names derived from the Hitchiti language, scholars believe this language was once spoken over a much larger area of Georgia and Florida than it was during colonial times.1 Curiously, the Hitchiti language appears to contain words of Mesoamerican origin. For instance, the Hitchiti word for house, chikee,2 is identical to the Totonac word for house: chiki.3 The Totonacs likely borrowed the word from their Maya neighbors where the word means woven basket/container. In fact, the Mayan word refers specifically to one type of basket, those made with split cane or similar woody material. Since Totonac homes consisted of a substructure of interwoven tree limbs and saplings with an overcoat of stucco-like clay (referred to as wattleand-daub construction), woven container is a fitting description for these homes. The Hitchiti chikee was a four post design with no exterior walls but instead used mats woven from split cane material to create partitions and blinds. Again, we see that woven container is an appropriate description of these homes as well. It should be noted that container was a common euphimism in Mayan for house. For instance, in the Mayan dialect of Chol otot is usually glossed as house but has been shown to have a wider range of meanings as container.4 Thus chiki as both container (basket) and house is consistent in Mayan. Chikee was the name of the summer house for Hitchiti-speaking tribes. They also had a winter house that had thick walls to better keep in heat. They called this house a tcokofa or hot house.5 In Mayan choko means hot. The word is still used in modern Muskogean and is chukopa which means warm place, where chuko means warm and pa means place. Other Mayan words also appear in Hitchiti dictionaries. Chi is the Hitchiti word for mouth. Chi also means mouth in the Itza dialect of the Mayan language. One of the Itzas most famous cities was Chichen Itza. Chichen is translated as mouth of the well with chi meaning mouth and chen meaning well. Chahni means well in Hitchiti thus chichahni would mean mouth of the well in that language. The next entry in the Itza Mayan dictionary after chi is chiaha-eh which translates as waters mouth or waters edge. Chiaha, sometimes also corrupted as Chehaw and Chiha,6 was a common town name among Hitchiti Creek Indians 7 whose villages were located beside rivers and streams. The earliest record of a town by this name appears in the journals of the De Soto

expedition who visited a town named Chiaha that was located on an island in the middle of a river.8 Thus edge water is an appropriate description of these villages. Interestingly, the area around Lake Okeechobee in south central Florida was known as Chia9 and the people who lived there were called the Mayaimi. One researcher theorized, based on absolutely no evidence, the word meant high place but due to its use for the area surrounding Lake Okeechobee it seems more likely a corrupted form of Chiaha, chi-ha, meaning edge water. In Hitchiti, Okeechobee means Big Water where oki means water and chobee means big. There was another word for big among the Creek Indians: lako. In Mayan, lakam means big, as in the Mayan name for Palenque, Lakamha which means Big Water. The ha suffix was a way in which the Mayan language denoted water. Similarly in Georgia and Florida there are many rivers and lakes with Hitchiti names that end in ha such as the Altamaha River in Georgia, Ocklawaha River and Lake Hatchineha in Florida. This suggests that they also used this suffix to denote water but only with further research can we be certain. The Mayan word for blood is chich. According to anthropologist and linguist John R. Swanton, the Natchez word for blood was icha which, although different from the usual Creek word, reappeared in Hitchiti as ichikchi10 . The Hitchiti dictionary lists pichikchi for blood. Yet it also lists the prefix pichi as to give thus it is likely pichikchi actually means to give blood and Swantons ichikchi is the correct word for blood in Hitchiti. The Hitchiti word bih means head-chief and the head chief was known as the Great Sun. Early eyewitness accounts of the Natchez noted that each morning the Great Sun would smoke a pipe and blow the smoke towards the sun (center) and then to the four directions.11 Thus we see that the Great Sun is associated with the five directions. Among the Maya the quincunx design consisting of five dots represented the four directions plus a center direction. In Mayan this design has the phonetic value bi or be.12 It is often integrated in the kin glyph which means sun. Thus, like the Maya, the Hitchiti word bih is associated with both the sun and four directions. The Hitchiti word for rattlesnake, chintmigun, translates literally as snake chief. Likewise, in many Mayan languages the word for rattlesnake is composed of the word for snake preceded by aha(w) (lord).13 So, although the actual words are not the same, the ideas are identical. There are also words of Mixe-Zoque origin in Hitchiti. For instance, the Hitchiti word for three, tuchini, is very similar to the Mixe word for three, toohk.14 The typical academic argument suggests these are just coincidences or at the very least very recent additions to the Hitchiti language during the colonial period. The argument goes that if they were truly ancient then they would have changed in the intervening years 15. Yet recent

linguistic research shows this is not the case. In fact, researchers showed that the frequency with which a word is used relates to how slowly it changes through time, so that the most common words tend to be the oldest ones.16 Chikee or house is certainly a very common word thus it could easily have survived the ravages of time unchanged. In fact, the word was already part of several place names when the first Spanish explorers entered the southeast in the early 1500s. The conquistador De Soto recorded a town named Cofachaqi and Cofitacheqi in his journals. Nearly five hundred years later the word is still in use among the Seminole and Miccosukee with zero change. Why do several seemingly Mayan words appear in the Hitchiti language? How many other such words are there? In his article, The Natchez, an offshoot of the civilized nations of Central America, famed early Mayan scholar, Dr. D. G. Brinton, noted over 100 words of Mayan origin.17 In his article Maya stock and Mexican languages, Carl Herman Berendt, acknowledged as undoubtedly the greatest scholar of the Mayan language,18 also compared Maya with Natchez. In Miscellanea Maya in the Berendt Linguistic Collection, No. 179, Berendt showed similarities between Natchez, Apalachee, and Mayan19. In his article, On the Language of the Natchez, Brinton later backtracked somewhat from this position and noted, It is very evident...that the Natche is a dialect of the Maskoke or Creek...with a small percentage of totally foreign roots.20 But then notes, The body of roots wholly dissimilar from any I have been able to find in the Chahta-Maskoke dialects, embraces a number of important words, and makes up a sufficiently large percentage of the language to testify positively to a potent foreign influence.21 He did not speculate as to whom this foreign influence might be but it seems reasonable to assume, based on his previous writings, that the Maya were one likely candidate. Brinton also noted that among the Natchez, the commoners spoke one language, referred to as the stinkard language, while the elites spoke another. As Brinton notes, The Natchez offered one of several examples among American Indians where in the same community two independent tongues were employed, one by the nobles, the conquerors, another by the vulgar, the conquered.22 Although, again, Brinton would later question the idea of two separate languages, the legends of several tribes suggested they were, in fact, ruled over by foreigners who lived atop the earthen pyramids scattered throughout the region. 23 These foreigners were always referred to as a priestly clan. Among the Cherokee they were known as the Ani-Kutani and among the Choctaw the Unkala. The Choctaw legends stated they controlled an important temple called the House of Warriors and chanted hymns in an unknown tongue.24 Some legends even noted that these foreigners came from the sea and maintained rule within a single family for thirteen generations before dying out.25 The Cherokee claimed to have massacred the foreigners who ruled over them.

Were these priests actually nobles of Maya descent ruling over local indigenous tribes? Does this explain why only certain Mayan words such as for blood, house, head chief, et cetera, showed up in the commoners language? Another clue that may help determine the most likely source of this foreign influence arises from symbols that appeared on pottery in Florida and Georgia around 200 AD. Known as Swift Creek pottery, these symbols were similar and, in some cases, identical to Mesoamerican symbols and Mayan glyphs. Mayan Glyphs on Swift Creek Pottery The arrival of corn in the Lake Okeechobee area of Florida by 200 AD coincides with a pottery tradition known as Swift Creek. In fact, this pottery tradition appears in the same places where the Hitchiti language is known to have been spoken thus the two are likely related. Researchers have long noted that many of the symbols found on Swift Creek pottery are similar to designs from Mexico. Although this similarity has been dismissed by mainstream scholars as coincidental26 , in light of all the preceding evidence it seems more likely that it is far from coincidental. For instance, a plumed serpent-like figure has been found on a Swift Creek pot that is similar to feathered or plumed serpent designs from Mexico27. Due to its duck bill-like face it has been conjectured that it represents the wind aspect of the plumed serpent known by the Aztecs as Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl. As noted by Susan Milbrath, in the Codex Borgia, Ehecatl-Quetzalcoat is the patron of the day Wind, the counterpart of [the Mayan] Ik.28 The plumed serpent in Mexico is also associated with Venus.

Swift Creek Coiled, crested serpent

Olmec plumed serpent

Other Swift Creek designs known as long-nose mask design,29 and unidentified creature are similar to various versions of the Mayan ek glyph which means star or Venus.

Swift Creek Long-nose Mask

Swift Creek Unidentified creature

Mayan ek glyph for star

Mayan ek glyph for star

Although we do not know the meaning of the symbols on the Swift Creek pots we can deduce that they also have a relationship to stars since both designs feature two iterations of a symbol which consists of concentric circles with a central dot that has been shown to represent stars on petroglyphs in Georgia.30 The fact that this Swift Creek design features two such star symbols may represent Venus as the Morning and Evening star. Another Swift Creek design known as mask like design with unusual mouth element appears to contain two other versions of the Mayan ek glyph both within a cartouche. The fact that the Swift Creek potters placed both symbols in a cartouche showed they believed these two symbols conveyed closely related or identical concepts. In Mayan, both of these symbols, the diamond and cross, are closely associated and used both separately and sometimes together to represent the Mayan word ek, star/Venus.

Swift Creek Another Mayan ek star/ Mayan ek glyph featuring Mayan Venus glyph diamond-cross Venus glyph that features diamond design featuring rounded-cross design both a cross and diamond design

Interestingly, these designs predate the Maya. The earliest examples show up on Olmec pottery.31 When contained within a cartouche they stand for the day sign Lamat32 on the Mayan calendar and often associated with Venus, the morning and evening star.

Olmec pottery sherd with diamond version of ek star glyph as well as flint eye

On the same Olmec pottery sherd can be found another glyph that looks like an eye and represents flint. The same symbol can be found on numerous Swift Creek pots. Throughout Mesoamerica flint was often portrayed with an eye or face.

Mesoamerican flint glyphs with various eye motifs

Swift Creek flint/eye Flint in Mesoamerican cultures is associated with the sun. Coincidentally, the Spanish friar Juan de Cordova recorded a very interesting Mayan story that relates flint with sunlight and an allseeing eye: On the day we call Tecpatl ( Flint ) a great light came from the northeastern sky. It glowed for four days in the sky, then lowered itself to that rock (the rock can still be seen at Tenochtitlan de Valle in Oaxaca ). From the light there came a great, a very powerful being who stood on the very top of the rock and glowed like the sun in the sky. There he stood for all to see, shining day and night. Then he spoke, his voice was like thunder, booming across the valley. Our old men and women, the astronomers and astrologists, could understand him and he could understand them. He (the Solar Beam) told us how to pray and fixed for us days of fast and feasting. He then balanced the Book of days, (Sacred Calendar) and left, vowing that he would always watch down on us, his beloved people.33 Thus the Swift Creek flint-eye is consistent with Mesoamerican beliefs. It should also be noted that Venus was also seen as a big eye in the sky. As Malbrath notes, the double-headed serpent on Linten 25 [at Yax-chilan] intertwines with a volute bearing a heavy-lidded eye framed by five radiating elements, a form of Venus symbol that may refer to Venus as the big eye.34 The Mayan glyph for sun is known as kin. It looks like a flower with four petals sometimes with a dot in the center of each petal. Swift Creek pots appear to also represent this glyph.

Swift Creek four-petal- Mayan four-petal-withw/-dots designs dots kin glyph

Mayan four-petal kin sun glyph

The design also includes the quincunx, five dot, design which in Mayan has the phonetic value bi or be.35 Among the Maya it represented the five directions: north, south, east, west and center. Interestingly, the Hitchiti word bih means head-chief and the head chief was known as the Great Sun. Early eyewitness accounts of the Natchez, noted that each morning the Great Sun would smoke a pipe and blow the smoke towards the sun (center) and then to the four directions.36 Thus we see that among the Hitchiti, like the Maya, bih is associated with both the sun and five directions. As Milbrath notes, the Mayan quincunx glyph (T585a) may represent a variant of the central Mexican Venus sign. It has considerable antiquity, having been found on an Olmec scorpion sculpture (Monument 43) from San Lorenzo dated before 900 B.C.37 and also had an association with Venus among the Maya. Interestingly, if the Swift Creek design is rotated 180 degrees it has a strong similarity to the Mayan/Aztec god Chac/Tlaloc who also is associated with Venus. (This will be discussed later.) Another Swift Creek design known as buzzards head looks remarkably similar to the Mayan Cimi glyph which is another calendar day sign and is associated with death and reincarnation. In fact, it is the thirteenth and final sign of the thirteen day period in the Maya Tzolkin calendar when the Trecena begins with jaguar.

Swift Creek buzzards head design

Cimi glyph for death & transformation

The one difference is the Swift Creek design appears reversed from the Mayan design. This could be the result of the stamping process used to create the image. The Swift Creek designs were first carved into a wooden paddle and then pressed or stamped into the side of the pot while still wet. This process results in a reversed image thus the image carved on the paddle would have appeared exactly as the cimi glyph above. Another Swift Creek design known as unidentified creature has been noted for its Olmec-style appearance38. It is very similar in design to the Olmec jaguar deity.

Swift Creek Olmec-style Olmec jaguar deity Ik glyph for wind/breath creature The face of the Swift Creek jaguar appears to also contain the Mayan T-shaped ik glyph for wind/breath/life. To the Maya, the Jaguars spotted skin represented the stars of the Milky Way galaxy. The Maya also used a jaguar glyph with a quincunx symbol on his head to represent the planet Venus. (See chart below.) Thus this appears to be another possible representation of Venus on Swift Creek pottery. Jaguar is also one of the thirteen day signs of the Trecena.

Mayan Venus glyphs. Notice the jaguar glyph in the center of second row.

Another jaguar design appears on another Swift Creek pot but when turned upside down turns into the head of a rattlesnake:

Swift Creek design looks like the triangular head of rattlesnake with forked tongue

Rotated 180 degrees design is similar to a jaguarlike Tlaloc. Tlaloc is associated with Venus, i.e., ek

Notice Tlaloc has the ek star glyph Tlaloc with snake-surrounding eyes similar to as his face plus jaguar fangs & a Swift Creek design above crown of circumpuncts

Interestingly, this combination of a snake and jaguar is consistent with Mesoamerican mythology. For instance, Matthew Stirling notes in his article Early history of the Olmec problem, a jaguar god who was...the forerunner of the important Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, [was] conceived of in one phase as a jaguar. Thunderbolts or stone axes,rained from heaven, were attributed to his activities. Saville speculated that the cleft in the forehead characteristic of these jaguar axes

was caused by the blow on the head received during his struggle with Quetzalcatl, at which time he was transformed into a jaguar. One thing Saville did not mention is that the fetish or distinguishing mark of Tezcatlipoca is the flint knife, a feature shown on many of the were-jaguar votive axes.39 The Swift Creek jaguar design includes a cleft-head and a flint knife nose and when rotated appears to be a rattlesnake head. Thus the Swift Creek design could have represented the struggle between Quetzalcoatl, the feathered rattlesnake, and Tezcatlipoca, represented as a jaguar. A Swift Creek design mentioned earlier, when turned upside-down, also appears to be a representation of Tlaloc:

Swift Creek four-petal- Same design rotated w/-dots designs looks like Tlaloc

Tlaloc w/ curved fangs and two circumpuncts on cheeks & five in headdress

Tlaloc was also a god of rain and thus fertility. Interestingly, the figure at left has the appearance of flowering plants but when rotated takes the appearance of Tlaloc which is consistent with these Mesoamerican associations. It should also be noted that Tlaloc is often represented in Mesoamerica wearing a headdress with circumpuncts in its headband. As noted previously, the circumpunct was likely a star symbol among the Hitchiti. The fact that Tlaloc had strong associations with Venus and wore a crown of circumpuncts suggests that the circumpunct was also a star symbol in Mesoamerica as well. (Interestingly, there are five circumpuncts in the headband at left. In Mesoamerica Venus was strongly associated with the numeral five which Milbrath refers to as the fiveness of Venus which she argued symbolized the Venus Almanac of five

Venus cycles correlating with eight solar years.40 This further supports the argument that the circumpunct was a star symbol in Mesoamerica.) The preceding myth about the battle between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca includes symbolism which is suggestive of a meteor storm. For instance, stone axes raining from heaven could represent meteorites which fell to earth. Tlaloc has other associations which are consistent with this interpretation. For instance, he is said to fall from the sky and bury himself in the earth just as a meteor creating an impact crater. Among Native Americans, jaguars/panthers were also associated with meteors and shooting stars. For instance, the Shawnee leader Tecumsehs name means Shooting Star or Panther Across the Sky and he received this name because of an especially bright and long-lasting greenish-white meteor that shot across the sky at his birth:41 As Pucksinwah stared at the sky on this night, he saw a huge meteor streak across from the north, leaving a trail of greenish-white flame. It lasted for fully 20 seconds and was unlike anything he had ever seen before. This was the Panther spirit that the old men sometimes spoke of, and a good sign indeed. As the women around the fire talked excitedly and pointed to the heavens, a baby's cry came from the shelter. Usually a child was not named for several days while the parents waited for a sign to indicate what the great spirit Moneto wished the child to be called, but this child must surely be named Tecumseh, "The Panther Passing Across" Shooting stars were viewed by many cultures, including Mesoamerican cultures, as the souls of the dead departing and/or returning to Earth. Another Swift Creek design is similar in design to the xochitl flower glyph from Mexico:

Swift Creek design w/ ying- One version of xochitl yang element flower glyph w/ yin-yang knot

Another xochitl glyph

The xochitl flower glyph was the last day sign in the Aztec calendar and represented both the flowering of life and the disappearance from existence42 . As noted above, the Mayan glyph for sun, kin, also was flower-shaped and likely represented similar concepts. Another Swift Creek design is similar to another flower glyph from Mexico, the water lily glyph. This glyph was used to represent the number 13 which was a very important number among the Maya used to represent the concept of completion. 43 The Maya included this glyph as a headdress on their Chac Serpent deity. (Chac was the Maya version of Tlaloc.) Thus we see the concepts of flowers, fertility, Tlaloc/Chac, stars/Venus, and completion are closely associated in Mesoamerica.

Chac serpent with waterlily headdress of Classic numeral thirteen head variant

Swift Creek design similar to waterlily headdress

The water lily seems closely associated with stars. The Lamat glyph sometimes represents a half star with a stylized water lily (Imix), resembling a variant of the star glyph known as T510e.44 The water lily serpent is also associated with IK 45, which in Mayan is associated with wind, breath, life, spirit.46 As noted by Milbrath, in the Codex Borgia, Ehecatl-Quetzalcoat is the patron of the day Wind, the counterpart of Ik. This suggests that God H, the Water-Lily Serpent and Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl are all related by an association with Venus and the wind.47 Flowers were also associated with stars in the secret language of the Itza Maya priesthood known as the language of Zuyva. For instance, in the sacred book Chilam Balam of Chumayel, a section called A Chapter of Questions and Answers includes question #8 which is large flower (of the night) with the answer star (in the sky).48 (This secret language is believed to be related to Mixe-Zoque which happens to be the language of the Olmecs. Were the Itza priests actually Olmec?)49

Flint represented not only the sun and all-seeing-eye but also duality. The flint blade could bring life (via surgery or food preparation) or death (via the warriors knife.)50 Likewise the Cimi glyph was another calendar day sign with a meaning associated with death and reincarnation. Interestingly, the Hitchiti word for star was owachiki which translates literally as soul house. Thus we see a clear connection between stars and the concept of death and reincarnation in both cultures. In fact, the Swift Creek xochitl (flower) and ek (star) designs look strikingly like a female womb with fallopian tubes giving birth to a shining star! Indigenous cultures throughout Latin America refer to a womans vagina as her flower because many flowers, especially orchids, greatly resemble a womans sex organs. Thus the symbolism between flower and rebirth is clear. A womans womb, as the center of creation of new life, becomes an earthly soul house at birth in the same way that a star becomes a celestial soul house at death. Or put another way, the dead are reborn as stars.

Swift Creek xochitl

Swift Creek ek

Diagram of a womans reproductive organs showing similarity between Swift Creek xochitl and ek designs.

Considering the fact that most scholars believe the potters in Swift Creek culture were women, it seems highly appropriate that they chose to represent the story of life, death, and afterlife with the female anatomy. Curiously Venus has a worldwide association with female sexuality: The planet was worshipped by all peoples and cultures of antiquity as the divinity of fertility, the goddess of war, beauty, and love. In its role as the goddess of war and fertility it is associated with the Morning star. In its role as the divinity of sexual love it is associated with the Evening star...In the West the planet Venus has always been linked to the female sex, women, in biology, botany, medicine, and other natural sciences.51 It should also be noted that in Mesoamerican beliefs, Venus/Tlaloc/Jaguar were all associated with rain52 and thus fertility. The Maya goddess Ix Chel, depicted as an aged woman with jaguar ears, was a goddess of fertility and medicine. Ix Chel was one of the most revered gods among the Chontal Maya, also known as the Poton Maya. They were master seafarers and the most likely candidates who could have reached Florida and Georgia during this time period. (This will be further discussed in the conclusion.) Thus it is possible that these glyphs represent aspects of an Ix Chel fertility cult in the Southeast. The association between Tlaloc/Chac, flint, fertility and rebirth can also be found in the Hero Twin myths. In both Mesoamerican and some North American versions, the second-born twin, representing the personified placenta or umbilical cord, sometimes has a flint association. Sometimes in Mesoamerica, the second-born hero twin is depicted as a flint or chipped-stone knife. In Post-Classic central Mexico, this human knife is shown as having anthropomorphic characteristics, including eyes and teeth. According to art historians Mary Miller and Karle Taube, Chac and Tlaloc, respectively the Maya and Central Mexican hurlers of thunderbolts, were thus the creators of these valued materials.53 Interestingly, all of these glyphs have something in common: they all are related to astronomy, the sun, stars, life, death, and rebirth. In addition, many of these Swift Creek designs contain prominent concentric circles with a central dot. This symbol is used by cultures worldwide as a symbol for the sun and stars. It is known that Native Americans used this symbol for the sun as well54 . The fact that so many of these Swift Creek symbols are similar in design to Mesoamerican symbols whose meanings are constrained within a small range of possibilities is strong proof that they are likely Mesoamerican in origin. If the designs were based on random chance, you would not expect to see such similarity in design with such closely correlated meanings. The fact that these symbols show clustering around such a narrow range of designs with similar meanings provides strong evidence that something more than chance is responsible for the similarities.

Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, the Swift Creek pottery tradition began around the same time that corn agriculture first showed up in the Lake Okeechobee area of Florida. The Swift Creek pottery tradition also occurred in the same area where the Hitchiti language is known to have been spoken. It is also the Hitchiti language which features apparent loan words from Mayan. Although most Creek Indians claim an origin from the west, the Hitchiti migration legend is quite different and appears to place them in the Lake Okeechobee area after having arrived on the Florida coast from a place of reeds: Their ancestors first appeared in the country by coming out of a canebrake or reed thicket near the sea coast. They sunned and dried their children during four days, then set out, arrived at a lake and stopped there. Some thought it was the sea, but it was a lake; they set out again, traveled up stream and settled there for a permanency.55 At the time this legend was recorded, the Hitchiti lived in Georgia. Following this legend in reverse, the only place south or down stream from Georgia with a lake large enough to be confused with the sea is Lake Okeechobee. The fact they arrived at the sea coast suggests they arrived in Florida by boat. More importantly, this legend states that the Hitchitis ancestors came out of a reed thicket. The actual Hitchiti word recorded in the legend is utski which translates literally as reeds. In the Mayan language, reeds or place of reeds is a metaphor for a large city. For instance, according to Mayan scholar Linda Schele in her book The Code of Kings, the Maya referred to the great Mesoamerican metropolis of Teotihuacan as Puh which means reeds.56 The great Toltec capital of Tula was also known as a place of reeds. Place of Reeds served as a metaphor relating the masses of reeds in a marsh to the masses of people in a metropolis thus a metropolis became a place of reeds. The Hitchiti migration legend reference to their ancestors coming from reeds suggests they were Maya who left a major city in Mexico and then arrived on the coast of Florida and temporarily settled near Lake Okeechobee before heading upstream and settling in Georgia for a permanency. Interestingly, the Itza Maya referred to their ancestors as Ah Puh which translates as Reed People. Could the Hitchiti be descendants of the Itza Maya? According to J. Eric Thompson in his book Maya History and Religion the Itza were a branch of the Poton Maya.57 He noted the Poton, who also called themselves the Yokotan, lived in a province named Acala. Interestingly, the first Spanish to visit Florida noted that a tribe named the Mayaimi lived around Lake Okeechobee. They also noted they visited a town in this area named Uqueten which was the southernmost village of a province named Ocale58, namesake of modern-day Ocala. They

also noted that after leaving a town named Ocale they visited one named Potano59. Since Native American towns were named after the people who lived there its safe to assume people named Uqueten and Potano lived in a province named Ocale in Florida just like the Poton/Yokotan Maya lived in a province named Acala in Mexico. As previously noted the Poton Maya were master seafarers, often referred to as the Chontal Maya, and the most likely candidate to have made the voyage to south central Florida around 200 A.D. Based on a magnificent wooden sculpture known as the Putun Maya Lord60 which dates to around 500 A.D. we know they were expert wood carvers. Researchers have noted that the intricate Swift Creek designs carved into wooden paddles show they were also expert wood carvers.61 Also as previously noted, one of the primary deities worshipped by the Poton Maya was Ix Chel, a goddess of fertility and medicine. Their other primary deity was Kukulkan, the plumed serpent. Thus if Poton Maya traders had significant contacts with an area one would expect to find representations of these two deities. As discussed earlier, both a plumed serpent and fertility symbols have been found among Swift Creek pottery designs. The Poton Maya (Chontal Maya) also claim to be descendants of the Olmec, 62 the mother culture of Mesoamerica. The aforementioned Poton Maya Lord wooden statue has definite Olmec features. This may also explain the appearance of the Olmecstyle jaguar glyph among Swift Creek designs. The preponderance of the evidence seems to indicate that the Poton/Itza Maya were the ancestors of the Hitchiti tribe. They arrived in Florida around 200 AD as indicated by the arrival of corn in Florida and Mayan glyphs on Swift Creek pottery. Massive earthen pyramids were also constructed at this time such as the Crystal River Mounds and Letchworth Mounds in Florida and the Mandeville site and Kolomoki Mounds in Georgia which is where much of this Swift Creek pottery has been found. It seems highly unlikely that all these correlations are coincidental.

1 Hitchiti. Wikipedia.org. Accessed online 11 August 2011 at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hitchiti>. 2 Williams, Mark. Hitchiti: An Early Georgia Language. LAMAR Institute: 1992. Accessed online 11 September 2010 at <http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Lamar/images/PDFs/ publication_21.pdf>. 3 AULEX- Online Spanish-Totnac Dictionary. Accessed online 11 September 2010 at <http:// aulex.org/es-top/?busca=casa&idioma=en>.
4

Hopkins, Nick. Follow up on Maya tobacco vessel. Aztlan Listserv. 11 January 2012. Accessed online at <http://old.nabble.com/Re%3A-Follow-up-on-Maya-tobacco-vessel-p33123645.html>.
5

Ethridge, Robbie Franklin. Creek country: the Creek Indians and their world. University of North Carolina Press. Accessed online 30 December 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=9M_0swrIHd0C&lpg=PT134&ots=jyIRvmxDFh&dq=tcokofa&pg=PT134#v=onepage&q=tcokofa&f=fals e>.
6

Mitchell, John. A map of the British and French dominions in North America, with the roads, distances, limits, and extent of the settlements / by Jno. Mitchell, d.f. with improvements. Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Accessed online 13 January 2012 at <http://hmap.libs.uga.edu/hmap/view? docId=hmap/hmap1755m5.xml;query=;brand=default>.
7

Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Smithsonian Institute. 1907: p. 258. Accessed online 30 December 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=VUYSAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA258&ots=iSaaQVBQxv&dq=chehaw %20chiaha&pg=PA258#v=onepage&q=chehaw%20chiaha&f=false>
8

Mooney, James. Cherokee Myths. Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Smithsonian Institution. 1897-98: Vol. 19, p. 194.

9 Carr, Robert S. Archaeological Investigations at the Ortona Earthworks and Mounds. The Florida Anthropologist. Florida Anthropological Society: p. 230. Accessed online 26 May 2011 at < http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00027829/00041/7j>.
10

Swanton, John R. Ethnological Position of the Natchez Indians. American Anthropologist. 1909, Volume 9, p. 520. Accessed online 30 December 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=_WVIAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA520&ots=cBQ6NY6Z_K&dq=natchez %20hitchiti&pg=PA520#v=onepage&q=natchez%20hitchiti&f=false>

11 Transactions of the Academy of Science of Saint Louis, Volume 5. P.77 Accessed online 7 Septermber 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books?id=9SQUAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA77>. 12 Stross, Brian. Some Observations on T585 (Quincunx) of the Maya Script. Anthropological Linguistics. Accessed online 7 September 2011 at <http://www.utexas.edu/ courses/stross/papers/quin.rtf>. 13 Stross, Brian. The Language of Zuyua. American Ethnologist, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 158. 14 Stross, Brian. The Language of Zuyua. American Ethnologist, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 157.

15 Hopkins, Nick. Re: [Aztlan] Another Hitchiti/Itza Maya language connection. Aztlan Listserv. FAMSI.org. Accessed online 19 August 2011 at < http://famsi.org/pipermail/aztlan/ 2009-August/006025.html>. 16 Oldest English words identified. BBC News. Accessed online 19 August 2011 at < http:// news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7911645.stm>.
17

Brinton, D. G. The Natchez, an Offshoot of the Civilized Nations of Central America. The Historical Magazine. Accessed online 30 December 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=zDpIAQAAIAAJ&lpg=PA16&ots=OnJp5lb8TJ&dq=brinton%20the%20natchez%20offshoot %20civilization%20nations%20of%20central%20america&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q=brinton%20the %20natchez%20offshoot%20civilization%20nations%20of%20central%20america&f=false>.
18

Tozzer, Alfred. A Maya Grammar: with bibliography and appraisement of the works noted. Accessed online 13 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=zmgTAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA146&ots=PpheYbQZpb&dq=Berendt %20mayan&pg=PA146#v=onepage&q=Berendt%20mayan&f=false>.
19 20

Berendt. Miscellanea Maya. Volume 3 of Linguistica Centro-Americana.

Brinton, D.G. On the Language of the Natchez. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Volume 13, p. 498. Accessed online 2 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=hccUAAAAYAAJ&vq=natchez&pg=PA498#v=snippet&q=natchez&f=false>.
21

Brinton, D.G. On the Language of the Natchez. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Volume 13, p. 498. Accessed online 2 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=hccUAAAAYAAJ&vq=natchez&pg=PA499#v=snippet&q=natchez&f=false>.
22

Brinton, D. G. The Natchez, an Offshoot of the Civilized Nations of Central America. The Historical Magazine. Accessed online 30 December 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=zDpIAQAAIAAJ&lpg=PA16&ots=OnJp5lb8TJ&dq=brinton%20the%20natchez%20offshoot %20civilization%20nations%20of%20central%20america&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q=brinton%20the %20natchez%20offshoot%20civilization%20nations%20of%20central%20america&f=false>.
23

Mooney, James. Massacre of the Ani-Kutani. Myths, legends, and sacred formulas of the Cherokee. Accessed online 10 September 2010 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=G9bnhN6iDL4C&lpg=PP1&dq=james%20mooney&pg=RA1-PA392#v=onepage&q=ani&f=false>
24

Gatschet, Albert Samuel. A migration legend of the Creek Indians. pp. 105-106. Accessed online 14 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=ZacTAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA106&ots=vVD0tZOSCn&dq=choctaw %20unkala&pg=PA105#v=onepage&q=choctaw%20unkala&f=false>.
25

Browne, William Hande. Maryland: the history of a palatinate. p.106. Accessed online at <http:// books.google.com/books?id=1kkIAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA106&ots=vjgu5RU-to&dq=Patowmecks%20thirteen %20generations%20without%20interruption%20from%20the%20eastern %20shore&pg=PA106#v=onepage&q=Patowmecks%20thirteen%20generations%20without %20interruption%20from%20the%20eastern%20shore&f=false>.

26 Snow, Frankie. Swift Creek design investigations: the Hartford Case. A World Engraved: Archaeology of the Swift Creek Culture. University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, AL. p.98
27

Smith, David. Quetzalcoatl- The Plumed Serpent. Atlanta Antiquity, September 2009. Accessed online 15 August 2011 at <http://thesga.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/09.09_GAAS_newsletter.pdf>.

28

Milbrath, Susan. Star gods of the Maya: astronomy in art, folklore, and calendars. Accessed online 3 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=DgqLplWtGPgC&lpg=PA192&dq=ik'%20glyph&pg=PA178#v=onepage&q=ik'%20glyph&f=false>.

29 Snow, Frankie. Swift Creek design investigations: the Hartford Case. A World Engraved: Archaeology of the Swift Creek Culture. University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, AL. p.81
30

Daniels, Gary C. Possible astronomical symbols on the Sculptured rock from Forsyth County, Georgia. LostWorlds.org. Accessed online 2 January 2012 at <http://www.scribd.com/doc/52788845>.

31 Jenkins, John Major. The Watershed: Olmec Antecedents. Alignment2012.com Accessed online 15 August 2011 at < http://alignment2012.com/waters.htm>. 32 Montgomery, John. EK & Lamat. Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs. Accessed online 15 August 2011 at < http://research.famsi.org/montgomery_dictionary/mt_entry.php?tnum=t510>. 33 Tzolkin Trecena Notes- 1 Flint (Etznab). MayanMajix.com. Accessed online 15 August 2011 at < http://www.mayanmajix.com/13day_flint_10.html>.
34

Malbrath, Susan. Star gods of the Maya: astronomy in art, folklore, and calendars. p. 197. Accessed online 3 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=DgqLplWtGPgC&lpg=PA192&dq=ik'%20glyph&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q=ik'%20glyph%20venus %20eye&f=false>.

35 Stross, Brian. Some Observations on T585 (Quincunx) of the Maya Script. Anthropological Linguistics. Accessed online 7 September 2011 at <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/ quin.rtf>. 36 Transactions of the Academy of Science of Saint Louis, Volume 5. P.77 Accessed online 7 Septermber 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books?id=9SQUAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA77>.
37

Milbrath, Susan. Star gods of the Maya: astronomy in art, folklore, and calendars. p. 187. Accessed online 3 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=DgqLplWtGPgC&lpg=PA192&dq=ik'%20glyph&pg=PA187#v=onepage&q=ik'%20glyph&f=false>.

38 Snow, Frankie. Swift Creek Design Investigations: The Hartford Case. A World Engraved: Archaeology of the Swift Creek Culture. p. 65 Accessed online 7 September 2011 at <http:// books.google.com/books?id=Rmsg97ixVTgC&lpg=PA65&vq=olmec&dq=a%20world %20engraved&pg=PA61#v=snippet&q=olmec&f=false>. 39 Stirling, Matthew W. Early history of the olmec problem. Dumbarton Oaks Conference on the Olmecs. Accessed online 21 August 2011 at < http://docs.google.com/viewer? a=v&q=cache:DTyOS-mE970J:www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/ Olmec.pdf>.
40

Milbrath, Susan. Star gods of the Maya: astronomy in art, folklore, and calendars. p. 187. Accessed online 3 April 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=DgqLplWtGPgC&lpg=PA190&ots=Dp7jeVL3Jb&dq=veness%20of %20venus&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q=veness%20of%20venus&f=false>.

41 Tecumseh. Wikipedia.org. Accessed online 16 August 2011 at < http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Tecumseh>. 42 Day 20. Xochitl (Flower). Samaelgnosis.us. Accessed online 15 August 2011 at < http:// www.samaelgnosis.us/aztec_calendar/day_20_xochitl_flower.html>.
43

Barnhart, Ed. Mayan Long Count. Mayan-Calendar.com. Accessed online 15 August 2011 at <http:// www.mayan-calendar.com/ancient_longcount.html>.

44 Milbrath, Susan. Star gods of the Maya: astronomy in art, folklore, and calendars. P.187. Accessed online 4 September 2011 at < http://books.google.com/books? id=DgqLplWtGPgC&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&dq=maya+water+lily+ek +glyph&source=bl&ots=Dp5lbUP1Ne&sig=0FOWTN12R1GLSN7k5pllHbqt92M&hl=en&ei= NdxjTq_4PIW3twf9lcCJCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEw AA#v=onepage&q=maya%20water%20lily%20ek%20glyph&f=false>. 45 Taube, Karl A. The major gods of ancient Yucatan. P.59 46 Stross, Brian. Some observations on T585 (Quincunx) of the Maya Script. Anthropological Linguistics. Vol. 28, No. 3, pp.283-311. Accessed online 7 September 2011 at <http:// www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/quin.rtf>.
47

Milbrath, Susan. Star gods of the Maya: astronomy in art, folklore, and calendars. pp. 179-180. Accessed online 3 January 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=DgqLplWtGPgC&lpg=PA192&dq=ik'%20glyph&pg=PA178#v=onepage&q=ik'%20glyph&f=false>.

48 Stross, Brian. The Language of Zuyua. American Ethnologist, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 154. 49 Stross, Brian. The Language of Zuyua. American Ethnologist, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 157. 50 Tzolkin Trecena Notes- 1 Flint (Etznab). MayanMajix.com. Accessed online 15 August 2011 at < http://www.mayanmajix.com/13day_flint_10.html>.
51

Symbol 41a:7. Symbols.com. Accessed online 3 April 2012 at <http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/ 41a/41a7.html>.

52 Pasztory, Esther. Iconography of the Teotihuacan Tlaloc. Accessed online 21 August 2011 at < http://books.google.com/books?id=L0QClI2QOwQC&lpg=PA19&ots=qMu-9sDote&dq=tlaloc %20water%20lily&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q=tlaloc%20water%20lily&f=false>. 53 Pauketat, Timothy R. Cahokia: ancient Americas great 54 Snow, Frankie. A World Engraved: Archaeology of the Swift Creek Culture. University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, AL.
55

Grantham, Bill. Creation Myths and Legends of the Creek Indians. p.136. Accessed online 21 August 2011 at <http://books.google.com/books?id=OENl21sHqyIC&lpg=PA136&vq=hitchiti%20utski&dq=creek %20migration%20legends&pg=PA136#v=snippet&q=hitchiti%20utski&f=false>.
56

Schele, Linda; and Peter Mathews (1998). The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs. New York: Scribner.

57

Thompson, J. E. S. Putun (Chontal Maya) Expansion in Yucatan and the Pasion Drainage. Maya History and Religion. p.3. Accessed online 3 April 2012 at <http://books.google.com/books? id=U3Ia3z4R7hIC&lpg=PA10&vq=itza%20putun&dq=maya%20history%20and %20religion&pg=PA3#v=snippet&q=itza%20putun&f=false>.
58

Knight, Vernon J. The De Soto Chronicles. p.261. Accessed online 3 April 2012 at <http:// books.google.com/books?id=WCPkAV8a2B0C&lpg=PA499&vq=uqueten&dq=de%20soto %20chronicles&pg=PA261#v=snippet&q=uqueten&f=false>.
59

Knight, Vernon J. The De Soto Chronicles. p.262. Accessed online 3 April 2012 at <http:// books.google.com/books?id=WCPkAV8a2B0C&lpg=PA189&vq=potano&dq=de%20soto %20chronicles&pg=PA262#v=snippet&q=potano&f=false>.
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Short, Sue. Supplementary Materials: Maya Wood Sculpture. Maya Art, Architecture and Culture. School of Visual Arts. Accessed online 3 April 2012 at <http://www.shortstreet.net/Maya/ mayawoodsculpt.htm>.
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Williams, Mark and Daniel T. Elliott. Swift Creek Research: History and Observations. A World Engraved: Archaeology of the Swift Creek Culture. p.10. Accessed online 3 April 2012 at <http:// books.google.com/books?id=Rmsg97ixVTgC&lpg=PA10&vq=wood%20carver&dq=a%20world %20engraved&pg=PA10#v=snippet&q=wood%20carver&f=false>.
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Chontal Maya people. Wikipedia.org. Accessed online 5 April 2012 at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Chontal_Maya_people>.