The Mayans are native to the Yucatan which is a short distance from Cuba which in turn is very close to Florida. My question is, would one of the Mayan tribes have canoes capable of making it to Cuba then Florida and what would be the difficulties they would have in the trip? How would they have dealt with the Cuban Arawak and Floridian Calusa/Tequesta?
Mayans in Florida
- Thread starter Prism
- Start date
They theoretically could have, but why would they want too? Not much out there but swamps and sand.
Dirk
Banned
I can vouch for this. I think they'd be more intent on expanding their hold on the Yucatan and surrounding areas, or at most some Caribbean islands. At the very best they would have peaceful trading relations with the peoples of Cuba and Florida, but even then I imagine that the trip across the water is too much of a hassle.
Cuāuhtemōc
Banned
Florida's too far I think for the Mayans though I do believe that there did exist some form of trade network from the Yucatan to the Florida with the Taino serving as exchanging goods between the two places. A good POD to have a permanent Maya presence in the Caribbean might require a point of divergence in the Classic Maya collapse. Perhaps political or religious exiles would escape and build a new settlement in eastern Cuba? More follow?
That sounds like a good idea. As for Florida being too swampy, the southern parts of Florida are tropical especially around the Keys area. And the Yucatan has a similar climate to Cuba and south Florida. What I'm wondering is since there's so many Mayan tribes is if there would be some reason for them to branch out or at least establish trade.
The Chontal (or Putun) Maya were the great seaborne merchants of the Late Classic and Post-Classic eras. They were apparently plying their trade by at least the 9th century AD. Through them, Chichen Itza traded with Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. They seem to have been quite capable of making it to Cuba.
There is certainly evidence that someone was trading at least intermittently with the Caribbean islands for many years. George Harlow tested some Pre-Classic period jadeite axes discovered in Antigua, and found that they were originally mined over 3000 km away in Guatemala. David Pendergast identified a Taino ladle in the Late Classic 'Altun Ha' site in Belize. In 1493, Columbus found beeswax cakes in Cuba that seem almost certainly to have originated in the Yucatan.
There were also links between Cuba and Florida. There were Taino loan-words in the Pre-Columbian Timucua language, as well as that of the Calusa. Natives of Cuba told Ponce de Leon about the mainland to the north, and when he left Florida, he decided to check out "some islands" that the Florida tribes had told him about -- following their sailing directions, he found the Dry Tortugas and then fetched up on a then-unexplored stretch of Cuban coastline. As late as the 18th century Florida natives were trading with Cuba using large seagoing canoes.
So, I'm confident that Classic or Postclassic Maya could have reached Florida, by traveling two readonably well-known legs: Yucatan-Cuba using Chontal Maya boats, then Cuba-Florida using Taino and Calusa routes.
Why would any do so?
Well, Chichen Itza collapsed around 1250 AD (too early to have been conquered by Mayapan, but the collapse certainly involved violence of some sort). The elites of Chichen Itza would certainly know of the Topoltzin/Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcan migration myth; perhaps some elite refugees might think to emulate that feat by seeking a new home far away. With conditions in Yucatan being unfavorable at the time, going overseas to Cuba following the Chontal trade route would be one possibility.
The Taino might have formally welcomed the newcomers, but preferred that their haughty yet impecunious guests then move on (rather as various groups later encouraged De Soto and Coronado to forever keep moving on to the next town). Florida might seem suitably distant, so they pack the Maya off.
What would happen to the Maya group once they reached the Calusa? Almost certainly be absorbed into the local population and vanish without trace. However, these Mayan elites would have brought with them a distinguished pedigree, exciting ideas about culture and political organization, and maize agriculture (which was apparently unknown in Southwestern Florida at the time, but could certainly be profitably cultivated in areas of the Calusa sphere). So if the Mayans play their cards very deftly, perhaps a sort of Calusa-Mayan fusion would develop.
Implausible, but it's the best I can come up with -- and I'm pretty sure stranger things have happened historically.