Hi, everyone! Poca here.
Recently, Anna Catherine took me on a field trip to Mission San Lois. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about both Apalachee and Spanish cultures.
Back before America was its own country, the Spanish controlled most of Florida. Being a strong Catholic culture, the Spanish set up missions all around the state. These missions were focused on converting the Native Americans who lived in the area. Mission San Lois had Apalachee Indians in it. For the most part, the Spanish and the Apalachee coexisted here. Apalachee women often married Spanish men to bring them up in society. Unfortunately, there were problems. The children of the Spanish and Apalachee weren't always treated very well, and in the early 1700s, the British burned down most of the missions in Florida. It was only in the late 1900s that this land was sold to the state and archaeologists began to discover more about this particular mission. Fortunately for us, the Spanish kept very good records, so the mission has been partially rebuilt and now you can see what it was like back then!
The front building has a very large and detailed door. I'm not sure if it actually works, but it's very cool!
Before we got to tour the mission, we looked around the small exhibit area in the front building. Here's an example of what was under the ground when the archaeologists began digging.
This museum is fairly new. It's not the youngest museum, but it's not as old as some. I believe it opened in the 90s. From what I learned, the last living Apalachee Indians were living in Louisiana. A quote from the chief at the time this museum opened is on the wall in the exhibit hall.
I didn't get a whole lot of pictures from the hall, but there were also glass cases with artifacts from the mission.
In the middle of the mission, there's a large, circular courtyard. This courtyard served a couple of purposes. On Sundays, the sermons were in Latin and Spanish, which the Apalachee couldn't understand. Translators would listen closely to the sermon, and after it was finished, they would go outside in the courtyard and retell the sermon in the Apalachee's language. The Apalachee also had a ritual called the ballgame. The idea was that they had to get a small leather ball to hit a pole without using their hands. They believed that the ballgame would help their crops, and the winners were treated as celebrities in their community. However, it was a very violent and dangerous game.
This is the pole that they had to knock the ball into. Notice the feathers hanging from the top.
Then, it was time to go explore the mission! This was our tour guide. He's showing us the council house here. The council house is where people would gather to meet the chief. Outsiders would also stay there. It served the purpose of a courthouse and a hotel. Also, notice the cross in front of the council house. There were crosses positioned all around the courtyard. Our guide told us that they represented Jesus from all his walks of life.
Inside, there was a large fireplace. In a previous visit (Anna Catherine's been here several times), the guide said that the fire provided heat when you were around it, but also pushed cold air outwards on the floor, keeping everyone cool on hot nights. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the actors we met. In the council house, we met a trader from Cuba whose name I forget. He was bringing goods to the chief.
Next, we went to visit a Spanish women's house. The mistress of the house wasn't home, but her daughter and her Apalachee servant were. The servant showed us about the house. There were two rooms, one for sleeping and one for eating. All the cooking was done outside.
In the eating room, there were some cooking supplies.
A shelf in the sleeping room had a crucifix and images of Mary on it.
In the window, there were some lavender sprigs. I learned later at the friary that herbs were used a lot in the mission for medicinal purposes. I think that's why there's herbs hanging up in the Spanish woman's house and why there's lavender in the window.
Anyways, it was very pretty. ☺
Next, we went to the blacksmith's shop. This blacksmith made a nail while we were there. It was very cool. He talked to us a lot about his trade.
Next, we went to the fort. I didn't get any pictures inside, unfortunately. We met two soldiers here who showed us their weapons. Also, the guide told us that when this mission was functioning, they had cactus in the moat instead of water!
Here's a picture from the friary. This is where the friars taught school and lived.
The friar told us that one of his jobs at school was to teach the boys how to sing. To do that, he'd get them to climb up into his choir loft. Then, he'd take away the ladder to get down! The boys weren't allowed to get down until they were finished learning all that the friar wanted them to learn.
To teach the boys to sing, the friar used this Italian invention that uses the creases in the hand for different notes.
Another one of the friars' jobs was to provide medical care to the people of the mission. Since there wasn't medicine back then, they had to use herbs. Here's a table where the friars would work with herbs.
When we stepped out of the mission, you could see the city through the trees.
I hope you enjoyed seeing these pictures! ☺
No comments:
Post a Comment