Mayaimi

The Mayaimi were Native American people who lived around Lake Mayaimi, now known as Lake Okeechobee, in the Belle Glade area of Florida. They lived there from the beginning of the Common Era until the 17th or 18th century. In their language, the word Mayaimi meant "big water," just like the Calusa and Tequesta tribes nearby.

The Calusa language is a mystery because only ten words were recorded before the people disappeared. The name Okeechobee for the lake comes from a Hitchiti word also meaning "big water." The Mayaimi people were not related to the Miami people from the Great Lakes region. The city of Miami gets its name from the Miami River, which itself was named after Lake Mayaimi.

History

The Mayaimi people lived around Lake Okeechobee in Florida from very early times until the 1700s. They built special dirt mounds for ceremonies and villages, much like other ancient groups. They also dug canals to help them travel by canoe.

Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who spent many years with Florida tribes in the 1500s, described the Mayaimi as living in small towns of about thirty to forty people, with many more tiny settlements. They mostly ate fish and game from Lake Okeechobee, including black bass, eels, alligator tails, and opossum. During times of high water, they stayed on their mounds and mainly ate fish.

In the early 1700s, raiders from nearby areas attacked the Florida tribes, burning villages and capturing people. By 1710, some Mayaimi people had fled to Cuba. Later reports mentioned small groups of Mayaimi still living in southern Florida. When Spain lost control of Florida in 1763, any remaining Mayaimi were thought to have moved to Cuba.