Acuera

Acuera was the name of a town and a province or region in central Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. The people of Acuera spoke a dialect of the Timucua language. The town was raided by soldiers of Hernando de Soto's expedition in 1539, and was known to the French in their brief tenure (1564-1565) in northern Florida. Acuera came under Spanish influence late in the 16th century, and two or three Spanish missions were established in the Acuera province in the 17th century.

Milanich and Hudson, based on distances between towns reported by the Spanish, locate the town of Acuera near Lake Weir and Lake Griffin, near the headwaters of the Oklawaha River, a tributary of the St. Johns River. A map produced by Jacques le Moyne, who was part of the French attempt to colonize Florida at Fort Caroline, shows a town called Aquouena (Acuera?) east of Eloquale (Ocale), on a tributary of the St. Johns River. The French also recorded that a chief named Acquera was a vassal of Chief Utina. The 17th century missions of San Luis de Acuera and Santa Lucia de Acuera were reported to be at distances from St. Augustine that are consistent with the missions being located near the Oklawaha River and Lake Weir. In 1836 Lake Weir appeared on a map as "Lake Ware", and Milanich and Hudson speculate that "Ware" was derived from "Acuera". Boyer has identified an archaeological site a little to the north of Lake Weir as likely being the site of the town of Acuera. The territory occupied by the Acuera people in historical times was part of the St. Johns culture, which is characterized by the presence of shell middens, burial mounds, and "chalky" pottery made with freshwater sponge spicules as a temper, sometimes decorated with check-stamping.

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