Guale
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Extinct as tribe | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Georgia | |
| Languages | |
| Guale | |
| Religion | |
| Native | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mississippian culture; possibly Muskogean peoples: Creek |
| Guale | |
|---|---|
| Region | Georgia |
| Extinct | ca. 1700; perhaps became Yamasee |
|
unclassified
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
None (mis) |
|
Linguist list
|
07u |
| Glottolog | None |
Guale was an historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th century.
During the late 17th century and early 18th century, Guale society was shattered by extensive epidemics of new infectious diseases and attacks by other tribes. Some of the surviving remnants migrated to the mission areas of Spanish Florida while others remained near the Georgia coast. Joining with other survivors, they became known as the Yamasee, an ethnically mixed group that emerged in a process of ethnogenesis.
Scholars have not reached a consensus on how to classify the Guale language. Early claims that the Guale spoke a Muskogean language were questioned by the historian William C. Sturtevant. He has shown that recorded vocabulary, which sources had believed to be Guale, was Creek, a distinct historical Muskogean language. Historical references note that the Jesuit Brother Domingo Agustín Váez recorded Guale grammar in 1569, but the documents have not been found. The Guale are believed to have been a Mississippian culture group.
Archaeological studies indicate that the precursors of the historically known Guale lived along the Georgia coast and Sea Islands, from at least 1150 AD. Archaeologists identify the prehistoric Guale cultures as the Savannah phase (1150 to 1300 AD) and the Irene phase (1300 to circa 1600). While the prehistoric ancestors to the Guale shared many characteristics with regional neighbors, they left unique archaeological features that distinguished the "proto-Guale" people from other groups.
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