Juanillo
| Juanillo | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | May 1598 Guale, Georgia |
| Occupation | Tribal chief of the Native American Tolomato people in the chiefdom of Guale |
Juanillo (? - May 1598) was a chief of the Native American Tolomato people in the Guale chiefdom, in what is now Georgia. In September 1597, Juanillo led the so-called Gualean Revolt, or Juanillo's Revolt, against the cultural oppression of the indigenous population in Florida by the Spanish authorities and the Franciscan missionaries. This was the first and longest-lasting Guale rebellion in La Florida, and ended with the execution of Juanillo by a group of Native American allies of the Spanish, led by Chief Asao.
Juanillo was mico, or chieftain, of the Tolomato, and heir to the chiefdom of Guale (clan organization was matrilineal). After the arrival of the Spanish colonizers in Florida, some chiefs of the Guale tribe, whose vast territory stretched from the Altamaha River (Georgia) to Port Royal, were concerned about the spread of Christianity. Their grievances under the administration of the Spanish governor, Gonzalo Méndez de Cancio, included the Franciscan missionaries forbidding the Indian practices of polygamy, divorce, dancing, games and tribal wars. These proscriptions weakened his people, according to Juanillo, making them lose their old courage and skill.
Juanillo's hatred of the Spanish missionaries was so intense that on the morning of September 13, 1597, his warriors killed the Franciscan Friar Corpa at the Tolomato mission. Juanillo's men beheaded Corpa and placed his head on a spike. The next day Juanillo called on the chiefs of the other Native American groups who were being expelled from their lands by the Spanish, and incited them to kill the other missionaries living in the region. The rebellion became widespread in the province of Guale, with most of the missions there attacked by the Indians and five Franciscans killed.
News of the rebellion reached St. Augustine in early October. De Canço, who was sick in bed, got up and organized a relief expedition that he led himself. The Indians in Guale were burning churches and maiming and killing missionaries. Unable to catch the Indian rebels, de Canço had to content himself with burning their villages and destroying their crops. He took one prisoner who told him about the death of the friar.
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