Joara

Joara era un grande insediamento dei nativi americani appartenenti alla cultura del Mississippi, in quella che oggi è la contea di Burke, nella Carolina del Nord. Joara ha un importante significato archeologico e storico, trattandosi del primo insediamento europeo nell'entroterra del continente.^[1]

Posizione geografica di Joara nell'attuale contea di Burke (Carolina del Nord)

Recenti scoperte hanno dimostrato la presenza di una solida cultura nativa e di una prolungata presenza spagnola durante il XVI secolo in Carolina del Nord. Joara era il centro più importante della zona. Era anche il luogo in cui sorse Fort San Juan, primo avamposto spagnolo (1567-1568) nell'entroterra della Carolina del Nord. Nacque infatti 40 anni prima dell'inglese Jamestown, e 20 prima della "Colonia Perduta" di Roanoke.^[2]

Situata a nord-ovest di Morganton, parte del sito archeologico è stato scavato dall'Upper Catawba Valley Archaeology Project. Questo progetto era composto soprattutto da archeologi provenienti da Warren Wilson College, Southern Illinois University e Università della Carolina del Nord a Chapel Hill, ma comprendeva anche archeologi della Università dell'Oklahoma. Durante gli scavi estivi vengono organizzati eventi diretti al pubblico.

Joara fu fondata attorno al 1000, ed era fiorente quando i soldati spagnoli giunsero nel gennaio del 1567, guidati da capitan Juan Pardo. Essi si insediarono qui durante l'inverno chiamando il villaggio Cuenca. Vi costruirono Fort San Juan. Dopo 18 mesi, i nativi uccisero i soldati dal forte bruciandone la struttura. Lo stesso anno uccisero tutti i 120 uomini di Pardo tranne uno, distruggendo tutti i 6 forti costruiti nell'entroterra sud-orientale. Dopo questo avvenimento gli spagnoli interruppero l'esplorazione di questa regione.

Gli effetti delle malattie e della conquista europea, e l'assimilazione di numerose tribù native, portò all'abbandono da parte degli indigeni dell'insediamento molto prima che gli esploratori inglesi e scozzesi, e gli immigrati tedeschi, giungessero secoli dopo.

Insediamento

Si pensa che Joara sia nata poco dopo il 1000. Fu edificata sulla riva occidentale dell'Upper Creek ed in vista di Table Rock. I nativi di Joara erano composti dalla parte orientale del popolo stanziato nelle vallate dei fiumi Mississippi ed Ohio (fiume). Al tempo dei primi contatti europei con i nativi che abitavano le pendici degli Appalachi, Joara era già cresciuta diventando il centro indiano più popoloso di quelli presenti nell'odierna Carolina del Nord. La città era il centro politico di un regno che controllava molti insediamenti circostanti.

I Catawba sono probabilmente i discendenti dei nativi di Joara.^[3]

Esplorazione spagnola

 

MAppa raffigurante il tracciato dell'esplorazione di Hernando de Soto, attraverso Georgia, Carolina del Sud, Carolina del Nord, Tennessee ed Alabama. Basata sulla mappa disegnata da Charles Hudson nel 1997

Hernando de Soto

Nel 1540 Hernando de Soto guidò una spedizione spagnola sul versante orientale degli Appalachi in quelle che oggi sono Georgia, Carolina del Sud e del Nord. La spedizione registrò i primi contatti documentati tra europei ed abitanti di Joara, che i cronici di Soto chiamarono "Xuala".^[4] Gli spagnoli ripartirono subito per continuare l'esplorazione dell'entroterra della Florida spagnola. Sarebbero dovuti passare altri 26 anni prima che gli spagnoli facessero le prime rivendicazioni sulla proprietà di questa terra.

Captain Juan Pardo's first expedition

 

Detail of Joara (spelled Xuala) and neighboring villages on Chiaves' 1584 map of La Florida

On December 1, 1566, Captain Juan Pardo and 125 men departed from Santa Elena, a center of Spanish Florida (located on present-day Parris Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina) under orders from Governor Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to claim the interior for Spain. Pardo was to pacify native inhabitants, convert natives to Catholicism, and establish a route to Spanish silver mines near Zacatecas, Mexico. The Spanish thought they were much closer to the mines than they were in fact.

To stay close to food sources on their journey through the foothills, the Spanish traveled northwest where there were friendly natives who would help to feed them. The small Spanish force stopped at Otari (near present day Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina) and Yssa (near present day Denver, Lincoln County, North Carolina) before arriving at Joara.

Captain Pardo and his men arrived at Joara in January 1567. He renamed it Cuenca after his hometown Cuenca, Spain. Snow in the Appalachian Mountains forced the Spanish to establish a winter base in the foothills at Joara. The explorers built a wooden fort at the north end of Joara and named it Fort San Juan. The fort became the first European settlement of present-day North Carolina, predating the establishment of the first English colony at Roanoke Island by 18 years and Jamestown by 40 years.

The Spanish kept a base in Fort San Juan and claimed sovereignty over several other settlements in the region, including Guaquiri (near present-day Hickory, Catawba County, North Carolina) and Quinahaqui (in present-day Catawba County, North Carolina). In February 1567, Captain Pardo established Fort Santiago at Guatari, a smaller town of Guatari (also called Wateree) natives located in present-day Rowan County, North Carolina.

When Captain Pardo received word of a possible French invasion of Santa Elena, he left 30 soldiers to occupy Joara, and four soldiers and his chaplain Father Sebastian Montero to occupy Guatari. He departed the area with the remainder of his force. Pardo appointed sergeant Hernando Moyano to command the force stationed at Fort San Juan.

Hernando Moyano's raids

During the spring of 1567, Hernando Moyano led a combined force of natives and Spanish north. The force attacked and burned the Chiska tribe's village of Maniateque (near present-day Saltville, Virginia) before returning to Joara.

After resting and supplying his force, Moyano led his force to Guapere (thought to be on the upper Watauga River in present day Tennessee). The Spanish and native force attacked and burned Guapere and marched west to Chiaha (also in present day Tennessee). Moyano's force built a fort in Chiaha and waited for Captain Juan Pardo to return.

Captain Juan Pardo's second expedition

Captain Juan Pardo returned to Fort San Juan in September of 1567 to find the local inhabitants angered by the Spanish raids and demands for food, women, and canoes. The effect of newly introduced diseases was also destabilizing the community, causing resentment towards the Spanish. Instead of continuing his mission to Mexico, Captain Pardo left a garrison at Fort San Juan and marched the remainder of his troops westward to resupply Sgt. Hernando Moyano's troops.

Pardo first took his troops to the native village of Tocae (near present day Asheville, North Carolina), then continued to Cauchi (near present day Canton, North Carolina. The force continued on to Tanasqui and then to Chiaha where they found Hernando Moyano's troops in need of supply. After resupplying Moyano's troops, Pardo returned to Santa Elena.

Native uprising and end of Spanish colonization

Shortly after May 1568, news reached Santa Elena that the native population had burned the six Spanish forts established by Juan Pardo and killed all but one of the 120 Spanish men stationed in those garrisons. Captain Pardo never returned to the area, and Spain ended all attempts to conquer and colonize the southeastern interior. Captain Juan Pardo's narrative of his travels and settlement at Joara, written by his scribe Bandera, were discovered and translated in the 1980s. They have contributed to a reassessment of the history of Spanish colonization in the interior of North America.^[5]

Demise and abandonment

At the time of the first Spanish contact, the native people of the area were identified by their villages of residence and were not part of large tribes. Death from European diseases and conquest and assimilation by large tribes such as the Catawba and Cherokee caused many of these smaller native groups to disappear. By the time most English, Moravian, Scots-Irish, and German settlers arrived in the area in the 18th century, Joara and many of the other native towns in the region had been abandoned.

Although the ___location of Joara and Fort San Juan were forgotten, local inhabitants found numerous native artifacts in certain areas of the upper Catawba River Valley. Unlike areas in which mounds were protected, during the early 1950s farmers bulldozed Joara's twelve-foot-high earthen platform mound to make way for cultivation.^[6] The ___location of the mound is now recognizable only as a two-foot rise in the field but current owners vow to protect the site.

Rediscovery at the Berry site

During the 1960s and 1970s, several archaeological surveys were conducted in Burke County to determine possible locations of Joara and Fort San Juan. By the 1980s, archaeologists had reduced the number of possible locations and began limited excavations. These surveys and excavations showed that the upper Catawba River Valley did have a sizable native population during the 14th to 16th centuries.

In 1986, a breakthrough occurred at the Berry excavation site (named for the family who own the property). Archaeologists discovered 16th-century Spanish artifacts. This evidence, supported by Bandera's narrative, caused a reevaluation of Pardo's route through the Upper Catawba Valley. Further evidence suggests the Berry Site is the ___location of Joara and Fort San Juan.^[7] It has also demonstrated the extent to which the Spanish attempted to establish a colonial foothold in the interior of the Southeast. ^[8]

Further excavations at the Berry site throughout the 1990s and 2000s have yielded remains of native Joara settlement and burned Spanish huts, and more 16th century Spanish artifacts, including olive jar fragments, a spike, and a knife. In 2007, the team excavated Structure 5 and found a Spanish iron scale, as well as evidence of Spanish building techniques. These artifacts were not trade goods but objects used by the Spanish in settlements. Joara is particularly interesting for the interaction between Native Americans and Spanish, who were relatively few in number and depended on the natives for food. Archaeologists expect to find evidence that will reveal more about events there. ^{[9] [10]}

Archaeologists familiar with the area have concluded this is the site of Joara and Fort San Juan. It supports documented Spanish settlement of 1567–1568, as well as the natives' burning of the fort. The discovery is requiring a reassessment of the history of European contact with Native Americans.^[11]

See also

• List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition
• Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
• Mississippian culture

Citations

1. ^ David G. Moore, Robin A. Beck, Jr. e Christopher B. Rodning, "Joara and Fort San Juan: culture contact at the edge of the world", Antiquity, Vol. 78, No. 229, marzo 2004
2. ^ David G. Moore, Robin A. Beck, Jr. e Christopher B. Rodning, "Joara and Fort San Juan: culture contact at the edge of the world", Antiquity, Vol. 78, No. 229, marzo 2004
3. ^ Robin Beck et al., Joara and Fort San Juan: Colonialism and Household Practice at the Berry Site, North Carolina, Tulane University, National Science Foundation grant abstract, 7 settembre 2006
4. ^ Charles Hudson, The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Explorations of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568, Tuscaloosa, Ala, University of Alabama Press, 2005, 25
5. ^ Catherine Clabby, "Dig finds evidence of Spanish fort", News Observer, 1 Aug 2004, accessed 26 Jun 2008
6. ^ Catherine Clabby, "Dig finds evidence of Spanish fort", News Observer, 1 Aug 2004, accessed 26 Jun 2008
7. ^ Constance E. Richards, "Contact and Conflict", American Archaeologist, Spring 2008, p.14
8. ^ Catherine Clabby, "Dig finds evidence of Spanish fort", News Observer, 1 Aug 2004, accessed 26 Jun 2008
9. ^ Constance E. Richards, "Contact and Conflict", American Archaeologist, Spring 2008, p.14
10. ^ Martha Quillin, "Trove from Fort San Juan delights archaeologists", The News Observer, 31 Jan 2008, accessed 26 Jun 2008
11. ^ David Moore, Robin Beck and Christopher Rodning, "In Search of Fort San Juan: Sixteenth Century Spanish and Native Interaction in the North Carolina Piedmont", Warren Wilson College Archaeology Home Page, 2004, accessed 26 Jun 2008,

References

• Robin A., Jr. Beck, From Joara to Chiaha: Spanish Exploration of the Appalachian Summit Area, 1540-1568, in Southeastern Archaeology, vol. 16, n. 2, Winter 1997, pp. 162–169.

• Robin A., Jr. Beck, David G. Moore, The Burke Phase: A Mississippian Frontier in the North Carolina Foothills, in Southeastern Archaeology, vol. 21, n. 2, Winter 2002, pp. 192–205.

• Robin A., Jr. Beck, David G. Moore, Christopher B. Rodning, Identifying Fort San Juan: A Sixteenth-Century Spanish Occupation at the Berry Site, North Carolina, in Southeastern Archaeology, vol. 25, n. 1, Summer 2006, pp. 65–77.

• Clabby, Catherine (Aug. 1, 2004). "Dig finds evidence of Spanish fort". The News and Observer. Retrieved Jul. 7, 2005.

• Moore, David G.; Beck, Robin A. Jr.; & Rodning, Christopher B. (March 2004). "Joara and Fort San Juan: culture contact at the edge of the world". Antiquity (Vol 78 No 299). Retrieved Aug. 2, 2005.

• Moore, David; Beck, Robin; & Rodning, Christopher (Jun. 30, 2004). "In Search of Fort San Juan: Sixteenth Century Spanish and Native Interaction in the North Carolina Piedmont". Warren Wilson Archaeological Field School. Retrieved Jul. 7, 2005.

• Blair A. Rudes, Place Names of Cofitachequi, in Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 46, n. 4, Winter 2004, pp. 359–426.

• Simmons, Geitner (Aug. 15, 1999). "Insight". The Salisbury Post. Retrieved Jul. 7, 2005.

• Simmons, Geitner (Aug. 29, 1999). "Spanish empire failed to conquer Southeast". The Salisbury Post. Retrieved Jul. 7, 2005.