Mocoso was the name of a 16th century chiefdom

Chiefdom

A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...

 located on the east side of Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 near the mouth of the Alafia River

Alafia River

The Alafia River is long, with a watershed of in Hillsborough County flowing into Tampa Bay. The watershed contains ten named lakes and ponds, and 29 named rivers, streams and canals. During the rainy season, excess water is pumped to the new C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, which opened in...

, of its chief town and of its chief. Mocoso was also the name of a 17th century village in the province of Acuera

Acuera

Acuera was reported to be the tribal headsman of a community of indigenous people of the same name. The Acuera were a Timucua people who flourished, in the north central region what is now called Florida, at the time of European arrival in the 16th century but, after fiercely defending their...

, a branch of the Timucua

Timucua

The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...

. The people of both villages are believed to have been speakers of the Timucua language

Timucua language

Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua people. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish arrival in Florida. Linguistic and archaeological studies suggest that it may have been spoken from...

.

The Mocosos of Tampa Bay lived in the area of the Safety Harbor culture. The people of Mocoso were among the first inhabitants of Florida encountered by both the Narváez expedition

Narváez expedition

The Narváez expedition was a Spanish attempt during the years 1527–1528 to colonize Spanish Florida. It was led by Pánfilo de Narváez, who was to rule as adelantado....

 in 1528 and the de Soto expedition in 1539. Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda

Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda

Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda was a Spanish shipwreck survivor who lived among the Indians of Florida for 17 years...

, who was a captive of various tribes in Florida from about 1549 until about 1566, described Mocoso as a "kingdom by [it]self", i.e., not part of the Calusa

Calusa

The Calusa were a Native American people who lived on the coast and along the inner waterways of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region; at the time of European contact, the Calusa were the people of the Caloosahatchee culture...

 domain. The de Soto expedition chroniclers recorded that Mocoso was subject to an inland chief named Paracoxi or Urriparacoxi of a village of the same name. Paracoxi was a leadership title used some of the Eastern Timucua groups.

The de Soto expedition found Juan Ortíz, a Spaniard

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

, living with the Mocoso. Ortíz had been captured by the Uzita

Uzita

Uzita was the name of a 16th century chiefdom, of its chief town and of its chief. The chief town was near the mouth of the Little Manatee River on the south side of Tampa Bay, Florida. The territory of Uzita was said to extend from the Little Manatee River to Sarasota Bay. Uzita were part of the...

 while searching for the lost Narváez expedition, and had later escaped to Mocoso. Ortíz knew the Timucua language and served de Soto as an interpreter as he traversed the Timucuan-speaking areas on his way to Apalachee

Apalachee

The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...

.

The Mocoso painted their bodies red and wore plumes in their hair.

Hann argues that Mocosos spoke a dialect of Timucua: the Mocosos spoke a different language than their neighbors at Uzita, Tocobago and Calusa, they tattooed their bodies as did the Timucua, while there is no record of tattooing among other tribes around Tampa Bay, Juan Ortíz, who had lived with the Mocoso, spoke the Timucua language, and Mocoso was subject to a chief with a Timucuan name.

The Mocoso on Tampa Bay does not appear in the records after Fontaneda's mention. A village named Mocoso is recorded from the Acuera province in the 17th century. A native of that Mocoso, Diego Salvador, was a royal interpreter in Apalachee, speaking Spanish, Timucua and Apalachee, and a sergeant major

Sergeant Major

Sergeants major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. In Commonwealth countries, Sergeants Major are usually appointments held by senior non-commissioned officers or warrant officers...

in the Spanish Army. He may also have had close contacts with the Spanish governor of Florida. Hann suggests that the Mocoso on Tampa Bay had incurred the wrath of other tribes in the area by aiding the de Soto expedition and were forced to withdraw into the interior, ending up in Acuera. Hann also speculates that Diego Salvador's position may have been a reward for help an ancestor had given de Soto.