Acuera - Political Organization

Political Organization

The province of Acuera may have consisted of several small chiefdoms, including Avino, Eloquale, and Acuera. Utiaca may have been under the chief of Avino, while Piliuco, and possibly Mocoso, were towns under the chief of Acuera. Tucuru may have been under Avino, or may have been independent. The caciques (chiefs) of Tucuru and Eloquale visited St.Augustine earlier than than the cacica (female chief) of Acuera did. Eloquale, a town on the Oklawaha River, may have been a new location for the town of Ocale, which was near the Withlacoochee River when the de Soto expedition stopped there for two weeks in 1539. Ocale was also called Cale and Etocale by chroniclers of the de Soto expedition. The town of Mocoso may also have been relocated to the province of Acuera from Tampa Bay after the de Soto expedition stayed there in 1539.