Tuskaloosa | |
|---|---|
 Chief Tuskaloosa. Illustration by H. Roe | |
| Died | 1540 |
| Title | Cacique (Chief) of Tuskalusa |
Tuskaloosa (Tuskalusa, Tastaluca, Tuskaluza) (died 1540) was a paramount chief of a Mississippian chiefdom in what is now the U.S. state of Alabama. His people were possibly ancestors to the several southern Native American confederacies (the Choctaw and Creek peoples) who later emerged in the region. The modern city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is named for him.
Tuskaloosa is notable for leading the Battle of Mabila at his fortified village against the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto. After being taken hostage by the Spanish as they passed through his territory, Tuskaloosa organized a surprise attack on his captors at Mabila, but was ultimately defeated.
Contemporary records describe the paramount chief as being very tall and well built, with some of the chroniclers saying Tuaskaloosa stood a foot and a half taller than the Spaniards. His name, derived from the western Muskogean language elements tashka and losa, means "Black Warrior".[1]
[Tuskaloosa]'s appearance was full of dignity he was tall of person, muscular, lean, and symmetrical. He was the suzerain of many territories, and of numerous people, being equally feared by his vassals and the neighbouring nations.
— Gentleman of Elvas - Narratives of the Career of Hernando De Soto in the Conquest of Florida , 1557[2]
- ^ Hudson, Charles M. (1997). Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun. University of Georgia Press. pp. 230–232. ISBN 9780820318882.
- ^ Gentleman of Elvas (1557). "Chapter XVII, Of How the Governor went from Coca to Tastaluca". Narratives of the Career of Hernando De Soto in the Conquest of Florida as told by a Knight of Elvas. Kallman Publishing Co. (1968), Translated by Buckingham Smith. p. 81. ASIN B000J4W27Q.