Cofitachequi was a paramount chiefdom encountered by the Hernando de Soto Expedition in South Carolina. The expeditions first encounter with the Chiefdom of Cofitachequi was in April of 1540, at the Mulberry Site, a large mound site at the junction of Pine Tree Creek and the Wateree River, near present-day Camden. A woman the chroniclers call the Lady of Cofitachequi was carried from the town to the river's edge on a litter that was covered with a delicate white cloth. This Lady was considered to be the chieftainess of the villages by the expedition. [1]
After spending several weeks in the village, the Spaniards took the Lady and headed to the next nearest chiefdom to the east, Joara.
The people of the chiefdom spoke a Muskogean language, although the Chiefdom of Cofitachequi is the easternmost extent of this language family. There were three levels of political power at Cofitachequi. The orata was a lesser noble, seemingly in charge a village or a few villages. The mico was a great noble who occupied one of the administrative centers of the chiefdom, presumably complete with a mound. Above these was the gran cacique, the great chief or paramount chief. Lesser officials were ynihas, or ynanaes, who were chiefs' assistants, perhaps comparable to magistrates. The yatikas were interpreters and spokesmen. The culture of Cofitachequi was a variant of Lamar culture that was broadly comparable to the people of Ocute. [2]
Notes
^Hudson, Charles M. (1997). Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun. University of Georgia Press.
^Hudson, Charles M. (1997). Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun. University of Georgia Press.
Hudson, Charles M., Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun: Hernando De Soto and the South's Ancient Chiefdoms, University of Georgia Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8203-1888-4
