The beauty of the Suwannee River area has been enjoyed by humans for thousands of years.
The Suwannee River is a federally designated wild river. It is the only major waterway in the southeastern United States that is still unspoiled. The Suwannee flows from the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. It winds for almost 266 miles through swamps, high limestone banks, hammocks of hardwood, and salt marshes. It also has over fifty-five springs along the way. The river’s limestone outcroppings and a drop in elevation create Florida’s only whitewater rapids at Little Shoals and Big Shoals located several miles upstream from the city of White Springs.
Indians on the Suwannee River
Timucuan Indians were living on the banks of the Suwannee River when the Spanish explorers came to what is now north Florida in the 1530s. The Suwannee River formed the boundary between the Timucuan on the east and the Apalachee Indians on the west.
To the Timucuan of north central Florida, the Suwannee was a river sacred to their Sun God. To them, the Moon of the Suwannee put the colors of the rainbow into the earth. The Sun drew the colors out in flowers.
The Timucuan Indian word Suwani means Echo River. Some think that is the origin of the Suwannee River’s name. Others say Suwannee means River of Reeds, Deep Water, or Crooked Black Water. Tannic acid from decaying palmetto roots and vegetation causes the blackness of the water.
In the 1700s the Seminole Indians, or “wanderers” from the Creek tribe of the Mississippi Valley were on the Suwannee. Old logs buried deep in the river were perhaps once parts of rafts on which they drifted down from the north or remnants of the logging industry of the 1800s.
The Sulphur Springs on the Suwannee was considered to be a sacred healing ground. Warring tribes could come to bathe in and drink the mineral waters while putting aside their disagreements.
Indians on the Suwannee River
Timucuan Indians were living on the banks of the Suwannee River when the Spanish explorers came to what is now north Florida in the 1530s. The Suwannee River formed the boundary between the Timucuan on the east and the Apalachee Indians on the west.
To the Timucuan of north central Florida, the Suwannee was a river sacred to their Sun God. To them, the Moon of the Suwannee put the colors of the rainbow into the earth. The Sun drew the colors out in flowers.
The Timucuan Indian word Suwani means Echo River. Some think that is the origin of the Suwannee River’s name. Others say Suwannee means River of Reeds, Deep Water, or Crooked Black Water. Tannic acid from decaying palmetto roots and vegetation causes the blackness of the water.
In the 1700s the Seminole Indians, or “wanderers” from the Creek tribe of the Mississippi Valley were on the Suwannee. Old logs buried deep in the river were perhaps once parts of rafts on which they drifted down from the north or remnants of the logging industry of the 1800s.
The Sulphur Springs on the Suwannee was considered to be a sacred healing ground. Warring tribes could come to bathe in and drink the mineral waters while putting aside their disagreements.