Chine people
The Chine people were a group of Native American people living in Apalachee Province in Spanish Florida from the early 1670s until the end of the 17th century. They are believed to have spoken the same language as the Chatot, Amacano, Pacara, and Pensacola people, and have been described as a band of the Chatot people. They were served by a series of Spanish missions in the last quarter of the 17th century.
Origins
The Chine may have migrated into Apalachee Province in the early 1670s. All of the peoples living beyond Apalachee Province in the 17th century, except for the Chiscas, spoke the same or a closely related language, as did the Chatot, but the Spanish viewed the Chatot and Chine peoples as separate bands. All of those people were likely descended from people of the Fort Walton and, possibly, the Lamar cultures.The Chine first appeared in Spanish records in 1674, when they were recorded living in association with Amacano and Pacara people in the town of Chaccabi in the southern part of Apalachee Province near Apalachee Bay. The three people were described as allies, speaking the same language, but as separate "nations". The Chine were probably the most numerous of the three peoples in Chaccabi.
Missions
Chaccabi had a mission founded in April, 1674, dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle, to serve the Chine, Amacano, and Pacara people of the town, who were gradually being converted to Christianity. The three peoples of Chaccabi had apparently moved to a new site known as "the place of the Chines" by the next year, when Gabriel Díaz Vara Calderón, bishop of Santiago de Cuba, founded the mission of Assumpcíon del Puerto on February 2, 1675 to serve them. That mission does not appear in Spanish records after 1675. The mission, identified as "Assumpcíon de Nuestra Señora", was reported to have 300 residents in 1675, which may be an undercount.The Chines may have moved more than once after 1675. A mission of "San Pedro de los Chines" is on a mission list from 1680, and "San Pedro de Medellin" was reported in 1681. A mission named "San Antonio de Chines" was listed in 1694, which Hann says may be the result of a move to a location closer to San Luis. A census in 1681 counted 158 adults. A list in 1689 gave the population as 30 families. Another list in 1697 stated the "Place of the Chines" was one league from the mission La Purificación de Tama, inland from the mission San Martín de Tomole.
Pilots and guides
The Chine were known to the Spanish for their experience in traveling along the Gulf of Mexico coast by canoe from Apalachee Bay to Pensacola Bay. The Spanish used Chines as pilots and guides for at least three expeditions west of Apalachee Province. In 1777, the Spanish and Apalachee sent 190 men to attack a Chisca town near the Choctawhatchee River in retaliation for Chisca attacks on the Apalchee and their neighbors. Chines and Chatots were drafted by the Spanish/Apalachee force to serve as guides to the Chisca town.In 1685, the French explorer La Salle founded a settlement on the Texas coast. On receiving word of that settlement, the Viceroy of New Spain ordered a search for it. A search party, led by Juan Enríquez Barroto, left San Marcos in 1686, using Chine pilots because they were familiar with the coast as far west as Mobile Bay. In 1693, Laureano de Torres y Ayala, governor of Spanish Florida, led an expedition by boat along the coast from San Marcos to Mobile Bay. Chief Chine and his son served as pilots for the Spanish.