Cuba

The connection between Florida and Cuba was extensive during the Spanish colonial era.  Not only was Cuba the staging ground for many early expeditions to Florida, it also witnessed both the flight of Cuban Indian refugees to South Florida during the early 16th century, and the similar flight of Florida Indian refugees under various circumstances during the 18th century.  Though presently-strained political relationships make collaborative research and visits to and from Cuba difficult, I have been fortunate to visit and work in Cuba on several occasions over the past years.  The archival and archaeological resources there are remarkable and important, and the Cuban people and landscape make any visit a pleasure.  My research in Cuba was a collateral part of a recent initiative relative to the early Spanish contact era in Cuba, and more precisely to the archaeological investigation of the encomienda site of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, involving Cuban archaeologist Marcos Rodríguez Matamoros (University of Cienfuegos), as well as Vernon James Knight (University of Alabama), John O'Hear (Cobb Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at Mississippi State University), and me (then with the University of Florida).  Collectively, the collaboration was termed "Grupo Las Casas."

	The church of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Guanabacoa, located not far from Havana, is the same structure in which Florida mission Indians worshipped following their arrival in 1763.  Its archives contain sacramental records of baptisms, marriages, and burials of these and many other Indians from the Southeastern United States from the 17th through the 19th centuries.
	My first visit to Guanabacoa was followed by a later research trip under a Cuban research visa, when I was fortunate to be able to examine the parish registries personally, hand-copying numerous records of interest from literally thousands of manuscript pages.
	A 2004 photo of the United States contingent of "Grupo Las Casas" at a restaurant overlooking the Bay of Jagua at Cienfuegos on the southern coast of Cuba.  Pictured are John O'Hear, Jim Knight, and me.
	The archaeological site of La Loma del Convento is not easy to get to, and when the Arimao River was swollen during our first approach in 2003, the ford was impassable, requiring a delicate crossing on foot.  Pictured are Lester Puntonet Toledo, Marcos Rodríguez Matamoros, John O'Hear, and me.
	Our second trip in 2004 was unobstructed by flooding, but not long after crossing the river, the van became stuck in a muddy road, necessitating more extraordinary measures.  In the picture are me, Marcos Rodríguez Matamoros, our driver, Jim Knight, and John O'Hear.
	The Loma site is located on a prominent hill overlooking the Arimao River valley below, and its summit had been cleared in advance of our arrival in 2004.  Past Cuban and Soviet archaeological teams uncovered evidence for late prehistoric and very early Spanish period occupation at the site by indigenous Cuban Indians.  Pictured are Jim Knight, Denise Miller, Marcos Rodríguez Matamoros, me, and John O'Hear.

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