Cannibals and Kings: A New Look at Jonathan Dickinson’s 1696 Account of the Jobé and the Ais

Sacred Kashi is hosting Dr. Jerald Milanich at the Environmental Learning Center as part of their Visibility + Voices lecture series. Milanich will share accounts from the diary of 17th-century merchant Jonathan Dickinson, written during his journey along the Florida coast in the 1690s. Shipwrecked on the Florida Atlantic coast near Jupiter Inlet, Dickinson and his fellow travelers found themselves among indigenous communities. Afraid of repercussions from Spanish St. Augustine, the Native Americans decided to escort the castaways north and turn them over to Ais people. Thanks to the Ais, Dickinson and the others eventually reached St. Augustine before traveling on to Charleston. In his presentation, Milanich will explore new information provided in a recently discovered account of Dickinson’s travails.

The Ais, pronounced Ah-es, were one of many tribes that lived in Florida prior to first contact with the Spanish in 1513. The Ais were hunters and gatherers, not farmers, and lived in what is now Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and northernmost Martin counties. Many lived along the shores of the great lagoon they called “Aysta-chatta-hatch-ee” (the river of the Ais), also called Rio de Ais by the Spanish, currently known as The Indian River.

This presentation will be given in person at the Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach, and will be streamed live on Sacred Kashi’s Facebook page for those who would like to tune in virtually. Funding for this program is provided in part through a Florida Humanities Community Project Grant in partnership with Sacred Kashi.