Interpreters and translators
Juan Ramírez de Contreras
In 1597, Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canzo commissioned Juan Ramírez to begin peace talks with the Ais Indians of central Florida.
Juan Rodríguez de Cartaya
Translators also served as mediators. After Ramírez's death, Rodríguez de Cartaya carried out such a task with the Ais.
Soldiers and translators
It was essential to be able to speak the native languages in order to colonize and convert the natives to Christianity. Juan Ramírez Contreras and Juan Rodríguez de Cartaya were soldiers and interpreters, dedicated to helping the Spanish establish closer ties with local Indian populations.
A useful and advantageous route through all classes of rivers, channels, lagoons, hills, settlements, ports, dry docks and huts, which runs from the town of St Augustine (of la Florida) to the Aizde estuary. Álvaro Mexia, 1605.