Apafalaya

Apafalaya was the name recorded for a chief and a river encountered by Hernando de Soto's expedition in the southeastern interior. The country belonged to a world of farming towns and earthen mound centres, including Moundville in the Black Warrior valley. The expedition's accounts also describe a province called Pafalaya, a name associated with the Choctaw expression for people with long hair. As the Spaniards crossed the region in 1540, they seized the chief Apafalaya and compelled him to guide and interpret for them.