St. Petersburg, Florida
The Story of Princess Ulele
The Krewe of Princess Ulele embody the heroic spirit of Princess Ulele,
who saved the life of Juan Ortiz, a Spanish sailor separated from his
shipmates during the search for the Spanish explorer Panfilo de Narvaez.
Ortiz was captured by native Indians and sentenced to death by Ulele’s
father, Chief Hirrihigua, of the Tocobaga tribe on the Pinellas peninsula.
Princess Ulele, at great personal sacrifice, saved Juan Ortiz first from
death and then from slavery. He escaped and made his way back to Spain,
and his story was told to Englishman John Smith some 80 years later. John
Smith used the facts to write the story of Pocahontas saving his own life.
John Smith never traveled to the Colonies.
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