Hobe

The Jaegas (also Jega, Xega, Jaece, Geigas, Jobe) were a tribe of Native Americans living along the coast of present-day Martin County and Palm Beach County, Florida at the time of initial European contact, and until sometime in the 18th Century. Little is known of the origins of the Jaegas, but they may have been a tribe of the Ais people that occupied the coast to their north. Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who was held captive by tribes in Florida for 17 years during the 16th century, implied that the Ais and the Jaega spoke the same language. The Jaega were linked to the Ais by marriage between chiefs and their relatives. The Ais and Jaega languages have been tentatively assigned by some authors to the Muskogean language family, and by others to the Arawakan language family.