What's it like to intern at Mission San Luis? An interview with Lucy Steigenga

After completing her senior seminar, Lucy Steigenga found herself wanting more than just filler classes in her final semester. Thanks to her Bright Futures scholarship, she had the flexibility to stay at FSU a little longer, and she decided to make it count.

“I just felt like I wanted to do something more,” Lucy said. Speaking with her advisor, Dr. Kozar, Lucy discovered she could receive credit for an internship off-campus. “She told me first about this class internship and then I was like, are there any outside of class? And she said there are.”

Just a short walk from campus, Mission San Luis stood out to Steigenga not only for its proximity, but also for its unique role as a living history museum. The site recreates a 17th-century Spanish mission and Apalachee village, complete with interpreters in period clothing, reconstructed buildings, with their historical remnants right under your feet.

After reaching out to the site curator, Lucy secured one of two intern positions offered each semester. “They sent me all of the information I needed, and it was a pretty simple process from there,” she explained. Steigenga met monthly with a history faculty supervisor as part of the credit for the internship program.

At Mission San Luis, Lucy found herself surrounded by passionate staff and interpreters, some who had been at the site for over a decade. “They all kind of specialize in their own things, but I really like being around them and asking questions and everyone's super nice there,” she said. 

“One interpreter is super into the Messer House era, which is the house that the family bought on the property before it was given to the state. Another one is more interested in the church and the cemetery.”

Much of what’s visible today, like the Apalachee Council House, the Spanish house, and the mission church are all historically accurate reconstructions based on archaeological findings. “The Council House is the biggest reconstruction, and it’s actually believed it was the biggest Apalachee structure in all of Southwest America at the time, from what we found. It’s 120 feet in diameter and about five to seven stories tall. It could fit two thousand people,” Steigenga explained. “It took the Apalachee I think six months to build it.
 I think it took us like over a year, so pretty impressive of them.”

The house was used for everything from ceremonies to hosting travelers and visiting chiefs. The Spanish built the church after arriving, as part of their effort to Christianize the Apalachee. “Travelers would stay there, soldiers—other Apalachee chiefs, if they were coming to visit. It was used for rituals and drinking their sacred drink, called Cassina.”

“The Spanish house is a reconstruction of what a classic Spanish house would look like at the time. I think we found about 40 on site, obviously only rebuilt one. And the Apalachee weren't living like where the town center is. I mean, the chief was living there, but most of the Apalachee lived a few miles out, like in the farmland. So, they weren't constantly interacting all the time. Most of the families lived in smaller villages outside of the town center, but they came for mass every Sunday and for ball games and there was a lot of interaction.”

When the Spanish arrived, they constructed the mission church to Christianize the Apalachee. Steigenga noted that while the Spanish-Apalachee relationship is often portrayed as harmonious, the museum is working to refocus its exhibits. “We’re working on redoing the gallery in the museum to center it more on the Apalachee, and less about the Spanish,” she said. “Because there were a lot of cases where, obviously, it was an instance of cultural erasure.”

One crucial part of that effort involves analyzing The Ball Game Manuscript, a document written in the 1670s by missionary Juan de Paiva, as well as the Christianized Apalachees Diego Salvador and Juan Mendoza. It offers rare insight into Apalachee culture, recording the attempt by missionaries to ban the traditional ball game.

“I think a lot of people don't really know about traditional Apalachee beliefs and legends before Spanish times,” Steigenga said. She described the origin story of the game as written in the manuscript, wherein a young boy was born of the god of lightning and thunder. 

“Another chief gives him these three tasks to see if he can complete them. They're supposed to be really difficult, and he ends up completing them all successfully. Then, in a final effort to test him, he comes up with the ball game. The young man is sitting to the side when all the players come in, and they're short a player, so they pick him even though he looks kind of sick and is just sitting covered in blankets. He ends up being amazing and wins the game.”

Lucy’s experience at Mission San Luis has not only broadened her local historical knowledge but equipped her with practical skills. Her site supervisor works to improve the historical accuracy of the interpreters’ wardrobes, something Steigenga was eager to assist with. “I learned how to do basic stitching, like a ladder stitch and a whip stitch,” she said, explaining how much it has come in handy. “I've had a bunch of stuff that I need to fix, and I didn't know how to sew.”

Beyond sewing, the internship has offered invaluable experience in public speaking and education. Lucy often joins school tour groups, mainly at the fourth-grade level, answering questions about life at the mission. “Since I want to be a teacher, I think getting to interact with those kids is really good for my future career,” she said.

When asked why students should visit the museum, Steigenga was quick to provide insight. She expressed concerns that locals didn’t know enough of the history of the land they lived on. “I lived here for four years before I went to the museum, and it was because I was interning at it, even I'm guilty.”

“I think living here in Tallahassee, a lot of the history is centered more towards the government, the Capitol is here, and we forgot about the history that was going on before that,” Lucy said. “Just going and standing somewhere you knew people stood 300 years ago, and how much cool stuff happened there, I think it's really important just to dig a little deeper, open your eyes up, try to learn about what the place around you is.”

“Even if you're not super interested in Apalachee history, go have a picnic there, go walk around, go take pictures, it’s just a nice place to be in. It really feels like you're away from everything else when you're there.”

Whether for credit, curiosity, or a quiet afternoon under the trees, Lucy’s internship is a testament to what can happen when students step off-campus.