POWHATAN INDIANS

POWHATAN IS A VIRGINIA INDIAN TRIBE. IT IS THE NAME OF A GROUP THAT LIVED IN EASTERN VIRGINIA THE EASTERN ENGLISH SETTLED HERE. THERE WERE 14,000 - 21,000 NATIVE AMERICANS. THEY SPOKE EASTERN ALGONQUIN. BY THE 17TH CENTURY A PROMINENT CHIEF NAMED WAHASUMACAWH DIRECTED 30 TRIBUTARY PEOPLE IN EASTERN VIRGINIA. THIS CHIEF WAS KNOWN AS POWHATAN. AFTER HE DIED IN IN 1618 THERE WERE HOSTILITIES WITH THE ENGLISH AND HIS BROTHER WHO TRIED TO DRIVE AWAY THE BRITISH, BUT THIS RESULTED IN NEAR ELIMINATION OF THE TRIBE. BY 1648 THIS TRIBE HAD BEEN NEARLY DESTROYED BY THE ENGLISH AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

BY THIS TIME ABOUT 1/2 OF THE IMMIGRANTS ARRIVED AS INDENTURED SERVANTS. THESE FOLKS IMPORTED ENSLAVED AFRICANS AS LABORERS. BY 1770 THEY HAD ABOUT 6,000 BLACK SLAVES. SOME BLACKS ESCAPED AND JOINED THE POWHATAN INDIANS, AND SOME OF THEM INTERMARRIED WITH THEM.

THE MODERN CITY OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA IS THOUGHT TO BE THEIR ORIGINAL VILLAGE . CHIEF POWHATAN, BASED ON AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, HAD A RARE POWER HIERARCHY. IT IS DEFINED AS COMPLEX CHIEFDOM. BY 1600 HIS BROTHER LED 9 GROUPS OF NATIVE AMERICANS! THOMAS JEFFERSON ESTIMATED THAT THE POWHATAN CONFEDERACY OCCUPIED 8,000 SQUARE MILES AND 8,000 NATIVES.

THE INITIAL RESPONSE TO THE NATIVE AMERICANS BY THE ENGLISH WAS TO SHOOT THEM DOWN. BY 1600 THEY REALIZED THAT CHIEF POWHATAN 'S FRIENDSHIP WAS ESSENTIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. THEY GAVE HIM MANY GIFTS. SKIRMISHES CONTINUED TO OCCUR BETWEEN THE NATIVES AND ENGLISH AND SOON EACH BECAME EMBITTERED SOCIETIES.

TODAY THEIR ARE EIGHT TRIBES WHO LIVE IN VIRGINIA WITH POWHATAN DESCENDANTS. THEY HAVE ABOUT 3000 MEMBERS. ONE POLITICIAN DECIDED THAT THERE WERE NO TRUE VIRGINIA NATIVE AMERICANS AS INTERMARRIAGE HAD DILUTED THE TRIBE. THE NATIVES SAID IT WAS PAPER GENOCIDE. ONE BAND RELOCATED TO NEW JERSEY AND OFFICIALLY CALLED THEMSELVES THE HUMANS OR RENAPE.. THEY ONLY HAVE 250 ACRES OF LAND. IT APPEARS THAT THE STATE WILL BE TAKING BACK ALL BUT 5 ACRES.

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