Virginia Vignettes

The Paspahegh lived in several towns on the north side of the James River, to the east and west of the mouth of the Chickahominy. They were tributaries to the paramount chief Powhatan. When the English chose Jamestown as their colony site, they unwittingly moved into Paspahegh territory. The Paspahegh consistently resisted this incursion, and [...]

Opechancanough, a chief of the Pamunkey nation, was a maternal relative of the paramount chief Powhatan. Identified as one of Powhatan’s successors to the paramount chiefdom, he also acted as war chief or military leader for Powhatan. Opechancanough was leading the party of Indians who captured Captain John Smith when the latter went on an [...]

The term “Powhatan Indians” is used to encompass all of the tribes who were part of the leader Powhatan’s paramount chiefdom (see Powhatan vignette). These tribes are sometimes mistakenly called the “Powhatan nation” or “Powhatan tribe”, but there were more than thirty tribes paying tribute to the great paramount chief when the English arrived in [...]