Virginia Vignettes

During the 1980s eight Virginia Indian tribes obtained formal recognition from the Commonwealth, although the Pamunkey and Mattaponi had retained their reservations and had been observing their treaty relationship all along. The other tribes are Chickahominy, Chickahominy Eastern Division, Monacan, Nansemond, Rappahannock, and Upper Mattaponi.
In recent decades, the tribes have worked hard to reclaim [...]

Opechancanough, a leading chief or werowance of the Pamunkey nation, was a maternal relative of 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 John Smith when Smith went on an [...]

Pocahontas, a daughter of the paramount chief Powhatan, was about 10 years old in 1607, when the captive John Smith was brought to her father’s headquarters at Werowocomoco. Opinions differ as to whether the famous “rescue of John Smith” actually happened, but if it did, it was most likely a ritual enactment misunderstood by [...]

When the English arrived in Virginia in 1607, Powhatan, whose informal name was Wahunsunacock, was the acknowledged paramount chief, or mamanatowick, of at least 32 Algonquian-speaking tribes with more than 150 towns. These tribes ranged from the Potomac River in the north to just south of the James River, and from the fall line [...]