Mattaponi, King William County , Virginia : 450
84-665: The Mattaponi ( English: / ˌ m æ t ə p oʊ ˈ n aɪ / ) tribe is one of only two Virginia Indian tribes in the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns reservation land, which it has held since the colonial era. The larger Mattaponi Indian Tribe lives in King William County on the reservation, which stretches along the borders of the Mattaponi River , near West Point, Virginia . The Mattaponi were one of six tribes inherited by Chief Powhatan in
168-636: A Jesuit education. About ten years later, Don Luis returned with Spanish Jesuit missionaries to establish the short-lived Ajacán Mission . Native Americans attacked it in 1571 and killed all the missionaries. English attempts to settle the Roanoke Colony in 1585–87 failed. Although the island site is located in present-day North Carolina, the English considered it part of the Virginia territory. The English collected ethnological information about
252-598: A Monacan legend. According to their oral history , the Monacan, a Siouan-speaking people, settled in Virginia some 400 years earlier by following "an oracle," after being driven by enemies from the northwest. They found the Algonquian-speaking Tacci tribe (also known as Doeg) already living there. The Monacan told Lederer they had taught the Tacci to plant maize . They said that before that innovation,
336-697: A matrilineal kinship system and passed through the mother's line. Below the fall line lived related Algonquian tribes, the Chickahominy and the Doeg in Northern Virginia . The Chickahominy did not immediately join the Powhatan Confederacy, and, instead of being led by a weroance, they were led by a council of elders. If Powhatan wished to use them as warriors, he had pay them in copper as mercenaries. The Accawmacke (including
420-489: A branch of Pamunkey Indians, who are also federally recognized. The Mattaponi and Pamunkey have an identical cultural foundation, and come from the same historic political body. According to archaeologists , indigenous peoples of successive cultures have been living in the area now called Virginia for as long as 15,000 years. The historic tribes are believed to have formed in the 14th and 15th centuries. The numerous tribes belonged to three language groups: Algonquian along
504-582: A child of an Indian mother was born into her clan and family and considered Indian regardless of their fathers. By the 1790s, most of the surviving Powhatan tribes had converted to Christianity, and spoke only English. Treaty of Middle Plantation The Treaty of 1677 (also known as the Treaty Between Virginia And The Indians 1677 or Treaty of Middle Plantation ) was signed in Virginia on May 28, 1677, between
588-458: A combined population of about 15,000. Relations between the two peoples were not always friendly. After Captain John Smith was captured in the winter of 1607 and met with Chief Powhatan, relations were fairly good. The Powhatan sealed relationships such as trading agreements and alliances via the kinship between groups involved. The kinship was formed through a connection to a female member of
672-499: A farm named " Brafferton ," in England, were sent to the school in 1691 for this purpose. The funds paid for living expenses, classroom space, and a teacher's pay. Only children of treaty tribes could attend, but at first none of them sent their children to the colonial school. By 1711, Governor Spotswood offered to remit the tribes' yearly tribute payments if they would send their boys to the school. The incentive worked and that year,
756-463: A government monopoly on the thriving fur trade. The first such project, Fort Christanna , was a success in that the Tutelo and Saponi tribes took up residence. But, private traders, resentful of losing their lucrative share, lobbied for change, leading to its break-up and privatization by 1718. Spotswood worked to make peace with his Iroquois neighbours, winning a concession from them in 1718, of all
840-462: A lead family of Adams. Their founder was likely James Adams, who acted as an interpreter between the Mattaponi and English from 1702 to 1727. The settlement in the 19th century was recorded as Adamstown. The Upper Mattaponi tribe did not have separate recognition until 1921. However, the members of this tribes are descendants of a group of Indians who lived near Passaunkack during the 1700s. In 1921
924-473: A pillow. During the day, the bedding was rolled up and stored so the space could be used for other purposes. There was little need for extra bedding because a fire was kept burning inside the houses to provide heat in the cold months. It would be used to repel insects during the warmer months. Wildlife was abundant in this area. The buffalo were still plentiful in the Virginia Piedmont up until
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#17327732263391008-758: A sacred site to the Monacan known as the Bridge of Mahomny or Mohomny (Creator). The Powhatan withdrew their settlements to below the Fall Line of the Piedmont, far to the east along the coast. Another tradition relates that the Doeg had once lived in the territory of modern King George County, Virginia . About 50 years before the English arrived at Jamestown (i.e. c. 1557), the Doeg split into three sections, with one part moving to what became organized as colonial Caroline County , one part moving to Prince William , and
1092-574: A scapegoat in which to take out their frustrations. Once the conflict ended, the Treaty of Middle Plantation was signed on May 29, 1677. Cockacoeske (weroansqua of the Pamunkey ) signed the treaty on behalf of several tribes, including the Mattaponi. Known as "Queen of the Pamunkey" by the English, she had succeeded her husband, Totopotomoi , upon his death in 1656. He was killed while fighting on
1176-544: A third part remaining in King George. Another expression of the different cultures of the three major language groups were their practices in constructing dwellings, both in style and materials. The Monacan , who spoke a Siouan language , created dome-shaped structures covered with bark and reed mats. The tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy spoke Algonquian languages , as did many of the Atlantic coastal peoples all
1260-764: Is now Virginia spoke languages from three major language families: Algonquian along the coast and Tidewater region, Siouan in the Piedmont region above the Fall Line , and Iroquoian in the interior, particularly the mountains. About 30 Algonquian tribes were allied in the powerful Powhatan paramount chiefdom along the coast. During English colonization and the formation of the United States, most Virginia tribes had lost their lands and their populations declined due to introduced diseases and warfare. Assimilationist policies also contributed to Indigenous erasure. Surviving local tribes reorganized their governments in
1344-693: The Appomattoc village beside Fort Henry , and continuing in the same direction to the Monocan village above the falls of the James, where Fort Charles was built, then turning sharp right, to Fort Royal on the York (Pamunkey) river. In 1658, English authorities became concerned that settlers would dispossess the tribes living near growing plantations and convened an assembly. The assembly stated English colonists could not settle on Indian land without permission from
1428-546: The Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2015. In 2017, Congress recognized six more tribes through the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act. The federally recognized tribes in Virginia are: The Commonwealth of Virginia recognizes 11 state-recognized tribes . State-recognition is not well defined and does not confer the same rights as federal recognition. The Commonwealth of Virginia has recognized
1512-701: The Draper's Meadow Massacre . The Shawnee captured Fort Seybert (now in West Virginia) in April 1758. Peace was reached that October with the Treaty of Easton , where the colonists agreed to establish no further settlements beyond the Alleghenies. Hostilities resumed in 1763 with Pontiac's War , when Shawnee attacks forced colonists to abandon frontier settlements along the Jackson River , as well as
1596-892: The English Crown and representatives from Native American tribes in Virginia , including the Nottoway , the Appomattoc , the Wayonaoake, the Nansemond , the Nanzatico , the Monacan , the Saponi , and the Meherrin following the end of Bacon's Rebellion . The treaty designated those that signed as "tributary tribes", which signified that they were guaranteed control over their traditional homelands, hunting and fishing rights,
1680-575: The First Anglo-Powhatan War . In April 1613, Captain Samuel Argall learned that Powhatan's "favorite" daughter Pocahontas was residing in a Patawomeck village. Argall abducted her to force Powhatan to return English prisoners and stolen agricultural tools and weapons. Negotiations between the two peoples began. It was not until after Pocahontas converted to Christianity and married Englishman John Rolfe in 1614 that peace
1764-697: The Gingaskin ) of the Eastern Shore , and the Patawomeck of Northern Virginia, were fringe members of the Confederacy. As they were separated by water from Powhatan's domains, the Accawmacke enjoyed some measure of semi-autonomy under their own paramount chief, Debedeavon , aka "The Laughing King". The Piedmont and area above the fall line were occupied by Siouan-speaking groups, such as
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#17327732263391848-733: The Greenbrier River now in West Virginia, the associated valleys on either side of the Allegheny ridge, and the latter just beyond the Treaty of Easton limit. Meanwhile, the Crown's Proclamation of 1763 confirmed all land beyond the Alleghenies as Indian Territory. It attempted to set up a reserve recognizing native control of this area and excluding European colonists. Shawnee attacks as far east as Shenandoah County continued for
1932-450: The King of England (there is no record of what the tribes thought of that assertion). The Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes have continued to provide the state, the successor to the colony, with the annual tribute payment stipulated by the treaties of 1646 and 1677. In 1685, the Mattaponi, along with the Pamunkey and Chickahominy tribes, attended a treaty conference at Albany, New York . It
2016-612: The Monacan and Manahoac . The Iroquoian-speaking peoples of the Nottoway and Meherrin lived in what is now Southside Virginia south of the James River . Other tribes occupied mountain and foothill areas. The region beyond the Blue Ridge (including West Virginia) was considered part of the sacred hunting grounds. Like much of the Ohio Valley, it was depopulated during the later Beaver Wars (1670–1700) by attacks from
2100-829: The Virginia Women in History for 2010, was a member of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe. Native American tribes in Virginia The Native American tribes in Virginia are the Indigenous peoples whose tribal nations historically or currently are based in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America . Native peoples lived throughout Virginia for at least 12,000 years. At contact, most tribes in what
2184-449: The right to keep and bear arms , and other rights so long as they maintained their loyalty towards the English Crown . The twenty-one articles of the treaty were confirmed when the English sent gifts to the chiefs along with various badges of authority. The Queen of Pamunkey, known as Cockacoeske to the English, received a red velvet cap which was fastened with a silver frontlet and silver chains. Native American leaders who signed
2268-485: The 1700s. The Upper Potomac watershed (above Great Falls, Virginia ) was once renowned for its unsurpassed abundance of wild geese , earning the Upper Potomac its former Algonquian name, Cohongoruton (Goose River). Men and boys hunted game, and harvested fish and shellfish. Women gathered greens, roots and nuts, and cooked these with the meats. Women were responsible for butchering the meat, gutting and preparing
2352-579: The 17th and 18th centuries. Colonists encroached on tribal land during that time period, as recorded by a Baptist missionary who worked with the Tribe in the 18th century. Then-Governor Thomas Jefferson in 1781 also noted that settlers encroached on Indian land. Throughout their history, the Mattaponi had their own tribal government independent from the Powhatan leadership. The tribe was part of that paramount chiefdom . The Mattaponi repeatedly defended
2436-553: The British were pushed out of that region near the end of the revolution. In the summer of 1786, after the United States had gained independence from Great Britain, a Cherokee hunting party fought a pitched two-day battle with a Shawnee one at the headwaters of the Clinch River in present-day Wise County, Virginia . Cherokee prevailed, although losses were heavy on both sides. This was the last battle between these tribes within
2520-686: The Chisca village of Maniatique. The site was later developed as the present-day town of Saltville, Virginia . Meanwhile, as early as 1559–60, the Spanish had explored Virginia, which they called Ajacán , from the Chesapeake Bay while they sought a water passage to the west. They captured a Native man, possibly from the Paspahegh or Kiskiack tribe, whom they named Don Luis after they baptized him. They took him to Spain, where he received
2604-546: The Commonwealth's Governors and Attorneys General. The Mattaponi Tribe has also been repeatedly identified in scholarly publications and newspaper articles. The tribe has a traditional government, the Mattaponi Tribal Council, which controls the affairs of the reservation. It holds the land in common but assigns plots for members' use, settles internal disputes, maintains tribal property, and protects
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2688-493: The Doeg had hunted, fished, and gathered their food. Another Monacan tradition holds that, centuries prior to European contact, the Monacan and the Powhatan tribes had been contesting part of the mountains in the western areas of today's Virginia. The Powhatan had pursued a band of Monacan as far as the Natural Bridge , where the Monacan ambushed the Powhatan on the narrow formation, routing them. The Natural Bridge became
2772-627: The English defined the tribes as tributaries; they allocated reservations lands for several of the tribes, in exchange for requiring an annual tribute payment of fish and game. In 1656–1657, the King and chiefs of the Mattaponi Tribe signed peace treaties with the Court of Rappahannock County and the justices of Old Rappahannock County. Tribal members were to be treated equally as Englishmen in court and civil rights. During Bacon's Rebellion ,
2856-591: The English founded Jamestown in 1607. By 1525 the Spanish had charted the eastern Atlantic coastline north of Florida. In 1609, Francisco Fernández de Écija , seeking to deny the English claim, asserted that Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón 's failed colony of San Miguel de Gualdape , which lasted the three months of winter 1526–27, had been near Jamestown. Modern scholars instead place this first Spanish colony within US boundaries as having been on an island off Georgia. In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in his expedition to
2940-638: The Governor. The list identified the chief as Ellston Major, headmen as Austin Key and Robert Toopence, and tribal members as Nancy Franklin, Claiborne Key, Austin Key, Jno [Jonathan] Anderson Key, Henry Major, Ellston Major, Ellwood Major, Lee Franklin Major, Coley Major, Mary Major, Parkey Major, John Major, Park Farley Toopence, Elizabeth Toopence, Robert Toopence, Emeline Toopence, Laura Toopence, Mary Catherine Toopence, James C. Toopence, and Lucy J. Toopence. The list
3024-670: The Mattaponi River. This has been identified as Indian land in records dating to the 17th century. In 1921, this Upper Mattaponi Tribe of Adamstown organized as an official group. They have been recognized as a tribe by the Commonwealth of Virginia and own 32 acres (130,000 m) of land in Hanover County . Federal status was granted to the Upper Mattaponi Tribe through the passage of the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017 on January 12, 2018. The Mattaponi Indians are classified as
3108-564: The Mattaponi and Pamunkey since its inception. Virginia recognized the Rappahannock, Upper Mattaponi, Nansemond, and Monacan Indian Nation in the 1980s. Finally, in 2010, Virginia recognized the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway), Nottoway of Virginia, and Patawomeck. The eleven state-recognized tribes in Virginia are: The first European explorers in what is now Virginia were Spaniards , who landed at two separate places several decades before
3192-597: The Mattaponi were one of several innocent tribes attacked by colonial militia directed by Nathaniel Bacon . Historians believe Bacon had a personal rivalry with Governor Sir William Berkeley , though there were other causes of the rebellion. Some of these other causes were: declining tobacco prices (economic problems), growing commercial competition (from Maryland and North Carolina ), an increasingly restricted English market, and rising prices from English manufactured goods (mercantilism). Continued tensions and raids by other local Virginia tribes gave Bacon and his followers
3276-612: The Native American oral traditions to explore their history. According to colonial historian William Strachey , Chief Powhatan had slain the weroance at Kecoughtan in 1597, appointing his own young son Pochins as successor there. Powhatan resettled some of that tribe on the Piankatank River. (He annihilated the adult male inhabitants at Piankatank in fall 1608.) In 1670 the German explorer John Lederer recorded
3360-743: The Native Americans were forced to make further land concessions, extending into Kentucky. Meanwhile, the Virginian settlements south of the Ohio (in West Virginia) were bitterly challenged, particularly by the Shawnee. The resulting conflict led to Dunmore's War (1774). A series of forts controlled by Daniel Boone began to be built in the valley of the Clinch River during this time. By the Treaty of Camp Charlotte concluding this conflict,
3444-472: The New York Iroquois Confederacy conquered the territory of the Manahoac of Northern Piedmont. That year the Virginia Colony had expelled the Doeg from Northern Virginia east of the fall line. With the Seneca action, the Virginia Colony became de facto neighbours of part of the Iroquois Five Nations. Although the Iroquois never settled the Piedmont area, they entered it for hunting and raiding against other tribes. The first treaties conducted at Albany between
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3528-399: The North American continent encountered the Chisca people, who lived in present-day southwestern Virginia. In the spring of 1567, the conquistador Juan Pardo was based at Fort San Juan , built near the Mississippian culture center of Joara in present-day western North Carolina . He sent a detachment under Hernando Moyano de Morales into present-day Virginia. This expedition destroyed
3612-450: The Ohio River in defiance of the Crown. In 1776, the Shawnee joined Dragging Canoe's Cherokee faction in declaring war on the " Long Knives " (Virginians). The chief led his Cherokee in a raid on Black's Fort on the Holston River (now Abingdon, Virginia ) on July 22, 1776, launching the Cherokee–American wars of 1776–94. Another Chickamauga leader Bob Benge also led raids in the westernmost counties of Virginia during these wars, until he
3696-480: The Ohio. Moreover, much of this land beyond the Alleghenies was disputed by claims of the Shawnee and Cherokee nations. The Iroquois recognized the English right to settle south of the Ohio at Logstown in 1752. The Shawnee and Cherokee claims remained, however. In 1755 the Shawnee, then allied with the French in the French and Indian War , raided an English camp of settlers at Draper's Meadow, now Blacksburg , killing five and abducting five. The colonists called it
3780-459: The Pamunkey-led Powhatan Chiefdom. The Commonwealth's general assembly responded in 1894 by appointing five trustees to the Mattaponi Tribe. The Mattaponi, like the Pamunkey Tribe, were declared exempt from certain local and county taxes. For its part, the Mattaponi Tribe adopted bylaws for its governance and established a school on its reservation. During the 20th century, the Mattaponi Tribe and its reservation have been repeatedly acknowledged by
3864-423: The Powhatan to make yearly tribute payment to the English of fish and game, and it also set up reservation lands for the Indians. All Indians were at first required to display a badge made of striped cloth while in white territory, or they could be murdered on the spot. In 1662, this law was changed to require them to display a copper badge, or else be subject to arrest. Around the year 1670, Seneca warriors from
3948-420: The Shawnee and Mingo relinquished their claim south of the Ohio. The Cherokee sold Richard Henderson a portion of their land encompassing extreme southwest Virginia in 1775 as part of the Transylvania purchase . This sale was not recognized by the royal colonial government, nor by the Chickamauga Cherokee war chief Dragging Canoe . But, contributing to the revolution, settlers entered Kentucky by rafting down
4032-474: The attack. It led to the Second Anglo-Powhatan War . In 1646, Opechancanough was captured by the English. Against orders, a guard shot him in the back and killed him. His death began the death of the Powhatan Confederacy. Opechancanough's successor, Necotowance signed his people's first treaty with the English in October 1646. The 1646 treaty delineated a racial frontier between Indian and English settlements, with members of each group forbidden to cross to
4116-418: The coast and in the Tidewater, Siouan in the central area and Piedmont, and Iroquoian generally in the backcountry and to the north. The language groups were the basis of shared cultures and identification. In 1607, the Mattaponi were identified by name by the English explorers John Smith , who noted that they were living along the Mattaponi River. William Strachey estimated their warriors at 140, meaning
4200-429: The duration of Pontiac's War, until 1766. Many colonists considered the Proclamation Line adjusted in 1768 by the Treaty of Hard Labour , which demarcated a border with the Cherokee nation running across southwestern Virginia, and by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix , by which the Iroquois Six Nations formally sold the British all their claim west of the Alleghenies, and south of the Ohio. However, this region (which included
4284-416: The fish, and cooking shellfish and vegetables for stew. In addition, women were largely responsible for the construction of new houses when the band moved for seasonal resources. Experienced women and older girls worked together to build the houses, with younger children assigned to assist. In 1607, when the English made their first permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia , the area of the current state
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#17327732263394368-406: The governor, council, or commissioners and land sales had to be conducted in quarter courts, where they would be public record. Through this formal process, the Wicocomico transferred their lands in Northumberland County to Governor Samuel Mathews in 1659. Necotowance thus ceded the English vast tracts of uncolonized land, much of it between the James and Blackwater Rivers. The treaty required
4452-580: The group organized as the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, and have been recognized by the state of Virginia. During the 1920s after being officially recognized, the tribe found it difficult to maintain their culture and identity. The state Racial Integrity Act of 1924 banned interracial marriage in the state of Virginia. The subsequent legislation required racial identification on birth certificates and marriage certificates and, in an effort at suppression of African Americans, many Upper Mattaponi were reclassified as black in official records because of being of mixed race. At
4536-612: The group. Powhatan sent food to the English, and was instrumental in helping the newcomers survive the early years. By fall 1609, when Smith left Virginia due to a gunpowder accident, relations between the two peoples had soured. In the absence of Smith, Native affairs fell to the leadership of Captain George Percy . The English and Powhatan's men led attacks on one another in near succession under Percy's time as negotiator. With both sides raiding in attempts to sabotage supplies and steal resources, English and Powhatan relations quickly fell apart. Their competition for land and resources led to
4620-475: The heat and humidity increased, the people could roll up or remove the mat walls for better air circulation. Inside a Powhatan house, bedsteads were built along both long walls. They were made of posts put in the ground, about a foot high or more, with small cross-poles attached. The framework was about 4 feet (1.2 m) wide, and was covered with reeds. One or more mats was placed on top for bedding, with more mats or skins for blankets. A rolled mat served as
4704-407: The interests of the Mattaponi Tribe in relationships with local, state, and federal governments. It maintains its obligations under the Treaty of Middle Plantation of 1677 by giving annual tribute to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Upper Mattaponi Tribe were a band settled on the upper reaches of the Mattaponi River. They did not belong to the reservation, and were organized around
4788-479: The land they had conquered as far as the Blue Ridge Mountains and south of the Potomac. This was confirmed at Albany in 1721. This clause was to be a bone of contention decades later, as it seemed to make the Blue Ridge the new demarcation between the Virginia Colony and Iroquois land. But the treaty technically stated that this mountain range was the border between the Iroquois and the Virginia Colony's Tributary Indians. White colonists considered this license to cross
4872-408: The late 16th century. The tribe spoke an Algonquian language, like other members of the Powhatan Chiefdom . The paramount chiefdom of the Powhatan numbered more than 30 tribes by the time the English arrived and settled Jamestown in 1607. In addition, a Mattaponi band had long been settled outside the reservation at an unincorporated hamlet called Adamstown, located on the upper reaches of
4956-427: The late 20th century. Today Virginia has seven federally recognized tribes and eleven state-recognized tribes , four of which lack federal recognition. Virginia has seven federally recognized tribes . These are tribes who can negotiate a government-to-government relationship with the United States. The Pamunkey Indian Tribe was the first tribe in Virginia to gain federal recognition, which they achieved through
5040-450: The local Croatan tribe, as well as related coastal tribes extending as far north as the Chesapeake Bay. There were no records of indigenous life before the Europeans started documenting their expeditions and colonization efforts. But scholars have used archaeological , linguistic and anthropological research to learn more about the cultures and lives of Native Americans in the region. Contemporary historians have also learned how to use
5124-409: The modern states of Kentucky, and West Virginia, as well as southwestern Virginia) was still populated by the other tribes, including the Cherokee, Shawnee, Lenape , and Mingo , who were not party to the sale. The Cherokee border had to be readjusted in 1770 at the Treaty of Lochaber , because European settlement in Southwest Virginia had already moved past the 1768 Hard Labour line. The following year
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#17327732263395208-399: The most coherent policies toward Native Americans during his term (1710–1722), and one that was relatively respectful of them. He envisioned having forts built along the frontier, which Tributary Nations would occupy, to act as buffers and go-betweens for trade with the tribes farther afield. They would also receive Christian instruction and civilization. The Virginia Indian Company was to hold
5292-402: The mountains with impunity, which the Iroquois resisted. This dispute, which first flared in 1736 as Europeans began to settle the Shenandoah Valley , came to a head in 1743. It was resolved the next year by the Treaty of Lancaster , settled in Pennsylvania. Following this treaty, some dispute remained as to whether the Iroquois had ceded only the Shenandoah Valley, or all their claims south of
5376-423: The other side except by special pass obtained at one of the newly erected border forts. By this treaty, the extent of the Virginia Colony open to patent by English colonists was defined as: All the land between the Blackwater and York rivers, and up to the navigable point of each of the major rivers - which were connected by a straight line running directly from modern Franklin on the Blackwater, northwesterly to
5460-412: The powerful Five Nations of the Iroquois from New York and Pennsylvania. French Jesuit maps prior to that were labeled showing that previous inhabitants included the Siouan "Oniasont" (Nahyssan) and the Tutelo or "Totteroy," the former name of Big Sandy River — and another name for the Yesan or Nahyssan . When the English first established the Virginia Colony , the Powhatan tribes had
5544-515: The present limits of Virginia. Throughout the 18th century, several tribes in Virginia lost their reservation lands. Shortly after 1700, the Rappahannock tribe lost its reservation; the Chickahominy tribe lost theirs in 1718, and the Nansemond tribe sold theirs in 1792 after the American Revolution. Some of their landless members intermarried with other ethnic groups and became assimilated. Others maintained ethnic and cultural identification despite intermarriage. In their matrilineal kinship systems,
5628-477: The side of the English. The treaty ushered in a time of peace between the Virginia tribes and the English. More tribal leaders signed the treaty of 1677 than that of nearly 30 years before. It reconfirmed the annual tribute payments and added the Siouan and Iroquoian tribes as Tributary Indians of the colonial government. The government established more reservation lands for the tribes, but required them in turn to acknowledge they and their peoples were subjects of
5712-408: The tidewater Virginia area and parts of the Eastern Shore, an area they called Tsenacommacah . Each of the more than 30 tribes of this confederacy had its own name and chief ( weroance or werowance , female weroansqua ). All paid tribute to a paramount chief ( mamanatowick ) or Powhatan , whose personal name was Wahunsenecawh . Succession and property inheritance in the tribe was governed by
5796-488: The time there was disregard for how people identified culturally. As a result, their continuity as a people was disrupted by records being inaccurate. In 1942 the Upper Mattaponi built the Indian View Baptist Church, the heart of their faith community. Next door is the Sharon Indian School . The original one-room school was built in 1917. Before then Mattaponi children were educated with the Pamunkey , with whom they were long linked by colonial and state governments. The school
5880-435: The tribe and their land against efforts by local officials and individuals to dispose of their property and deny their existence as a tribe. In 1812, the local government tried to take an acre of land from the Mattaponi for a dam, but they defeated the attempt. In 1843, the so-called "Gregory Petition" alleged that the Pamunkey and Mattaponi were no longer Indians. This effort to remove the Mattaponi and Pamunkey from their lands
5964-422: The tribe likely numbered about 450. During the second Anglo-Powhatan War of 1644–1646, the Mattaponi fled their homeland along the Mattaponi River and took refuge in the highlands along Piscataway Creek . With the cessation of hostilities, the tribe gradually returned to its homeland. In 1646, at the conclusion of the Anglo-Powhatan War, the Powhatan tribes signed their first treaty with the English. By treaty,
6048-531: The tribes sent twenty boys to the school. As the years passed, the number of Brafferton students decreased. By late in the 18th century, the Brafferton Fund was diverted elsewhere. From that time, the college was restricted to ethnic Europeans (or whites) until 1964, when the federal government passed civil rights legislation ending segregation in public facilities. Among the early Crown Governors of Virginia , Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood had one of
6132-713: The two powers in 1674 and 1684 formally recognized the Iroquois claim to Virginia above the Fall Line, which they had conquered from the Siouan peoples. At the same time, from 1671 to 1685, the Cherokee seized what are now the westernmost regions of Virginia from the Xualae . In 1677, following Bacon's Rebellion , the Treaty of Middle Plantation was signed, with more of the Virginia tribes participating. The treaty reinforced
6216-430: The way up into Canada. They lived in houses they called yihakans/yehakins, and which the English described as "longhouses". They were made from bent saplings lashed together at the top to make a barrel shape. The saplings were covered with woven mats or bark. The 17th-century historian William Strachey thought since bark was harder to acquire, families of higher status likely owned the bark-covered houses. In summer, when
6300-565: The yearly tribute payments, and a 1680 annexe added the Siouan and Iroquoian tribes of Virginia to the roster of Tributary Indians. It allowed for more reservation lands to be set up. The treaty was intended to assert that the Virginia Indian leaders were subjects of the King of England. In 1693 the College of William and Mary officially opened. One of the initial goals of the college was to educate Virginia Indian boys. Funding from
6384-459: Was Opecancanough who planned a coordinated attack on the English settlements, beginning on March 22, 1622. He wanted to punish English encroachments on Indian lands and hoped to run the colonists off entirely. His warriors killed about 350-400 settlers (up to one-third of the estimated total population of about 1,200), during the attack. The colonists called it the Indian massacre of 1622 . Jamestown
6468-571: Was also defeated. At about the same time, the historian Henry Howe reported two Indian groups living in King William County, the Pamunkey and the Mattaponi. In 1865, the Pamunkey Baptist Church was formed, which many Mattaponi attended over the years. Throughout the 19th century, the Mattaponi Tribe had its own tribal leadership. In 1868, the Mattaponi Tribe submitted a list of its chiefs, headmen and members to
6552-578: Was an attempt by colonial governments of New York and Virginia to end the wars between the Iroquois and southern tribes. The Iroquois had frequently been invading Virginia, including the portion along the Shenandoah and Ohio rivers. Settlers got caught up in the warfare, which kept the tribes in a state of high alert. The warfare prevented peaceful colonial settlement in the backcountry. The Mattaponi continued to occupy their reservation throughout
6636-511: Was occupied by numerous tribes of Algonquian , Siouan , and Iroquoian linguistic stock. Captain John Smith made contact with numerous tribes, including the Wicocomico . More than 30 Algonquian tribes were associated with the politically powerful Powhatan Confederacy (alternately Powhatan Chiefdom), whose homeland occupied much of the area east of the Fall Line along the coast. It spanned 100 by 100 miles (160 km), and covered most of
6720-402: Was reached between the two peoples. As noted, matrilineal kinship was stressed in Powhatan society. Pocahontas' marriage to John Rolfe linked the two peoples. The peace continued until after Pocahontas died in England in 1617 and her father in 1618. After Powhatan's death, the chiefdom passed to his brother Opitchapan. His succession was brief and the chiefdom passed to Opechancanough . It
6804-496: Was replaced with an eight-room structure in 1952. It closed in the 1960s with the end of official state racial segregation in public schools. The state returned the school to the tribe's jurisdiction and use in 1987. They now use it as a community center. In January 2022, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe purchased its first official unit of tribal housing, located in Central Garage, Virginia . Mollie Holmes Adams , named one of
6888-533: Was signed by Hardin Littlepage and William J. Trimmer, trustees for the tribe. Present-day tribal members trace their descendancy from individuals on that list. As the last two tribes to function as part of the Powhatan Chiefdom, the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Tribes were treated by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a single administrative entity until 1894. That year the Mattaponi formally separated from
6972-663: Was slain in 1794. In August 1780, having lost ground to the British army in South Carolina fighting, the Catawba Nation fled their reservation and temporarily hid in an unknown spot in Virginia. They may have occupied the mountainous region around Catawba, Virginia , in Roanoke County, which had not been yet settled by European Americans. They remained there in safety around nine months, until American general Nathanael Greene led them to South Carolina, after
7056-411: Was spared because Chanco , an Indian boy living with the English, warned the English about the impending attack. The English retaliated. Conflicts between the peoples continued for the next 10 years, until a tenuous peace was reached. In 1644, Opechancanough planned a second attack to turn the English out. Their population had reached about 8,000. His warriors again killed about 350-400 settlers in
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