Visit The Historic Triangle
Virginia Indians
Before the English arrived, about 15,000 Powhatan Indian people lived in lands they called Tsenacommacah. Their territories stretched from south of the James River to the Potomac and inland to the geologic boundary known as the Fall Line, and incorporated more than 30 tribes including those on the Eastern Shore. They were ruled by a powerful paramount chief, Powhatan (also knows as Wahunsonacock), under whose leadership Tsenacommacah has expanded steadily from the 1570s. Powhatan Indians had in common their ability to live off the land, primarily by farming but also by hunting, fishing, and gathering. They also had extensive trading networks to the north, south, and west.
With the arrival of the English and expansion of settlement along the James River valley, confrontations between the Powhatans and colonists began, rapidly deteriorating into armed conflict. In 1622, the Powhatan people led by the Pamunkey chief Opechancanough inflicted heavy casualties, but were unable to drive the settlers away. By the 1640s, Indians were forced onto reservations or moved out of the region. Throughout the 17th century their numbers declined until there were fewer than a thousand in tidewater Virginia.
Despite war, European diseases, and the loss of their lands, Virginia Indians survived. The Commonwealth of Virginia today recognizes eight tribes: the Monacan, Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Nansemond, Pamunkey, United Rappahannock, and Upper Mattaponi. Many Virginia Indians live on their traditional homelands and maintain their distinctive cultures.
TopDon't Miss
Historic Jamestowne
Virginia Indians occupied Jamestown Island before the arrival of the English in 1607. A reconstructed hearth site from a seasonal hunting and fishing camp site dating to 2000 years ago can be seen in the Jamestown Visitor Center. Archaeologists have only recently unearthed the site of the colonists’ original fort, long thought to have been washed away by the James River. The new Archaearium interprets how archaeologists found the site and displays hundreds of artifacts (including those of Indian peoples) excavated there.
Jamestown Settlement
A new introductory film and gallery exhibits chronicle the nation’s 17th-century beginnings in Virginia in the context of its Powhatan Indian, English, and African cultures. Gallery exhibits feature full-scale dioramas portraying a Powhatan Indian setting, and exploring the complexity of the relationship between Virginia’s colonists and the native peoples. In an outdoor re-creation of a Powhatan Indian village, historical interpreters discuss and demonstrate the Powhatan way of life.
Visit: http://www.historyisfun.org
Colonial Williamsburg
During the American Revolution, American and British forces allied themselves with Indian nations on the western frontier. In a Revolutionary City scene, the British governor of Detroit, Henry Hamilton, who was captured in the summer of 1779 and brought to Williamsburg, gives his view of the war in the west.
Yorktown Victory Center
Among 10 individuals profiled in The Witnesses to Revolution Gallery is a Mohawk chief who struggled to remain neutral during the American Revolution. “The Legacy of Yorktown: Virginia Beckons” examines how people from Powhatan Indian, European, and African cultures contributed to our national identity.
Visit: http://www.historyisfun.org
