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Concept
Patawomeck
Summary
Patawomeck is a Native American tribe based in Stafford County, Virginia, along the Potomac River. Patawomeck is another spelling of Potomac.
The Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia is a state-recognized tribe in Virginia that identifies as descendants of the Patawomeck.
The Patawomeck spoke an Eastern Algonquian language. The Patawomeck were one of 32 Algonquian-speaking peoples in the Tidewater area of present-day Virginia. The language is now extinct.
Revitalization efforts are underway. Classes use the audio and printed materials prepared by the linguist Blair Rudes for cast members who portrayed Native Americans in the film, The New World. Rudes reconstructed the Algonquian language as it was spoken in coastal Virginia in the early 17th century.
For thousands of years various cultures of Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands lived along the Potomac River and its tributaries in the coastal area. Archeological excavations have yielded much data about the prehistoric early cultures. At Indian Point on Potomac Creek, for instance, part of the later Patawomeck area, archeological excavations in the 1930s revealed a Native American burial ground (Potomac Creek, 44ST2). Researchers donated 134 skeletons from the grounds to the Smithsonian Institution. Now that the Patawomeck tribe has been recognized by the state, they may undertake claiming the remains for repatriation and burial under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), though a tribe has to be federally recognized to utilize NAGPRA without extra petitioning.
More recently, a 1996 archeological study by the College of William and Mary revealed Native American artifacts dating back to the 15th century. More than 10,000 artifacts were recovered, mostly pottery sherds of the "wrapped-cord type" common among local indigenous people. While the ancient village site is protected under historic preservation laws, the land is being steadily eroded by the creek.
Official source
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