PocahontasPocahontas (USˌpoʊkəˈhɒntəs, UKˌpɒk-; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribes in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of what is today the U.S. state Virginia. Pocahontas was captured and held for ransom by English colonists during hostilities in 1613.
PamunkeyThe Pamunkey Indian Tribe is one of 11 Virginia Indian tribal governments recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the state's first federally recognized tribe, receiving its status in January 2016. Six other Virginia tribal governments, the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan, and the Nansemond, were similarly recognized through the passage of the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017 on January 12, 2018.
Native American tribes in VirginiaThe Native American tribes in Virginia are the indigenous tribes who currently live or have historically lived in what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. All of the Commonwealth of Virginia used to be Virginia Indian territory. Indigenous peoples have occupied the region for at least 12,000 years. Their population has been estimated to have been about 50,000 at the time of European colonization.
TsenacommacahTsenacommacah (pronounced ˌsɛnəˈkɒməkə in English; "densely inhabited land"; also written Tscenocomoco, Tsenacomoco, Tenakomakah, Attanoughkomouck, and Attan-Akamik) is the name given by the Powhatan people to their native homeland, the area encompassing all of Tidewater Virginia and parts of the Eastern Shore. More precisely, its boundaries spanned by from near the south side of the mouth of the James River all the way north to the south end of the Potomac River and from the Eastern Shore west to about the Fall Line of the rivers.
Piscataway peopleThe Piscataway pɪsˈkætəˌweɪ or Piscatawa pɪsˈkætəˌweɪ,_ˌpɪskəˈtɑːwə, are Native Americans. They spoke Algonquian Piscataway, a dialect of Nanticoke. One of their neighboring tribes, with whom they merged after a massive decline of population following two centuries of interactions with European settlers, called them the Conoy. Two major groups representing Piscataway descendants received state recognition as Native American tribes in 2012: the Piscataway Indian Nation and Tayac Territory and the Piscataway Conoy Tribe of Maryland.
Algonquian peoplesThe Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups. They historically were prominent along the Atlantic Coast and in the interior regions along Saint Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes. This grouping consists of the peoples who speak Algonquian languages. Before Europeans came into contact, most Algonquian settlements lived by hunting and fishing, although many of them supplemented their diet by cultivating corn, beans and squash (the "Three Sisters").
PatawomeckPatawomeck 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.
ChowanokeThe Chowanoke, also spelled Chowanoc, were an Algonquian-language Native American tribe who historically inhabited the coastal area of the Upper South of the United States. At the time of the first English contacts in 1585 and 1586, they were the largest and most powerful Algonquian tribe in present-day North Carolina, occupying most or all of the coastal banks of the Chowan River in the northeastern part of the state. Their peoples had occupied their main town since 825 AD. Earlier Indigenous cultures occupied the area from 4500 BC.
Colony of VirginiaWhen the Colony of Virginia was originally chartered in 1584 and established in 1585, the colony lasted for 3 attempts totaling 6 years. In 1590 the colony was abandoned. But nearly 20 years later, the colony was re-settled not far north of the original site. The 2nd charter was issued in 1606 and settled in 1607. It was the first enduring English colony in North America. It followed failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583 and the Roanoke Colony (in modern eastern North Carolina) by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 1580s.
PaspaheghThe Paspahegh tribe was a Native American tributary to the Powhatan paramount chiefdom, incorporated into the chiefdom around 1596 or 1597. The Paspahegh Indian tribe lived in present-day Charles City and James City counties, Virginia. The Powhatan Confederacy included Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who spoke a related Eastern Algonquian languages. The Paspehegh were among the earliest tribes interact with British colonists, who established their first permanent settlement in the Virginia Colony at Jamestown in their territory, beginning on May 14, 1607.
