The Powhatan Confederacy ( )"Powhatan". Collins English Dictionary. was a confederacy of Native American nations in Tsenacommacah, now also called Tidewater Virginia. The confederacy was led by a Mamanatowick and a council of advisors. Meanwhile, each member nation was led by its own sovereign Weroance. Most members of the confederacy likely spoke Algonquian languages.
In 1607, an estimated 14,000 to 21,000 people lived in the confederacy.Keith Egloff and Deborah Woodward. First People: The Early Indians of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1992 In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the confederacy was led by Wahunsenacawh. English colonists used the term Powhatan to refer to Wahunsenacawh.Wood, Karenne. The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail, 2007. The confederacy expanded to around thirty members at its peak, who joined through marriages, alliances, and wars.
After Wahunsenacawh died in 1618, hostilities with colonists escalated under his brother, Opchanacanough, who unsuccessfully tried to repel encroaching English colonists. By 1700, the confederacy's population had been decimated, by warfare and infectious diseases, such as measles and smallpox that were introduced to North America by the Europeans. At least 75 percent of the Powhatan Confederacy's population died from these diseases in the 17th century alone.
The Commonwealth of Virginia recognizes eight Native American tribes with ancestral ties to the Powhatan Confederacy. The Pamunkey and Mattaponi are the only tribes that have retained reservation lands from the 17th century. Today, many descendants of the Powhatan Confederacy are enrolled in six federally recognized tribes in Virginia. They are: Chickahominy Indian Tribe Chickahominy Indian Tribe–Eastern Division Nansemond Indian Nation Pamunkey Indian Tribe Rappahannock Tribe, Inc. Upper Mattaponi Tribe
Naming and terminology The name Powhatan, also spelled Powatan, referred to both the capital and the leading nation of the confederacy, sometimes called the Powhatan proper to distinguish them. The English colonists used Powhatan as a title; this usage may be been derived from the name of the Powhatan capital, which was Wahunsenacawh's hometown. Although the specific site of Wahunsenacawh's hometown is unknown, the Powhatan Hill neighborhood in the East End portion of Richmond, Virginia is believed to be near the original town. Tree Hill Farm in Henrico County is also a possible site. English colonial historians also often use it as a title.Sandra F. Waugaman and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz. We're Still Here: Contemporary Virginia Indians Tell Their Stories. Richmond: Palari Publishing, 2006 (revised edition).
Powhata was also the name used by the native people to refer to the river where the town sat at the head of navigation. The English colonists renamed it the James River after King James I. The only water body in Virginia to retain a name related to the Powhatan people is Powhatan Creek, located in James City County, near Williamsburg. Powhatan County and its county seat at Powhatan, Virginia, were honorific names established years later.
Early history Each member of the Powhatan Confederacy held individual powers over their own lands and each had their own leader known as a Weroance (man) or Weroansqua (woman)."Chronology of Powhatan Indian Activity", National Park Service As early as the era of John Smith, the various nations were recognized by English colonists as being members of a massive confederacy led by a Mamanatowick."Writers' Guide" , Virginia Council on Indians, Commonwealth of Virginia, 2009
In 1607, when the first permanent English colonial settlement in North America was founded at Jamestown, the Mamanatowick governed primarily from Werowocomoco, which was located on the northern shore of the York River. Wahunsenacawh had inherited control over six nations from his mother. By 1607, his confederacy had expanded to include more than thirty tribes. The original six tribes inherited by Wahunsenacawh were the Powhatan (proper), the Arrohattoc, the Appamattuck, the Pamunkey, the Mattaponi, and the Chiskiack.
The Kecoughtan joined the confederacy in 1598. Some other members included the Rappahannock, Moraughtacund, Weyanoak, Paspahegh, Quiyoughcohannock, Warraskoyack, and Nansemond. Another tribe from Tsenacommacah was the Chickahominy, who managed to preserve their independence from the confederacy. The Accawmacke, located on the Eastern Shore across the Chesapeake Bay, were nominally a member of the Powhatan Confederacy but enjoyed more autonomy under their own ruler, Debedeavon (aka "The Laughing King"). Around 30,000 people were citizens of the Powhatan Confederacy at the time of European contact; however, by 1677 only five percent of this population remained. The huge death toll was caused by diseases, mass enslavement, and warfare with Europeans.
In his Notes on the State of Virginia (1781–1782), Thomas Jefferson estimated that the Powhatan Confederacy occupied about of territory, with a population of about 8,000 people, of whom 2,400 were soldiers.Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Later scholars estimated the total population of the country as 15,000.
English settlers in the land of the Powhatan
The lands where the English colonists established Jamestown, their first permanent settlement in North America, were governed by the Powhatan Confederacy. Warfare began immediately because the colonists fired shots as soon as they arrived (due to a bad experience they had with the Spanish before their arrival). Within two weeks of the arrival of English colonists at Jamestown, deaths had occurred.
On a hunting and trade mission on the Chickahominy River in December 1607, Captain John Smith wrote that he fought a small battle with the Opechancanough, and during this battle, he tied his guide to his body as a human shield. Although Smith was wounded in the leg and also had many arrows in his clothing, he was not deathly injured. Soon after, he was captured by the Opechancanough.
After Smith was captured, the Opechancanough prepared him for execution until he gave them a compass, which they saw as a sign of friendliness, so they did not kill him; instead, they took him to a more popular Weroance, followed by a ceremony. Smith was first introduced to Powhatan's brother, who was a Weroance. Later, Smith was introduced to Wahunsenacawh himself. Smith was captured by Opechancanough, the younger brother of Wahunsenacawh. Smith became the first English colonist to meet the Mamanatowick. According to Smith's account, Pocahontas, Powhatan's daughter, prevented her father from executing Smith.
Some researchers have asserted that a mock execution of Smith was a ritual intended to adopt Smith into the tribe, but other modern writers dispute this interpretation, noting that many of Smith's stories do not line up with the known facts. They point out that nothing is known of 17th-century Powhatan adoption ceremonies and that an execution ritual is different from known rites of passage. Other historians, such as Helen C. Rountree, have questioned whether there was any risk of execution. Smith failed to mention this incident in his 1608 and 1612 accounts, only adding it to his 1624 memoir after Pocahontas had become famous.
In 1608, Captain Newport realized that an alliance with the confederacy was crucial to the survival of the small and weak Jamestown colony. In the summer of that year, he tried to "crown" the Mamanatowick with a ceremonial crown to trick him into becoming a vassal of the English crown.Rountree, Helen C. and E. Randolph Turner III. Before and After Jamestown: Virginia's Powhatans and Their Predecessors. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002. They also gave out many gifts from Europe, such as a pitcher, a feather mattress, a bed frame, and clothes. The coronation went badly because they asked Powhatan to kneel to receive the crown, which he refused. As a powerful leader, Powhatan followed two rules: "he who keeps his head higher than others ranks higher," and "he who puts other people in a vulnerable position, without altering his own stance, ranks higher." To finish the "coronation", several English colonists had to lean on Powhatan's shoulders to get him low enough to place the crown on his head, as he was a tall man. Afterward, the English colonists might have thought that Powhatan had submitted to King James, whereas Powhatan likely thought nothing of the sort.Rountree, Helen C. Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2005
After John Smith became president of the Virginia Colony, he sent a force under Captain Martin to occupy an island in Nansemond territory and drive its native inhabitants away. At the same time, he sent another force with Francis West to build a fort at the James River Falls. This attempt at settling beyond Jamestown soon failed due to the natives' resistance. Smith left Virginia for England in October 1609, never to return, due to an injury sustained in a gunpowder accident. Soon afterward in 1609, English colonists established a second fort, Fort Algernon, in Kecoughtan territory.
Anglo-Powhatan Wars and treaties
In November 1609, Captain John Ratcliffe was invited to Orapax, the Powhatan Confederacy's new capital. After Ratcliffe sailed up the Pamunkey River to trade, a fight broke out between the colonists and the natives. All of the English colonists ashore were killed, including Ratcliffe, who was ritually tortured by the women of the tribe. Those aboard the pinnace escaped and told the tale at Jamestown.
During the next year, the confederacy attacked and killed many Jamestown residents. Jamestown fought back, but only killed twenty from the confederacy. The arrival of a new governor, Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, (Lord Delaware), in June 1610 signaled the beginning of the First Anglo-Powhatan War. A brief period of peace came only after the capture of Pocahontas, her baptism, and her marriage to a tobacco planter, John Rolfe, in 1614. Within a few years, both Powhatan and Pocahontas were dead. Powhatan died in Virginia, while Pocahontas died in England. English settlement in confederacy territory continued unabated.
After Wahunsenacawh's death, his younger brother, Opitchapam, briefly became Mamanatowick, followed by their younger brother Opechancanough. The native's survival was threatened by the influx of English settlers who built towns on traditional farming lands, creating a need for the natives to purchase food from the settlers. The English also forcibly placed native youth in "colleges."
In March 1622, the confederacy attacked the Jamestown plantations, killing hundreds. The settlers quickly sought retaliation, killing hundreds of natives and burning fields. In 1644, the confederacy again attacked English colonial settlements to force them from the confederacy's territories; their attack was again met with strong reprisals from the colonists, ultimately resulting in the near destruction of the confederacy. The Second Anglo–Powhatan War that followed the 1644 incident ended in 1646 after Royal Governor of Virginia William Berkeley's forces captured Opechancanough, thought to be between 90 and 100 years old. While a prisoner, Opechancanough was killed, shot in the back by a soldier assigned to guard him. He was succeeded as Mamanatowick by Necotowance, and later by his daughter Cockacoeske.