Difference between revisions of "Powhatan" - New World Encyclopedia
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| + | {{about|the [[Algonquian people|Algonquian]] tribe|other uses|Powhatan (disambiguation)}} | ||
| + | [[Image:Powhatan john smith map.jpg|thumb|250px|Chief Powhatan in a longhouse at [[Werowocomoco]] (detail of John Smith map, 1612)]] | ||
| + | The '''Powhatan''' (also spelled '''Powatan''' and '''Powhaten'''), or '''Powhatan Renape'''<ref>The word "Renape", which means human[http://www.powhatan.org/history.html], is cognate with [[Lenape]], the name of another Algonquian-speaking tribe of what is now New Jersey and Pennsylvania.</ref> (literally, the "Powhatan Human Beings"), is the name of a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe, and also the name of a powerful [[Confederation|confederacy]] of tribes that they dominated. Also known as '''Virginia Algonquians''', they spoke an eastern-[[Algonquian]] language, and lived in what is now the eastern part of [[Virginia]] at the time of the first English-Native encounters. | ||
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| + | "Powhatan" was also the original name of the town that Wahunsunacock (the [[Chief Powhatan]]) came from (today the site of [[Richmond, Virginia]]), as well as the name of the river where it sat (today called the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]]). "Powhatan" is an [[Powhatan language|Virginia Algonquian]] word meaning "at the waterfalls";<ref>According to the ''Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes''; ''c.f.'' [[Anishinaabe language]]: ''Baawiting'' "at the falls/rapids" (=[[Sault Ste. Marie]])</ref><ref>Bright, William (2004). ''Native American Place Names of the United States''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 397</ref> the settlement of Powhatan was at the [[fall line|falls]] of the James River.<ref>http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/powhatan/powhatanchiefs.htm</ref> | ||
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| + | In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Wahunsunacock created a powerful empire by conquering or affiliating by agreement with approximately 30 tribes covering much of eastern Virginia, called [[Tenakomakah]] ("densely-inhabited Land")<ref>http://www.wm.edu/niahd/journals/index.php?browse=entry&id=4965 ''c.f.'' [[Anishinaabe language]]: ''danakamigaa'': "activity-grounds", ''i.e.'' "land of much events [for the People]"</ref>, and he himself was known as Chief Powhatan. However, beginning with the arrival of the English settlers at [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] in 1607, encroachment of the new arrivals and their ever-growing numbers on what had been Indian lands resulted in conflicts which became almost continuous for the next 37 years. | ||
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| + | After Wahunsunacock's death in 1618, hostilities escalated under the Chiefdom of his brother, [[Opechancanough]], who sought in vain to drive the Europeans away, leading the [[Indian Massacre of 1622]] and another in 1644. These attempts saw strong reprisals from the English, ultimately resulting in the near destruction of the tribe. The Powhatan Confederacy had been largely decimated by 1646. | ||
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| + | ==History== | ||
| + | ===Building the Powhatan Confederacy=== | ||
| + | The original six constituent tribes in Wahunsunacock's [[Powhatan Confederacy]] were: the '''Powhatans''' (proper), the [[Arrohatecks]], the [[Appamattucks]], the [[Pamunkey]]s, the [[Mattaponi]]s, and the [[Chiskiack]]s. He added the [[Kecoughtan, Virginia|Kecoughtan]]s to his fold by 1598. Another closely related tribe in the midst of these others, all speaking the same language, was the [[Chickahominy]], who managed to preserve their autonomy from the confederacy. | ||
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| + | Wahunsunacock had inherited control over just four tribes, but dominated over thirty by the time the English settlers established their [[Virginia Colony]] at [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] in 1607. | ||
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| + | ===The English settlers in the land of the Powhatan=== | ||
| + | The Powhatan Confederacy is famous as embracing those Indians among whom the first permanent English settlement in North America was made. This was also to be the downfall of the Native American empire. Conflicts began almost immediately, and within two weeks of the arrival at Jamestown, deaths had occurred. | ||
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| + | The settlers had hoped for friendly relations and had planned to trade with the Native Americans for food. Captain [[Christopher Newport]] led the first English exploration party up the James River in 1607 and first met Chief Powhatan and several of his sons. Newport later crowned the Chief with a ceremonial crown and presented him with many European gifts to gain the Indians' friendship. Newport realized that Chief Powhatan's friendship was crucial to the survival of the small Jamestown colony. | ||
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| + | On a hunting and trade mission on the [[Chickahominy River]], President of the Colony [[John Smith of Jamestown|Captain John Smith]] was captured by [[Opechancanough]], the younger brother of Chief Powhatan. According to Smith's account (which in the late 1800s was considered to be fabricated, but is still believed by some to be mostly accurate—although several highly romanticized popular versions cloud the matter), [[Pocahontas]], Powhatan's daughter, prevented her father from executing Smith. Some researchers have asserted that this was a ritual intended to adopt Smith into the tribe, but other modern writers dispute this interpretation, pointing out that nothing is known of seventeenth-century Powhatan adoption ceremonies, and that this sort of ritual is even different from known rites of passage. Further, these writes argue, Smith was not apparently treated as a member of the Powhatans after this ritual. | ||
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| + | John Smith left Virginia for England, in 1609, because of an injury sustained in a gunpowder accident (never to return). In September 1609, Captain [[John Ratcliffe]] was invited to Orapakes, Powhatan's new capital. When he sailed up the Pamunkey River to trade there, a fight broke out between the colonists and the Powhatans. All of the English were killed, including Ratcliffe, who was tortured by the women of the tribe. | ||
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| + | During the next year, the tribe attacked and killed many [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] residents. The residents fought back, but only killed twenty. However, arrival at Jamestown of a new Governor, [[Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr]], (Lord Delaware) in June of 1610 signalled the beginning of the [[First Anglo-Powhatan War]]. A brief period of peace only came after the marriage of Pocahontas and colonist [[John Rolfe]] in 1614. | ||
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| + | However, within a few years both the Chief and Pocahontas were dead from disease. The Chief died in Virginia, but Pocahontas died in England, having been captured and willingly married to the tobacco planter [[John Rolfe]]. Meanwhile, the English settlers continued to encroach on Powhatan territory. | ||
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| + | After Wahunsunacock's death, his younger brother, Opitchapam, became chief, followed by their younger brother [[Opechancanough]], who in 1622 and 1644 attempted to force the English from Powhatan territories. These attempts saw strong reprisals from the English, ultimately resulting in the near destruction of the tribe. During the 1644 [[Second Anglo–Powhatan War|incident]], 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 by a soldier (shot in the back) assigned to guard him. | ||
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| + | He was succeeded as [[Weroance]] by [[Nectowance]] and then by [[Totopotomoi]] and later by his daughter [[Cockacoeske]]. By 1665, the Powhatan were subject to stringent laws enacted that year, which compelled them to accept chiefs appointed by the governor. After the [[Treaty of Albany]] in 1684, the Powhatan Confederacy all but vanished. | ||
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| + | ==Capitals of the Powhatan Confederacy== | ||
| + | Besides the town of [[Powhatan (Native American Village)|Powhatan]] in the eastern part of the current city of [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], another capital of this confederacy was called [[Werowocomoco]]. It was located near the north bank of the [[York River (Virginia)|York River]] in present-day [[Gloucester County, Virginia|Gloucester County]]. This was only 20 miles as the crow flies from Jamestown. | ||
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| + | Around 1609, Wahunsunacock shifted his capital from Werowocomoco to [[Orapakes]], located in a swamp at the head of the [[Chickahominy River]], near the modern-day interchange of [[Interstate 64]] and [[Interstate 295 (Virginia)|Interstate 295]]. Sometime between 1611 and 1614, he moved further north to [[Matchut]], in present-day [[King William County, Virginia|King William County]] on the north bank of the [[Pamunkey River]], near where his brother Opechancanough ruled at [[Youghtanund]]. | ||
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| + | ==Characteristics== | ||
| + | The Powhatan lived east of the fall line in [[Tidewater Virginia]]. Their houses were made of poles, rushes, and bark, and they supported themselves primarily by growing crops, especially [[maize]], but also by some fishing and hunting. Villages consisted of a number of related families organized in tribes that were led by a king or queen, who was a client of the Emperor and a member of his council. | ||
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| + | According to research by the National Park Service, Powhatan "men were warriors and hunters, while women were gardeners and gatherers. The English described the men, who ran and walked extensively through the woods in pursuit of enemies or game, as tall and lean and possessed of handsome physiques. The women were shorter, and were strong because of the hours they spent tending crops, pounding corn into meal, gathering nuts, and performing other domestic chores.When the men undertook extended hunts, the women went ahead of them to construct hunting camps. The Powhatan domestic economy depended on the labor of both sexes." <ref>http://www.johnsmith400.org/2TheChesapeakeBayRegionanditsPeoplein1607.pdf</ref> | ||
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| + | ==Powhatan today== | ||
| + | Approximately 3,000 Powhatan people remain in Virginia. Some of them live today on two tiny reservations, [[Mattaponi]] and [[Pamunkey]], found in [[King William County, Virginia]]. However, the Powhatan language is now extinct. Attempts have been made to reconstruct the vocabulary of the language; the only sources are word lists provided by Smith and by [[William Strachey]]. | ||
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| + | The American entertainer [[Wayne Newton]] is of mixed Powhatan, Cherokee, Irish, and German ancestry. | ||
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| + | [[Powhatan County, Virginia|Powhatan County]] was named in honor of the Chief and his tribe, although located about 60 miles to the west of lands ever under their control. In the [[independent city]] of [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], Powhatan Hill in the city's east end is traditionally believed to be located near the village Chief Powhatan was originally from, although the specific location of the site is unknown. | ||
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| + | ==Powhatan in film== | ||
| + | The Powhatan people are featured in the [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]] animated film ''[[Pocahontas (1995 film)|Pocahontas]]'' (1995). An attempt at a more historically accurate representation of them appears in ''[[The New World]]'' (2005). | ||
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| + | ==Notes== | ||
| + | <references/> | ||
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| + | ==Further reading== | ||
| + | *A. Bryant Nichols Jr., ''Captain Christopher Newport: Admiral of Virginia'', Sea Venture, 2007 | ||
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| + | ==External links== | ||
| + | * [http://www.virginiaplaces.org/nativeamerican/anglopowhatan.html The Anglo-Powhatan Wars] | ||
| + | * [http://www.powhatan.org/ Powhatan Renape Nation] — Rankokus American Indian Reservation | ||
| + | * [http://www.ngm.com/jamestown National Geographic Magazine Jamestown/Werowocomoco Interactive] | ||
| + | * [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/uonc-ucl011906.php UNC Charlotte linguist Blair Rudes restores lost language, culture for 'The New World'] | ||
| + | * [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10950199 How a linguist revived 'New World' language] | ||
| + | * [http://www.kentuckykinfolkorganization.com/descendantofSamuelBurks.html Princess Cleopatra] | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{credits|Powhatan|141177512}} | ||
Revision as of 04:13, 18 July 2007
- This article is about the Algonquian tribe. For other uses, see Powhatan (disambiguation).
The Powhatan (also spelled Powatan and Powhaten), or Powhatan Renape[1] (literally, the "Powhatan Human Beings"), is the name of a Native American tribe, and also the name of a powerful confederacy of tribes that they dominated. Also known as Virginia Algonquians, they spoke an eastern-Algonquian language, and lived in what is now the eastern part of Virginia at the time of the first English-Native encounters.
"Powhatan" was also the original name of the town that Wahunsunacock (the Chief Powhatan) came from (today the site of Richmond, Virginia), as well as the name of the river where it sat (today called the James River). "Powhatan" is an Virginia Algonquian word meaning "at the waterfalls";[2][3] the settlement of Powhatan was at the falls of the James River.[4]
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Wahunsunacock created a powerful empire by conquering or affiliating by agreement with approximately 30 tribes covering much of eastern Virginia, called Tenakomakah ("densely-inhabited Land")[5], and he himself was known as Chief Powhatan. However, beginning with the arrival of the English settlers at Jamestown in 1607, encroachment of the new arrivals and their ever-growing numbers on what had been Indian lands resulted in conflicts which became almost continuous for the next 37 years.
After Wahunsunacock's death in 1618, hostilities escalated under the Chiefdom of his brother, Opechancanough, who sought in vain to drive the Europeans away, leading the Indian Massacre of 1622 and another in 1644. These attempts saw strong reprisals from the English, ultimately resulting in the near destruction of the tribe. The Powhatan Confederacy had been largely decimated by 1646.
History
Building the Powhatan Confederacy
The original six constituent tribes in Wahunsunacock's Powhatan Confederacy were: the Powhatans (proper), the Arrohatecks, the Appamattucks, the Pamunkeys, the Mattaponis, and the Chiskiacks. He added the Kecoughtans to his fold by 1598. Another closely related tribe in the midst of these others, all speaking the same language, was the Chickahominy, who managed to preserve their autonomy from the confederacy.
Wahunsunacock had inherited control over just four tribes, but dominated over thirty by the time the English settlers established their Virginia Colony at Jamestown in 1607.
The English settlers in the land of the Powhatan
The Powhatan Confederacy is famous as embracing those Indians among whom the first permanent English settlement in North America was made. This was also to be the downfall of the Native American empire. Conflicts began almost immediately, and within two weeks of the arrival at Jamestown, deaths had occurred.
The settlers had hoped for friendly relations and had planned to trade with the Native Americans for food. Captain Christopher Newport led the first English exploration party up the James River in 1607 and first met Chief Powhatan and several of his sons. Newport later crowned the Chief with a ceremonial crown and presented him with many European gifts to gain the Indians' friendship. Newport realized that Chief Powhatan's friendship was crucial to the survival of the small Jamestown colony.
On a hunting and trade mission on the Chickahominy River, President of the Colony Captain John Smith was captured by Opechancanough, the younger brother of Chief Powhatan. According to Smith's account (which in the late 1800s was considered to be fabricated, but is still believed by some to be mostly accurate—although several highly romanticized popular versions cloud the matter), Pocahontas, Powhatan's daughter, prevented her father from executing Smith. Some researchers have asserted that this was a ritual intended to adopt Smith into the tribe, but other modern writers dispute this interpretation, pointing out that nothing is known of seventeenth-century Powhatan adoption ceremonies, and that this sort of ritual is even different from known rites of passage. Further, these writes argue, Smith was not apparently treated as a member of the Powhatans after this ritual.
John Smith left Virginia for England, in 1609, because of an injury sustained in a gunpowder accident (never to return). In September 1609, Captain John Ratcliffe was invited to Orapakes, Powhatan's new capital. When he sailed up the Pamunkey River to trade there, a fight broke out between the colonists and the Powhatans. All of the English were killed, including Ratcliffe, who was tortured by the women of the tribe.
During the next year, the tribe attacked and killed many Jamestown residents. The residents fought back, but only killed twenty. However, arrival at Jamestown of a new Governor, Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, (Lord Delaware) in June of 1610 signalled the beginning of the First Anglo-Powhatan War. A brief period of peace only came after the marriage of Pocahontas and colonist John Rolfe in 1614.
However, within a few years both the Chief and Pocahontas were dead from disease. The Chief died in Virginia, but Pocahontas died in England, having been captured and willingly married to the tobacco planter John Rolfe. Meanwhile, the English settlers continued to encroach on Powhatan territory.
After Wahunsunacock's death, his younger brother, Opitchapam, became chief, followed by their younger brother Opechancanough, who in 1622 and 1644 attempted to force the English from Powhatan territories. These attempts saw strong reprisals from the English, ultimately resulting in the near destruction of the tribe. During the 1644 incident, 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 by a soldier (shot in the back) assigned to guard him.
He was succeeded as Weroance by Nectowance and then by Totopotomoi and later by his daughter Cockacoeske. By 1665, the Powhatan were subject to stringent laws enacted that year, which compelled them to accept chiefs appointed by the governor. After the Treaty of Albany in 1684, the Powhatan Confederacy all but vanished.
Capitals of the Powhatan Confederacy
Besides the town of Powhatan in the eastern part of the current city of Richmond, another capital of this confederacy was called Werowocomoco. It was located near the north bank of the York River in present-day Gloucester County. This was only 20 miles as the crow flies from Jamestown.
Around 1609, Wahunsunacock shifted his capital from Werowocomoco to Orapakes, located in a swamp at the head of the Chickahominy River, near the modern-day interchange of Interstate 64 and Interstate 295. Sometime between 1611 and 1614, he moved further north to Matchut, in present-day King William County on the north bank of the Pamunkey River, near where his brother Opechancanough ruled at Youghtanund.
Characteristics
The Powhatan lived east of the fall line in Tidewater Virginia. Their houses were made of poles, rushes, and bark, and they supported themselves primarily by growing crops, especially maize, but also by some fishing and hunting. Villages consisted of a number of related families organized in tribes that were led by a king or queen, who was a client of the Emperor and a member of his council.
According to research by the National Park Service, Powhatan "men were warriors and hunters, while women were gardeners and gatherers. The English described the men, who ran and walked extensively through the woods in pursuit of enemies or game, as tall and lean and possessed of handsome physiques. The women were shorter, and were strong because of the hours they spent tending crops, pounding corn into meal, gathering nuts, and performing other domestic chores.When the men undertook extended hunts, the women went ahead of them to construct hunting camps. The Powhatan domestic economy depended on the labor of both sexes." [6]
Powhatan today
Approximately 3,000 Powhatan people remain in Virginia. Some of them live today on two tiny reservations, Mattaponi and Pamunkey, found in King William County, Virginia. However, the Powhatan language is now extinct. Attempts have been made to reconstruct the vocabulary of the language; the only sources are word lists provided by Smith and by William Strachey.
The American entertainer Wayne Newton is of mixed Powhatan, Cherokee, Irish, and German ancestry.
Powhatan County was named in honor of the Chief and his tribe, although located about 60 miles to the west of lands ever under their control. In the independent city of Richmond, Powhatan Hill in the city's east end is traditionally believed to be located near the village Chief Powhatan was originally from, although the specific location of the site is unknown.
Powhatan in film
The Powhatan people are featured in the Disney animated film Pocahontas (1995). An attempt at a more historically accurate representation of them appears in The New World (2005).
Notes
- ↑ The word "Renape", which means human[1], is cognate with Lenape, the name of another Algonquian-speaking tribe of what is now New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
- ↑ According to the Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes; c.f. Anishinaabe language: Baawiting "at the falls/rapids" (=Sault Ste. Marie)
- ↑ Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 397
- ↑ http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/powhatan/powhatanchiefs.htm
- ↑ http://www.wm.edu/niahd/journals/index.php?browse=entry&id=4965 c.f. Anishinaabe language: danakamigaa: "activity-grounds", i.e. "land of much events [for the People]"
- ↑ http://www.johnsmith400.org/2TheChesapeakeBayRegionanditsPeoplein1607.pdf
Further reading
- A. Bryant Nichols Jr., Captain Christopher Newport: Admiral of Virginia, Sea Venture, 2007
External links
- The Anglo-Powhatan Wars
- Powhatan Renape Nation — Rankokus American Indian Reservation
- National Geographic Magazine Jamestown/Werowocomoco Interactive
- UNC Charlotte linguist Blair Rudes restores lost language, culture for 'The New World'
- How a linguist revived 'New World' language
- Princess Cleopatra
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