Native American tribes in Virginia

Part of a series on
Native Americans in the United States
History Paleo-Indians Lithic stage Archaic period in the Americas Formative stage Classic stage Post-Classic stage Woodland period Age of Discovery European colonization of the Americas Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas Genocide Slavery Slavery in the United States Partus sequitur ventrem Indian Removal Act Trail of Tears Native American slave ownership Indian Territory American Civil War Dawes Rolls Cultural assimilation of Native Americans Racism against Native Americans Indian Appropriations Act Racial Integrity Act Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 Jim Crow laws Blood quantum laws Native Americans and World War II American Indian boarding schools Civil rights movement Red Power movement Native American rights Alcohol and Native Americans Native American temperance activists
Culture Mississippian culture Adena culture Hohokam culture Iroquois culture Art Food Music Pow wow Dance Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Film Indigenous Peoples' Day Literature Fashion Neighborhoods Health Tribal sovereignty
Wars Beaver Wars Anglo-Powhatan Wars Pequot War Kieft's War Peach Tree War Esopus Wars King Philip's War Tuscarora War Yamasee War Dummer's War Pontiac's War Lord Dunmore's War American Revolutionary War Cherokee–American wars Northwest Indian War War of 1812 Creek War Arikara War Seminole Wars / Second Seminole War Osage Indian War American Civil War Comanche Campaign (1867–1875) / Red River War (1874–1875) / Buffalo Hunters' War (1876–1877) Cayuse War Post 1887 Apache Wars period (1887–1924) Yuma War White River War (1879) / Ute War (1887) / Bluff War (1914–1915) / Bluff Skirmish (1921) Posey War (1923) Sioux Wars (1854–1891) / First Sioux War (1854-1856) / Dakota War (1862) / Colorado War (1863–1865) / Powder River War (1865) / Red Cloud's War (1866–1868) / Great Sioux War (1876–1877) / Northern Cheyenne Exodus (1878-1879) / Ghost Dance War (1890–1891) Rogue River Wars (1855–1856) Yakima War (1855–1858) / Puget Sound War (1855–1856) / Coeur d'Alene War (1858) Mohave War(1858–1859) Navajo Wars (1849–1866) Paiute War(1860) Yavapai Wars(1861–1875) Snake War (1864–1869) Hualapai War (1865–1870) Modoc War (1872–1873) Nez Perce War (1877) Bannock War (1878) Crow War (1887) Bannock Uprising (1895) Yaqui Uprising (1896) Battle of Sugar Point (1898) Crazy Snake Rebellion (1909) Last Massacre (1911) Battle of Kelley Creek (1911) Battle of Bear Valley (1918)
Political movements Civil rights movement Self-determination Nationalism American Indian Movement (AIM) Red Power Movement Occupation of Alcatraz Trail of Broken Treaties Occupation of Wounded Knee MMIW (Red handprint)
Religion American Indian Religious Freedom Act Christianity Eagle Feather law Mormonism Traditional religions Native American church Sun Dance Longhouse Religion
Groups National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Native American Rights Fund (NARF) National Congress of American Indians National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) Women of All Red Nations (WARN) The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC)
Ethnic subdivisions Black Indians Indigenous peoples of the Americas Louisiana Creole
Languages English American English Native American languages
Demographics Neighborhoods Societal statistics Reservations Tribal disenrollment Reservation poverty
Geography by region Great Basin Northeastern Woodlands Northwest Plateau Pacific Northwest The Great Plains Southeastern Woodlands Southwest by state Alaska Arizona California Colorado Florida Hawaii Iowa Maryland Michigan Nebraska North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Virginia Wisconsin
Lists Native Americans artists actors war leaders musicians congressional politicians Native American Medal of Honor recipients List of federally recognized tribes List of federally recognized tribes by state List of Indian reservations in the United States
v t e

The Native American tribes in Virginia are the

Native peoples lived throughout Virginia for at least 12,000 years.

During English colonization and the formation of the United States, most Virginia tribes had lost their lands and their populations declined due to introduced diseases and warfare. Assimilationist policies also contributed to Indigenous erasure.

Surviving local tribes reorganized their governments in the late 20th century. Today Virginia has seven

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe was the first tribe in Virginia to gain federal recognition, which they achieved through the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2015.^[5] In 2017, Congress recognized six more tribes through the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act.^[4]

The federally recognized tribes in Virginia are:

1. Chickahominy Indian Tribe
2. Chickahominy Indian Tribe–Eastern Division
3. Monacan Indian Nation
4. Nansemond Indian Nation
5. Pamunkey Indian Tribe
6. Rappahannock Tribe, Inc.
7. Upper Mattaponi Tribe.^[4][3]

The eleven state-recognized tribes in Virginia are:

1. Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe^[7]
2. Chickahominy Indian Tribe, also federally recognized^[3]
3. Chickahominy Indian Tribe–Eastern Division, also federally recognized^[3]
4. Mattaponi Indian Nation^[7]
5. Monacan Indian Nation, also federally recognized[3]
6. Nansemond Indian Nation, also federally recognized^[3]
7. Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia^[7]
8. Pamunkey Indian Tribe, also federally recognized^[3]
9. Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia^[7]
10. Rappahannock Indian Tribe, also federally recognized^[3]
11. Upper Mattaponi Tribe, also federally recognized^[3][4]

History

History of Virginia
By year Colony of Virginia American Revolution U.S. Civil War Post–Civil War Topics: African-Americans • Cities • Politics • Slavery
Virginia portal
v t e

16th century

The first European explorers in what is now Virginia were

In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in his expedition to the North American continent encountered the Chisca people, who lived in present-day southwestern Virginia. In the spring of 1567, the conquistador Juan Pardo was based at Fort San Juan, built near the Mississippian culture center of Joara in present-day western North Carolina. He sent a detachment under Hernando Moyano de Morales into present-day Virginia. This expedition destroyed the Chisca village of Maniatique. The site was later developed as the present-day town of Saltville, Virginia.^[9]

Meanwhile, as early as 1559–60, the Spanish had explored Virginia, which they called

English attempts to settle the Roanoke Colony in 1585–87 failed. Although the island site is located in present-day North Carolina, the English considered it part of the Virginia territory. The English collected ethnological information about the local Croatan tribe, as well as related coastal tribes extending as far north as the Chesapeake Bay.

There were no records of indigenous life before the Europeans started documenting their expeditions and colonization efforts. But scholars have used

According to colonial historian William Strachey, Chief Powhatan had slain the weroance at Kecoughtan in 1597, appointing his own young son Pochins as successor there. Powhatan resettled some of that tribe on the Piankatank River. (He annihilated the adult male inhabitants at Piankatank in fall 1608.)^[12]

In 1670 the German explorer

Another expression of the different cultures of the three major language groups were their practices in constructing dwellings, both in style and materials. The

The tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy spoke Algonquian languages, as did many of the Atlantic coastal peoples all the way up into Canada. They lived in houses they called yihakans/yehakins, and which the English described as "longhouses". They were made from bent saplings lashed together at the top to make a barrel shape. The saplings were covered with woven mats or bark. The 17th-century historian William Strachey thought since bark was harder to acquire, families of higher status likely owned the bark-covered houses. In summer, when the heat and humidity increased, the people could roll up or remove the mat walls for better air circulation.^[15]

Inside a Powhatan house, bedsteads were built along both long walls. They were made of posts put in the ground, about a foot high or more, with small cross-poles attached. The framework was about 4 feet (1.2 m) wide, and was covered with reeds. One or more mats was placed on top for bedding, with more mats or skins for blankets. A rolled mat served as a pillow. During the day, the bedding was rolled up and stored so the space could be used for other purposes.^[15] There was little need for extra bedding because a fire was kept burning inside the houses to provide heat in the cold months. It would be used to repel insects during the warmer months.^[16]

Wildlife was abundant in this area. The buffalo were still plentiful in the Virginia Piedmont up until the 1700s. The Upper Potomac watershed (above Great Falls, Virginia) was once renowned for its unsurpassed abundance of wild geese, earning the Upper Potomac its former Algonquian name, Cohongoruton (Goose River).^{[citation needed]} Men and boys hunted game, and harvested fish and shellfish. Women gathered greens, roots and nuts, and cooked these with the meats. Women were responsible for butchering the meat, gutting and preparing the fish, and cooking shellfish and vegetables for stew. In addition, women were largely responsible for the construction of new houses when the band moved for seasonal resources.^[16] Experienced women and older girls worked together to build the houses, with younger children assigned to assist.^[16]

17th century

In 1607, when the English made their first permanent settlement at

In April 1613, Captain Samuel Argall learned that Powhatan's "favorite" daughter Pocahontas was residing in a Patawomeck village. Argall abducted her to force Powhatan to return English prisoners and stolen agricultural tools and weapons. Negotiations between the two peoples began. It was not until after Pocahontas converted to Christianity and married Englishman John Rolfe in 1614 that peace was reached between the two peoples. As noted, matrilineal kinship was stressed in Powhatan society. Pocahontas' marriage to John Rolfe linked the two peoples.^[22] The peace continued until after Pocahontas died in England in 1617 and her father in 1618.^[24]

After Powhatan's death, the chiefdom passed to his brother Opitchapan. His succession was brief and the chiefdom passed to Opechancanough. It was Opecancanough who planned a coordinated attack on the English settlements, beginning on March 22, 1622. He wanted to punish English encroachments on Indian lands and hoped to run the colonists off entirely. His warriors killed about 350-400 settlers (up to one-third of the estimated total population of about 1,200), during the attack. The colonists called it the Indian massacre of 1622. Jamestown was spared because Chanco, an Indian boy living with the English, warned the English about the impending attack. The English retaliated. Conflicts between the peoples continued for the next 10 years, until a tenuous peace was reached.^[25]

In 1644, Opechancanough planned a second attack to turn the English out. Their population had reached about 8,000. His warriors again killed about 350-400 settlers in the attack. It led to the

All the land between the Blackwater and York rivers, and up to the navigable point of each of the major rivers - which were connected by a straight line running directly from modern Franklin on the Blackwater, northwesterly to the Appomattoc village beside Fort Henry, and continuing in the same direction to the Monocan village above the falls of the James, where Fort Charles was built, then turning sharp right, to Fort Royal on the York (Pamunkey) river.^{[citation needed]}

In 1658, English authorities became concerned that settlers would dispossess the tribes living near growing plantations and convened an assembly. The assembly stated English colonists could not settle on Indian land without permission from the governor, council, or commissioners and land sales had to be conducted in quarter courts, where they would be public record. Through this formal process, the

Necotowance thus ceded the English vast tracts of uncolonized land, much of it between the James and Blackwater Rivers. The treaty required the Powhatan to make yearly tribute payment to the English of fish and game, and it also set up reservation lands for the Indians. All Indians were at first required to display a badge made of striped cloth while in white territory, or they could be murdered on the spot. In 1662, this law was changed to require them to display a copper badge, or else be subject to arrest.^[citation needed]

Around the year 1670,

Among the early Crown Governors of Virginia, Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood had one of the most coherent policies toward Native Americans during his term (1710–1722), and one that was relatively respectful of them. He envisioned having forts built along the frontier, which Tributary Nations would occupy, to act as buffers and go-betweens for trade with the tribes farther afield. They would also receive Christian instruction and civilization. The Virginia Indian Company was to hold a government monopoly on the thriving fur trade. The first such project, Fort Christanna, was a success in that the Tutelo and Saponi tribes took up residence. But, private traders, resentful of losing their lucrative share, lobbied for change, leading to its break-up and privatization by 1718.

Spotswood worked to make peace with his Iroquois neighbours, winning a concession from them in 1718, of all the land they had conquered as far as the Blue Ridge Mountains and south of the Potomac. This was confirmed at Albany in 1721. This clause was to be a bone of contention decades later,

Following this treaty, some dispute remained as to whether the Iroquois had ceded only the Shenandoah Valley, or all their claims south of the Ohio. Moreover, much of this land beyond the Alleghenies was disputed by claims of the Shawnee and Cherokee nations. The Iroquois recognized the English right to settle south of the Ohio at Logstown in 1752. The Shawnee and Cherokee claims remained, however.

In 1755 the Shawnee, then allied with the French in the

In the summer of 1786, after the United States had gained independence from Great Britain, a Cherokee hunting party fought a pitched two-day battle with a Shawnee one at the headwaters of the Clinch River in present-day Wise County, Virginia. Cherokee prevailed, although losses were heavy on both sides. This was the last battle between these tribes within the present limits of Virginia.^[27]

Throughout the 18th century, several tribes in Virginia lost their reservation lands. Shortly after 1700, the Rappahannock tribe lost its reservation; the Chickahominy tribe lost theirs in 1718, and the Nansemond tribe sold theirs in 1792 after the American Revolution. Some of their landless members intermarried with other ethnic groups and became assimilated. Others maintained ethnic and cultural identification despite intermarriage. In their

During this period, European Americans continued to push the Virginia Indians off the remaining reservations and sought to end their status as tribes. By 1850, one of the reservations was sold to the whites, and another reservation was officially divided by 1878.^[citation needed] Many Virginia Indian families held onto their individual lands into the 20th century. The only two tribes to resist the pressure and hold onto their communal reservations were the Pamunkey and Mattaponi tribes. These two tribes still maintain their reservations today.^[18]

After the American Civil War, the reservation tribes began to reclaim and assert their cultural identities. This was particularly important after the emancipation of slaves. The colonists and many white Virginians assumed that the many Indians of mixed race were no longer culturally Indian. But, they absorbed people of other ethnicities; especially if the mother was Indian, the children were considered to be members of her clan and tribe.^[18]

20th century

In the early 20th century, many Virginia Indians began to reorganize into official tribes. They were opposed by

Because of intermarriage and the long history of Virginia Indians not having communal land, Plecker believed there were few "true" Virginia Indians left. According to his beliefs, Indians of mixed race did not qualify, as he did not understand that Indians had a long practice of intermarriage and absorbing other peoples into their cultures. Their children may have been of mixed race but they identified as Indian.^[33] The U.S. Department of the Interior accepted some of these "non Indians" as representing all of them when persuading them to cede lands.

The 1924 law institutionalized the "

During Plecker's time, many Virginia Indians and African Americans left the state to escape its segregationist strictures. Others tried to fade into the background until the storm passed. Plecker's "paper genocide" dominated state recordkeeping for more than two decades, but declined after he retired in 1946.[33] It destroyed much of the documentation that had shown families continuing to identify as Indian.

The Racial Integrity Act was not repealed until 1967, after the ruling of the

With the repeal of the Racial Integrity Act, individuals were allowed to have their birth certificates and other records changed to note their ethnic American Indian identity (rather than Black or white "racial" classification), but the state government charged a fee.^[citation needed] After 1997, when Delegate Harvey Morgan's bill HB2889 passed, any Virginia Indian who had been born in Virginia could have his or her records changed for free to indicate identity as Virginia Indian.^[28]

21st century

The population of Powhatan Indians today in total is estimated to be about 8,500 to 9,500.^{[citation needed]} About 3,000 to 3,500 are enrolled as tribal members in state-recognized tribes.^{[citation needed]} The Monacan Indian Nation has tribal membership of about 2,000.^[36]

The Pamunkey and the Mattaponi are the only tribes in Virginia to have maintained their reservations from the 17th-century colonial treaties. These two tribes continue to make their yearly tribute payment to the Virginia governor, as stipulated by the 1646 and 1677 treaties. Every year around Thanksgiving they hold a ceremony to pay the annual tribute of game, usually a deer, and pottery or a ceremonial pipe.^[28]

In 2013, the Virginia Department of Education released a 25-minute video, "The Virginia Indians: Meet the Tribes," covering both historical and contemporary Native American life in the state.^[37]

The Rappahannock tribe purchased back a part of their ancestral homeland April 1, 2022.^[38] The tribe substantially increased their holdings January 2023.^[39]

Unrecognized organizations

More than a dozen

• Native American agriculture in Virginia
• Unrecognized tribes in Virginia

References