Jamestown Storyline of Cooperation & Conflict

with Powhatan People

1606 1646

Joint StockVirginia Companyreceives charterfrom King James I.

144 settlers land safely inChesapeake Bay.

Jamestowncolonists strugglew/disease & hunger.

Captain John Smith’spolicy of “don’t work,don’t eat.”

Powhatan Chiefadopts Jamestowninto his confederacy.

An injured John Smith returns to England.The Powhatan stopproviding food,“the starving time.”

Tobacco becomesfirst cash crop.

‘Headrights’(50 acre land grants)lured more settlers.

More settlers = desire for more Powhatan lands= conflict.

1st of 3 Powhatan Warsbegin

Captives takenon both sidesincludingPowhatan PrincessPocahontas.

Pocahontasmarries EnglishmanJohn Rolfe - brings peace.

Pocahontas dies whilevisiting England.

With the fall ofthe Powhatan Confederacy,the Virginia Colony prospersand expands westward.

The defeat of the Powhatan tribesthrough war & disease,led to near extinctionby the 1700’s.

• Are there any Powhatans left? (http://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/cbhf/native/nam027.html)

• According to court records and other documents, the population of the Powhatans in Tidewater Virginia had dropped from approximately 13,000 in 1607 to approximately 1,800 by 1669 due to warfare and disease. Diseases that were common to the English, such as measles and smallpox, wiped out entire villages.

• Many of the Powhatan tribes no longer existed by 1722. The Rappahannocks lost their reservation shortly after 1700; the Chickahominies lost their reservation in 1718; and the Nansemonds sold their reservation in 1792. The only tribes to keep their reservations, even though their land was constantly shrinking in size, were the Pamunkey, Mattaponis, and; for a short time; an Eastern Shore group called Gingaskins. The Pamunkey and Mattaponi reservations are two of the oldest in the nation. They are symbols of a people who refused to give up.

• At the time of the Civil War, other Powhatan people who did not have reservations began to resurface and began to reorganize into tribes in the early 1900s. In the late 1800s, the Pamunkey tribe began staging plays that told the story of Pocahontas and John Smith. This was to remind the white culture in Virginia of the debt owed to the Powhatan people for saving Jamestown. The Mattaponi tribe continued to rebuild its culture identity. They went into the business community and school systems, teaching the history of the Powhatan culture. In spite of this outreach effort, during the nineteenth century, state laws were passed that restricted the Virginia Powhatans' ability to travel and prohibited them from testifying in court or inheriting property.

• When Powhatan descendants began to form tribes, some people felt threatened. A group called the Anglo-Saxon Club, led by Dr. Walter A. Plecker, prevailed upon the General Assembly to pass the Racial Integrity Law in 1924. This law was meant to erase the existence of all people descended from the Powhatans and other tribes. It prohibited the Powhatans of Virginia from attending white schools or churches. In order to record their marriages as Powhatans, they had to be married outside the state of Virginia.

• From 1912 to 1946, the Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics classified people of Indian descent as "colored" on birth and death

certificates. United States Census figures for 1930 showed 779 Native Americans living in Virginia; that figure dropped to 198 by 1940. The Powhatans no longer had any way to document, through the state or county records, the number of their people, family ties, or movements of family members. Schools and churches were segregated between white, black, and Powhatan cultures. Out of necessity, the Powhatans built their own schools and churches. Their schools did not go past the seventh grade until late 1950, so students had to go to North Carolina or Oklahoma to finish high school. The Civil Rights movement in the 1960s gave the Powhatans access to higher education in Virginia. In 1964, the first Powhatan physician graduated from the Medical College of Virginia.

• What are the Powhatans doing today?

• The Chickahominy tribe is Virginia's largest, with approximately one thousand members. It was recognized by the state of Virginia in 1983. Their land includes a 25,000-acre enclave that has:

• a 500-acre tract that holds what once was known as Samaria Indian School, now known as Charles City Primary School.• a tribal center for meeting and recreation.• a 225-acre tract set aside for younger tribe members who wish to live and raise their families within the enclave.

• The Eastern Chickahominy tribe was formed in 1925 after splitting with the Chickahominy tribe. Located in New Kent County, about twenty-five miles east of Richmond, the tribe has approximately 150 members.

• The Mattaponi tribe is located in King William County along the Mattaponi River near West Point, Virginia. Their reservation dates back to 1658 and is one of the oldest in United States history. The Mattaponi prevailed due to their strong traditions, ceremonies, and leadership qualities that held the tribe together. The reservation has a museum, trading post, and a craft shop in the heart of the village. There are approximately 100 members.

• The Monacan tribe is located in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. They were one of the enemies of the Powhatans. They became the eighth tribe to be recognized by the Virginia General Assembly in 1898. The tribe uses a form of self-government, which includes a chief, two assistant chiefs, and five elders. The Nansemond tribe sold its last 300 acres, on the Nottoway River in Southhampton County, in 1792. The Nansemond Indian Tribal Association received recognition from the Virginia General Assembly in 1985. The Christianized group of Nansemond settled in the Bowers Hill, Deep Creek area on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp.

• The Pamunkey reservation is located in King William County on the Pamunkey River. It was one of the most powerful of the tribes. Chief Powhatan, and Pocahontas, lived among the Pamunkey. It is one of few tribes east of the Mississippi that has continually made pottery since aboriginal Times. It has approximately 100 members.

• The Rappahannock tribe was originally called the Toppahannock tribe by Captain John Smith. They originated in present day Richmond County and moved to King and Queen County. They have kept their dancing traditions alive through a group known as "The Rising Water Dancers." The tribe has approximately 750 members and was recognized by the Virginia General Assembly in 1983.

• The Upper Mattaponis were non-reservation Indians. They originated from several different Powhatan tribes including the Mattaponi and the Pamunkey. They settled in an area close to the Upper Mattaponi River in King William County. The Virginia General Assembly recognized them in 1983.

• November 25, 1998 was declared Day of American Indians in the Commonwealth of Virginia by Governor James S. Gilmore in his Certificate of Recognition.