The following
information on some of the tribes which formed the Powhatan Confederacy
has been taken from C. W. Sams' book, The Conquest of
Virginia.
Powhatans
This was Powhatan's tribe. They lived on the
north side of the James River in Henrico County. The tribe had about
forty warriors.
Pamunkeys The Pamunkeys
were a powerful tribe of almost
300
warriors. Their tribal lands were near West Point, Virginia. The
Pamunkeys were the native Americans with whom Captain John Smith first had
contact. They are an important part of colonial United States
history.
Mattoponis
This tribe lived on the banks of the
Mattoponi River which is named for them. They still live in King William
County.
They had about 140 people of whom about 40 were warriors.
Arrohatecks The tribe also lived in Henrico County.
They had about 30 warriors.
Appomatucks The tribe lived on the Appomattox River in
Chesterfield County. The river was named for them. They had about sixty
warriors.
Youghtamunds The tribe lived at the head of the
Pamunkey River, probably in Hanover County. They probably had about 70
people.
This is a long list of tribes. You could locate these
places on a Virginia map. Powhatan added several more small tribes to the
Confederacy. These are some of the tribes in Chief Powhatan's
confederation. Many of these tribes lived along the James River
such as the:
Weanocks [Charles City, Prince George and Surrey
Counties];
the Paspaheghs [James City and Charles City Counties];
the
Orzinies [north bank of the Chicahominy River, James City County];
the
Chickahominys,
who later became independent and had their own government
[Chicahominy River in New Kent County];
the Tappahannas
[Surry and Prince George Counties];
the
Nansemonds, a large and fairly independent tribe [Nansemond
County which is now Nansemond
City, Isle of Wight & Southampton Counties];
the Chesapeakes [Norfolk County which is now the City of
Chesapeake
and
Prince Anne County which is now the City of Virginia Beach ];
the Kecougtans
who were attacked by Capt. John Smith when they refused to trade for corn
with him [Elizabeth City County which is now City of Hampton; chief town
near Hampton];
the Werowocomocos [Gloucester County];
and the
Kiskiacks
[south side of the York River].
More tribes lived on the Rappanhannock River than any of the
others. Among those tribes were the:
Rappahannocks who lived
on
the north side of the river;
the Tauxent [Dogue
or
Doegs] who in colonial history are
known as a fierce Maryland tribe lived along the Potomac in Fairfax
County and in Stafford County on the
north side of the river.
