Generally speaking, the European settlers in North
America coined
the phrase 'Indian' or 'Red Indian' to describe the
North American
tribes they found while they were settling what is now the
USA. To
the north of this vast collection of varying regions and climates
were the native settlements of what is now
Canada, while
to the south were the various peoples of modern
Mexico, most
especially the Aztecs.
The Patawomeck were located on the eastern seaboard in what is now the
states of Delaware and Maryland (eastern section), with access to the
waters of Chesapeake Bay close to the mouth of the Susquehanna River.
The Patawomeck were amongst the most northerly of tribes in the
Powhatan confederacy. They
were neighboured by the
Eastern Algonquian
Tokwogh and the imposing mass of
UnamiLenape to the north, the
Cuttawomans to the east,
the Nantaughtacunds to
the south, and portions of the Naticoke to the south-west.
For
much of its recorded existence the tribe was firmly a constituent part
of the Powhatan confederacy, which was formed in the second half of the
sixteenth century. Wa-Hun-Sen-A-Cawh (Wahunsonacock), otherwise known
as Powhatan, took over the then-small Powhatan confederacy after his
father's death. He quickly expanded the confederacy, creating a union
rather than focusing merely on subjugating the other regional tribes.
At its height the confederacy consisted of at least thirty-two tribes.
(More information about the Powhatan confederacy is available via the
compendium link, right.)
The Patawomeck name is shown in a variety of ways in original records,
including Pattawomeck (with or without an additional 's'), Patawomecks,
or Potomac. The latter version is translated as 'River of Swans', although
in some versions the phrase 'Honking Geese' is used. They perhaps have
one of the most fascinating stories about their pre-Columbian status.
It relates to a story given by the
Piscataway
tribe in 1660 which stated that, around the middle of the thirteenth
century, a king came to them from the eastern shore and subsequently ruled
over all of the natives who now [in 1660] inhabited the Algonquian-speaking
lands of eastern Virginia. The story also said that this king ruled over
the Patawomeck and Susquehannock, forming a kind of empire which endured
through several generations of his successors. The formation of the
Powhatan confederacy must have hurt them greatly, but there are still
signs of the empire's survival at the start of the seventeenth century.
The distance between the Patawomeck and Powhatan's seat of power, and their
proximity to confederacy enemies such as the Piscataway who lived on the
Potomac's northern bank and the Iroquoian-speaking Massawomeck who used the
river to attack from farther up north, forced the Patawomeck to play smart
politics. The tribe took advantage of the protection that came with their
tribute payment, and yet still asserted their independence whenever
possible, often playing Powhatan and the
English
off against each other. Information regarding the Powhatan integration of
the Patawomeck into the confederacy is virtually non-existent. Only the
story linking them to the Piscataway 'empire' offers any clue about their
pre-Columbian existence. Their allegiance to the Powhatan must have been
tenuous at best, and probably due only to convenience.
The sub-rulers or sub-kings of the Powhatan confederacy of the Virginia
coast and Chesapeake Bay region were known as weroances (the plural
form, or weroance, singular), an Algonquian word meaning leader
or commander. Operating under the authority of a paramount chief called
Powhatan, a weroansqua was the female equivalent. Spellings of both
titles vary greatly thanks to the lack of standardised spelling of the time.
Each tribe of the Powhatan confederacy was led by its own weroance,
and like any titled lord in Europe's nobility he would carry the tribe's
name as his title. Pochins, weroance of the
Kecoughtan,
would be referred to as Weroance Kecoughtan, or simply 'Kecoughtan'. Most
foreign writers who came across a weroance did so only on a special
occasion, because a foreigner's presence was special, as would be any
notable visitor from outside the tribe. However, John Smith noted that
there were few differences between weroances and their subjects.
(Information by Mick Baker, from primary sources by John Smith (1607),
William Strachey (1616), The Virginia Census of 1669, and Robert Beverly
(1705) with additional information from James Mooney (1907), from Helen C
Rountree (information which forms the basis of the tribal locations map),
from Everyday Life of the North American Indian, Jon Manchip White
(1979), from The Encyclopaedia of North American Indian Tribes,
Bill Yenne (1986), from The Native Tribes of North America - A Concise
Encyclopaedia, Michael Johnson (1993), from the Atlas of Indians
of North America, Gilbert Legay (1995), from The Powhatan Chiefdom:
1606, Old Dominion University Model United Nations Society, and from
External Links:
First Nations: Issues of Consequence, Lee Sultzman, and
Legends
of America, and
Historic Jamestowne, and
Colonial - A Study of Virginia Indians and Jamestown: The First Century,
and
Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia, and
Encyclopaedia Virginia.)
c.1260
According to the testimony of the
Piscataway
tribe as given in 1660, around the middle of the thirteenth century there
comes a king from the eastern shore who rules over all of the natives who
now inhabit the
Algonquian-speaking
lands of eastern Virginia, and also over the Patawomeck and Susquehannock
(around the early 1600s it is Debedeavon who is the leader of the eastern
shore tribes under the domination of the
Powhatan confederacy).
Did a 'king' from the eastern shore really come to the
Chesapeake Bay area in the mid-thirteenth century to rule
over a number of tribes there, creating an 'empire' which
endured for many generations?
For
all that he does to embrace and cover them all, they name him
Uttapoingassinem. Dying without issue of his own, he appoints his brother
to succeed him. The title subsequently descends through several other
members of the family, all of whom remain unnamed. Is Uttapoingassinem's
arrival and elevation a story of conquest, or simple superiority by one
Algonquin tribe over the others? (The question is examined in more detail
in the accompanying feature - see link, right.)
The emperors are known as jan jan wizous, which in the Algonquian
language signifies a true king. Their title is translated into the native
Algonquian as tayac, the northern Algonquian equivalent to
weroance. Their people will not refer to them as tawzin,
which is the style they give to the sons of their kings, princes who will
never rule themselves as they are inferior to the sons of brothers or
sisters (essentially a by-product of matrilineal succession). Dates are
calculated back from Emperor Uttapoingassinem (II) in 1662.
c.1530s - 1550
The
first chief of a new confederacy along the eastern seaboard is driven north
to the Virginia area by
Spanish
colonists in Florida and
surrounding regions. Once there, he takes over control of at least five
other Indian tribes in Virginia. Upon his death his son, the young Chief
Wahunsenacawh, inherits the duty of ruling over the six communities. He
gradually expands his rule to cover more than thirty groups that includes
a generous estimate of 15,000 people, although a more conservative
calculation based on primary sources would indicate the total to be nearer
8,500.
One potential issue with the creation of the
Powhatan confederacy is the
speed with which it is formed. Could this take place largely by the first
two powhatans taking over the domination of many
Algonquian-speaking
tribes from the
Piscataway
emperor simply by showing greater strength and power? By the time the
European colonists have arrived to document native politics, the 'emperor'
has influence only over a few tribes on the northern edge of the Powhatan
confederacy.
c.1550 - 1607
By the
end of the sixteenth century, Wahunsenacawh (more accurately known as
Wa-Hun-Sen-A-Cawh, and better known as Powhatan) is the paramount chieftain of
the Powhatan
confederacy, which includes most of the indigenous tribes in the Chesapeake
Bay region (but not all of them). This includes the Patawomeck, which clearly
draws them away from the northern Algonquin 'empire'. It doesn't sever all
links with the
Piscataway,
however. The two maintain relations and seemingly form a conduit for diplomacy
and trade between the 'empire' and the Powhatan confederacy.
The Powhatan confederacy (the pale orange area) was formed towards
the end of the sixteenth century, and under its second paramount
chief it rapidly expanded to cover territory which is now
divided between the states of Delaware and Maryland (click
or tap on map to view full sized)
Powhatan
is mamanatowick, the chief of chiefs, and he lives amongst the
Pamunkey people,
but his power and authority varies from one part of the confederacy to
another. Peoples who are distant from his centre at
Werowocomoco
on the north bank of the York River are more politically independent
than those who are located within the core territory. The various
tribes pay tribute to him, and he rules by the threat of force
but also by marriage alliances and persuasion. Several sub-chiefs, or
weroances, govern specific regions or tribes under his authority
and in his name. Some of these, as might be expected in any ruling elite,
are relatives of his, although inheritance in Powhatan society is
matrilineal.
fl 1600s?
Nansuapunk
Weroance
of the Patawomeck/Potomac.
Nansuapunk is weroance of the Patawomeck (Potomac), a tribe which
controls the confederacy's trade capital on the banks of the Potomac River.
Northern traders, such as the
Piscataway
and others, meet in the main village and trade their goods, and then the
Patawomeck trade these goods to the rest of the
Powhatans. Therefore the tribe
holds sway over the supply of many goods. Nansuapunk has an eye on profit,
and is not always above greed. His aim is often unlike the fair play that
one might expect, as material gain seems to be his main objective.
1601
By
this time, three distinctive native tribes of the Eastern Woodland dominate
the territory now known as Virginia. These tribes speak three different
languages - Algonquian,
Siouan and Iroquoian - and live in organised villages along the banks of
the coastal waterways, in woodlands and mountain valleys. When Europeans
begin arriving in the region, they meet Indian people of the coastal
plain which is inhabited by an Algonquin empire, today collectively
known as Powhatan.
The south-western coastal plain is occupied by Iroquois, Nottoway, and
Meherrin. The
Chickahominy
and Eastern Chickahominy occupy the Chickahominy River in New Kent
County. The Piedmont is home to two Sioux confederacies: the Monacan
and the Manahoac.
1606
The
Patawomeck are attacked by an enemy tribe - the Bocootawanaukes - and about
a hundred Patawomeck tribesmen are killed. This would seem to be far more
serious than the usual round of raiding and counter-raiding in which one
or two deaths might occur.
One of Weroance Nansuapunk's sources of profit as leader
of the Patawomeck would have been the fur trade which showed no
signs of slowing down during the seventeenth century
1608
Exploring
the northern edge of Chesapeake Bay, Captain John Smith of the
British Colonies meets
the Patawomeck at their main settlement. At this time, as Smith records,
the tribe numbers about eight hundred people which includes one
hundred-and-sixty warriors.
fl 1609/13
Japasaws
Weroance
of the Patawomeck. Killed in 1623?
1609
A
British Colonist by the name
of Henry Spelman, who had been captured by
Powhatan, manages to escape.
He seeks refuge with Japasaws, weroance of the Patawomeck, at his
village of Passapatanzy. Around the same time, later in 1609, the
English
require a ruler such as Powhatan to be a king, so they offer him a crown in
a ceremony of comic misunderstanding. The chief crowns himself at a
Patawomeck village.
1610 - 1618
The
Susquehannock attack the Patawomeck villages in northern Virginia despite
additional protection provided by the settlements of the
British Colonies. Skirmishes
between the
English
and natives for food also occur during an exceptionally dry spell of weather
that lasts for seven years (according to dendrochronological samples taken
for the region). This forms part of the First Anglo-Powhatan War
(1609-1614).
1610 - 1612
Far
more sympathetic to the
English
than Powhatan,
in late 1610 or early 1611, Japasaws relates the tale of creation to an
English sea captain named Captain Samuel Argall. In 1612 Powhatan's daughter,
Matoaka (Pocahontas) marries the Patawomeck warrior, Kocoum. The English form
a defensive alliance with the Patawomeck against Powhatan, and trade corn with
the Patawomeck through Capt Samuel Argall.
1613
When
Matoaka (Pocahontas), whose mother is considered by most sources to be a
Patawomeck woman, visits the Patawomeck on behalf of her father, she is taken
hostage by the weroance, Japasaws. He has been helping the
English
in their efforts to evade Powhatan's intention of starving them into
submission. Japasaws trades her to Samuel Argall in exchange for a
copper kettle! This results in a truce in the First Anglo-Powhatan
War and Pocahontas becomes a pawn in the politics of the day. However,
Powhatan refuses to trade for his daughter, and she throws in her lot
with the English, marrying John Rolfe and converting to Christianity.
The marriage leads to peace talks and the end of the
Powhatan-driven
war.
1617 - 1618
Upon
the death of Wa-Hun-Sen-A-Cawh
(Powhatan) in 1618, he is
succeeded as paramount chieftain by his brother, Opitchapam. In fact, this
hand-over takes place in 1617, with Wa-Hun-Sen-A-Cawh residing amongst the
Patawomeck for the last few months of his life. However, a younger brother,
Opechancanough, appears to be building a power base amongst his
Pamunkey subjects
and would already appear to be the true power in the confederacy.
This Victorian-era photograph of Pamunkey pipes could just as
easily be attributed to many of the Algonquian-speaking tribes
of Virginia, although by the time the photograph was taken the
people who made the pipes were greatly diminished in number
1622 - 1624
The
Province of Maine (the far north-eastern corner of the modern
USA) is founded
in 1622, its name perhaps originating from the
French
province of the same name in
New France. But it is not
all plain sailing for the settlers of the
British Colonies. The
Jamestown Massacre devastates the Jamestown Settlement and the Citie of
Henricus on Good Friday, 22 March 1622. Natives of the
Powhatan confederacy launch
a surprise attack which leaves a quarter of the colony's population dead
(347 people, although the Patawomeck refuse to participate in the massacre).
They are led in this Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622-1644) by
Opechancanough, younger brother of the great paramount chieftain Powhatan
and now himself paramount chieftain of the Powhatan confederacy.
Following the war's opening stages, Captain William Tucker holds a peace
party at the main Patawomeck village in 1623 in order to persuade
Opechancanough that the
English
desire peace. The English deceive the Indians into drinking poison, which
kills over one hundred-and-fifty of them, including several chiefs. It is
likely that Japasaws is included in this number. His known successor is
Wahanganoche, but he is only a year old at this time. There may be another
successor whose name has been lost to history, but it soon emerges that
Wahanganoche has a guardian and effective regent in the form of his
uncle, Archihu.
1623? - 1664
Wahanganoche
Weroance
of the Patawomeck. Died (possibly murdered).
1623? - 1640?
Archihu
Uncle and
guardian until Wahanganoche reached maturity.
1634 & 1642
Despite
the ongoing war (and presumably only due to the relatively peaceful relations
between
English
and Patawomeck) the Jesuit priest, Father Andrew White visits the main Patawomeck
village with Captain Henry Fleet as his guide. He makes peace with Archihu,
the uncle and guardian of the young Patawomeck chief, Wahanganoche (possibly
atonement for the presumed killing of Chief Japasaws in 1623?). In 1642 the
chief and his family are baptised into the
Catholic church by Father Andrew.
Around the same time, in the early 1640s, the tribes refuse to accept Mary
Kittamaquund's nomination as 'emperor' as it is contrary to their custom.
Descent is by matrilineal succession, but that doesn't mean that females
can actually rule. Instead they choose Wahucasso, a descendant of one of
Uttapoingassinem's brothers, whom they proclaim emperor. This and subsequent
history seems to relate only to the
Piscataway,
so has the rejection of Mary resulted in the dissolution of the empire?
1644 - 1648
The
Second Battle of Virginia - sometimes referred to as the start of a Third
Anglo-Powhatan War - takes place in 1644, with the native
Powhatan confederacy still under
Opechancanough. This bookends the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622-1644).
The result is that the
English
completely crush the Powhatan and take control of eastern Virginia. The
Powhatan survivors leave Virginia.
Being distracted by this war the colonists have little time to concern
themselves with the Susquehannock. Unchallenged, the Susquehannock extend
their dominion south from the Susquehanna River to the Potomac River where
they claim the area between these two points as hunting territory. They
do not ask permission of those tribes that live in this area. In 1648
Wahanganoche himself is captured by them. They ransom him, probably in
exchange for food and supplies.
Opechancanough, pictured here in old age, governed the Pamunkey
people in the name of Powhatan and the confederacy, before
succeeding his elder brother as overall ruler in 1618
1658
A
certain Captain Giles Brent has a dispute with Chief Wahanganoche of the
Patawomeck over land. Brent is ordered by the court to relinquish to the
chief some land in Westmoreland County (a section that is now Stafford
County).
1662 - 1664
In
1662 a group of Westmoreland County planters try to frame Wahanganoche for
murder, but they are unsuccessful and the chief is cleared. In the following
year, another planter from the same county, together with an official, raises
a militia and attacks the Patawomeck without the consent of the General
Assembly. Wahanganoche is issued with a silver badge by the king of
England
to wear for his own safety when travelling across English lands. Despite
it, the chief dies on his way home in 1664, apparently murdered. The
Patawomeck now appear to be greatly weakened and much more vulnerable.
1664 - 1666?
?
Unnamed son and
presumed weroance of the Patawomeck.
1665 - 1669
In
1665 the General Assembly requires that the Patawomeck sell all their remaining
land for the site of a proposed new fort. The assembly also reserves for the
governor the right to appoint tribal weroances. Despite this, in June
1666 the Council of Maryland forms a treaty with the Susquehannock and
receives from them the late Wahanganoche's two captured sons. In July the
governor's council declares war on the Patawomeck, calling for 'their utter
destruction if possible'. Most of the men are massacred. Most of the women
and children, those who are not already living in
English
families, are taken as slaves. Some surviving groups migrate into northern
Virginia and then into Pennsylvania where they become known as the
Conoy,
a name coined by the Iroquois. A census of 1669 records no warriors amongst
the Patawomeck Indians. The tribe has vanished from colonial records.
1722
Some
elements of the tribe do survive, however. Many former member tribes of the
Powhatan
confederacy are extinct by 1722, having drifted away or merged with other
remnant groups. This includes the
Appamatuck,
although their main village of Appamatuck is still in use by a combination
of remnants of the former confederacy, called 'Matchotic', which include the
Cuttatawomens,
Onaumanients,
Pissasecs, Potomac (Patawomeck),
and Tauxenent.
2000
Indian
descendants of the survivors of the 1666 massacre make up the current
Patawomeck tribe in the
USA. This does not
include migratory groups who had left the region, including the
Conoy
group. The Patawomeck descendants have been a close-knit group over the past
few centuries, carrying on many of the traditions and skills of their ancestors.
Many of the current members of the tribe are direct descendants of Chief
Wahanganoche through his daughters, who had become the wives of prominent
Virginian colonists. The tribe's modern self-stated goal is to preserve the
history of its ancestors for future generations.