Paspahegh
Encyclopedia
The Paspahegh tribe were tributaries
to the Powhatan
paramount chiefdom. The Paspahegh Indian tribe lived in present-day Charles City
and James City counties
, Virginia
. The Powhatan tribes were a group of Native North Americans
who spoke a branch of Algonquian
language.
The Paspehegh sub-tribe was among the earliest to have interaction with the English colonists, who established their first permanent settlement in the Virginia Colony at Jamestown
in their territory, beginning on May 14, 1607. Because of conflict with the English and likely exposure to infectious diseases, they appear to have been destroyed as a tribe by early 1611 and disappeared from the historical record.
has often been mischaracterized by historians as the "Powhatan Confederacy" This group of allied Algonquian
tribes was not, in fact, a confederacy, which is more or less a unification of entities which are superior in self-governance to the central point of power. Chief Powhatan's organization is more accurately described by anthropologists as a chiefdom
, and he (as well as his several successors) were clearly the central ruler. During the period from 1607 until his death in 1618, these Native Americans are most correctly described as being of Powhatan's "paramount chiefdom."
. After 1619, they renamed it Southampton Hundred. St. Mary's Anglican Church was established there prior to the Powhatan Uprising of 1622
. The English later called this series of surprise attacks the Indian Massacre of 1622.
, known as Paspahegh or Site 44JC308, is under study near Jamestown, Virginia
. First identified in 1983 by surveyors from the College of William and Mary
, it is one of only a few archeological sites in the state that date to the Early Contact Period. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) above the English fort at Jamestown. The James River Institute for Archeology (JRIA) conducted collections from a 31 acres (125,452.7 m²) site when it was threatened with development. More concentrated work was done in an area of 2.1 acres (8,498.4 m²). The site has remains of houses, mortuary structures, kings houses, and other elements of the village, including ceramics and copper items.
Analysis of the site showed the rise in copper
exchange and then its decline. The English quickly realized how highly the Powhatan peoples valued copper. As the English brought more copper into the colony over a nearly 20-year period, its value declined, and it never recovered what it had been at the time of English arrival. Copper was the most important metal in the Powhatan Confederacy, where it was a mark in life and death of the social hierarchy. The elite were buried with copper items to secure them passage in the spiritual world.
The fact that the English would trade copper enabled Chief Powhatan to free his people from relations with hostile Monacan and other tribes to the west. Similarly, the English hoped to use their colony to free themselves of dependence on other European nations for certain goods. The rapid abundance of the metal, however, led to its devaluation.
Other Paspahegh villages were located on the south bank of the Chickahominy River
and on the north bank of the James River
in Charles City County
.
Tributary state
The term tributary state refers to one of the two main ways in which a pre-modern state might be subordinate to a more powerful neighbour. The heart of the relationship was that the tributary would send a regular token of submission to the superior power...
to the Powhatan
Powhatan
The Powhatan is the name of a Virginia Indian confederation of tribes. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 of these native Powhatan people in eastern Virginia when the English settled Jamestown in 1607...
paramount chiefdom. The Paspahegh Indian tribe lived in present-day Charles City
Charles City County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,926 people, 2,670 households, and 1,975 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
and James City counties
James City County, Virginia
James City County is a county located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. Its population was 67,009 , and it is often associated with Williamsburg, an independent city, and Jamestown which is within the...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The Powhatan tribes were a group of Native North Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who spoke a branch of Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
language.
The Paspehegh sub-tribe was among the earliest to have interaction with the English colonists, who established their first permanent settlement in the Virginia Colony at Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
in their territory, beginning on May 14, 1607. Because of conflict with the English and likely exposure to infectious diseases, they appear to have been destroyed as a tribe by early 1611 and disappeared from the historical record.
Powhatan's paramount chiefdom
It is noteworthy that the organization of Native Americans of the United States in the Tidewater Region of VirginiaTidewater region of Virginia
The Tidewater region of Virginia is the eastern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia formally known as Hampton Roads. The term tidewater may be correctly applied to all portions of any area, including Virginia, where the water level is affected by the tides...
has often been mischaracterized by historians as the "Powhatan Confederacy" This group of allied Algonquian
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
tribes was not, in fact, a confederacy, which is more or less a unification of entities which are superior in self-governance to the central point of power. Chief Powhatan's organization is more accurately described by anthropologists as a chiefdom
Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...
, and he (as well as his several successors) were clearly the central ruler. During the period from 1607 until his death in 1618, these Native Americans are most correctly described as being of Powhatan's "paramount chiefdom."
1607
- May 4 - While exploring the James RiverJames River (Virginia)The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
, the English party first make contact with the Paspahegh, enjoy a feast with them, and listen to, but are unable to understand, an oration by the Paspahegh weroanceWeroanceWeroance is an Algonquian word meaning tribal chief, leader, commander, or king, notably among the Powhatan confederacy of the Virginia coast and Chesapeake Bay region. The Powhatan Confederacy, encountered by the colonists of Jamestown and adjacent area of the Virginia Colony beginning in 1607,...
, Wowinchapuncke.
- May 14 - The English begin their occupation of Jamestown Island, an island in Paspehegh territory where Indians sometimes camped, though they did not have permanent habitations. The English begin building a defensive fort on the island. A few days later, two well-dressed and highly decorated Paspehegh messengers arrive at the fort to announce that their weroance would soon be paying them a visit, and bringing a "fat Deare" with him.
- May 18 - Wowinchapuncke and one hundred armed men visit Jamestown fort. According to George PercyGeorge PercyGeorge Percy was an English explorer, author, and early Colonial Governor of Virginia.-Early life:George Percy was born in England, the youngest son of Henry Percy, 2nd/8th Earl of Northumberland and Lady Catherine Neville. He was sickly for much of his life, possibly suffering from epilepsy or...
's 1608 account, Wowinchapuncke indicated that he would grant the settlers "as much land as we would desire to take," although later historians contend that it is highly dubious that he would have said any such thing. The Paspahegh leave in anger after a violent dispute over an English hatchet.
- May 19 - Percy and three or four other settlers explore the woods on foot and discover a nearby Paspahegh village; they receive gifts of tobaccoTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, but return to the fort quickly after they see an armed brave suddenly plunge into the woods, probably to notify Wowinchapuncke.
- May 20 - Forty Paspahegh braves arrive at the fort with a deer for feasting; they engage in target practice for the English, demonstrating that their bows were capable of piercing wood, but not steel.
- May 26 - While half of the English party is away with Christopher NewportChristopher NewportChristopher Newport was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the Susan Constant, the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to find the settlement at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, which became the first permanent...
exploring upriver in WeyanokeWeyanoke, VirginiaWeyanoke is an unincorporated community in Charles City County, Virginia, United States. In 1619 the English transported enslaved Africans to the Weyanoke Peninsula. They created the first African community in North America...
, AppomattocAppomattocThe Appomattoc were a historic tribe of Virginia Indians speaking an Algonquian language, and residing along the lower Appomattox River, in the area of what is now Petersburg, Colonial Heights, Chesterfield and Dinwiddie Counties in present-day southeast Virginia.The Appomattoc were affiliated...
, Arrohattoc and Powhatan territory, a combined force of 400 Paspahegh, Quiockahannock, Weyanoke, Appomattoc and Chiskiack assault the fort. They withdraw upon receiving English gunfire; at least 3 Indians and 1 colonist are killed, with several wounded on both sides. Indian raiding and harassment continues for a week or two as the English hasten to complete their fort.
- June 15 - The paramount Chief PowhatanChief PowhatanChief Powhatan , whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh , was the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607...
(Wahunsunacock), Nonoma Winanuske Matatiske's husband, announces a ceasefire, causing Paspahegh raids to cease abruptly.
- November - The Paspehegh return an English boy who had run away, confirming their intentions are no longer hostile. Faced with starvation, the settlers turn to the neighboring tribes, including the Paspehegh, for help, buying small amounts of corn from them on three occasions. However, John Smith wrote of one of these occasions in ungrateful terms, calling the Paspahegh a "churlish and treacherous nation."
- December - While exploring the Chickahominy country, Smith stumbles upon a huge communal hunting party of several Powhatan subtribes, including the Paspehegh, being led by Opechancanough, brother of the paramount chief Powhatan. Smith is captured and taken around Powhatan territory as an involuntary guest, eventually meeting the paramount chief, who orders the English to leave Paspahegh territory. He suggests they take up residence at Capahosic, a satellite village near his own capital WerowocomocoWerowocomocoWerowocomoco was a village that served as the political center of the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom, a grouping of about 30 Virginia Indian tribes speaking an Algonquian language...
, where he would provide them food and security in exchange for metal tools. Smith promises to comply, and is released on January 1, 1608.
1608
- Spring, 1608 - An uneasy alliance concluded with chief Powhatan in the winter — during which time he saved the English from starvation by sending them regular supplies of corn — begins to fall apart, when the English are seen to be conducting military drills outside their fort in the Spring. Paspahegh harassment and filching tools at the fort then resumes, causing the English to take eight of them prisoner; the Paspahegh responded by taking two Englishmen who wandered outside the fort as their own prisoners. The same night, the colonists escalated hostilities, raiding and burning the nearby Paspahegh villages. At this, Wowinchopunk released the two Englishmen, but the English only released one Paspahegh, keeping the rest until chief Powhatan sent a gift of corn along with his own young daughter, PocahontasPocahontasPocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
, to plead for their return.
- Fall, 1608 - Again faced with starvation, the English try to buy corn from their neighbours, but find them less willing to sell. They were antagonized by Captain Newport's mock coronationCoronationA coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of paramount chief Wahunsunacock as a supposed "vassalVassalA vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
" of King James IJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, and his leading a military expedition to the Monacan country, against the chief Powhatan's wishes. The Paspehegh and most other tribes along the James abandoned their villages and hid when the English came to buy corn that fall. Only a few natives were found whom they could force at gunpoint to sell their corn.
1609
- Spring, 1609 - Harassment by the Paspaheghs and other groups continues at the fort; in one skirmish, John Smith, then President of the colony, captured the weroance, Wowinchapuncke. However, he later escaped at which Smith raided his town, stealing two canoes, and killing six at another town. Wowinchapuncke later makes peace, but states that if the English use further force against him, he will abandon them to starve. He tells Smith, "We perceive and well knowe you intend to destroy us, that are here to intreat and desire your friendship..."
- Several colonists are boarded in Indian towns in the following truce, but relations remain strained. The truce falls apart when Smith tries in the summer to establish English fortifications in the territory of the NansemondNansemondThe Nansemond have been recognized as a Native American tribe by the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with ten other Virginia Indian tribes. They are not Federally recognized but are one of six Virginia tribes without reservations that are included in a bill for Federal recognition under...
tribe (who lived downriver) and at the location of the original Powhatan tribe, (who lived upriver near what is now Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
). Smith left Virginia in October 1609, but that same month the colonists built an English fort (Fort AlgernonFort AlgernonFort Algernon was established in the fall of 1609 at the mouth of Hampton Roads at Point Comfort in the Virginia Colony. A strategic point for guarding the shipping channel leading from the Chesapeake Bay, Fort Monroe was built there beginning in the 1830s. The area is now known as Old Point Comfort...
) in the territory of the Kecoughtan tribe (near modern Hampton, VirginiaHampton, VirginiaHampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
).
1610
- May - After a particularly harsh winter in which many English died of starvation, Sir Thomas GatesThomas Gates (governor)Sir Thomas Gates , followed George Percy as governor of Jamestown, the English colony of Virginia . Percy, through inept leadership, was responsible for the lives lost during the period called the Starving Time...
arrives with more colonists, provisions, and orders from King James to "christianize" the Indians. Gate's fleet, also widely known in later times as the Third Supply MissionThird SupplyThe Third Supply was the first truly successful wave of colonization in the first English settlement in the Americas, at Jamestown. It also resulted in the settlement of Bermuda ....
, had left England a year earlier, but become lost in a hurricane. Gates instead decided to evacuate the colony, and their fort at Jamestown was abandoned.
- The next day after Gates and the survivors set sail, as they were moving downstream on the James River, they encountered the remainder of yet another English supply fleet. This one was under a newly appointed governor, Lord De la WarrThomas West, 3rd Baron De La WarrThomas West, 3rd and 12th Baron De La Warr was the Englishman after whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, an American Indian people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named....
. He disagreed with the effort to abandon the colony, and his fleet joined theirs and returned to the fort at Jamestown under Lord De la Warr's command. Although abandoned only a single day, since the colonists leaving Jamestown had not yet picked up those at the outpost at Fort Algernon nearer to the Atlantic Ocean, the latter, now located in the City of HamptonHampton, VirginiaHampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
, can lay claim to the longest "continuously occupied" English settlement in what later became the state of VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
- July - Lord De la Warr proved harsher and more warlike toward the Indians than any of his predecessors. He first sent Gates to drive off the Kecoughtan from their village on July 9, then gave chief Powhatan the ultimatum of either returning all English subjects and property, or facing war. Powhatan insisted that the English either stay in their fort or leave Virginia. Enraged, De la Warr had the hand of a Paspahegh captive cut off and sent him to the paramount chief with another ultimatum: Return all English subjects and property, or the neighboring villages would be burned. Chief Powhatan did not respond.
- August 9, 1610 - De la Warr sent Percy with 70 men to attack the Paspahegh capital; they burned houses and cut down the cornfields. They killed 65 to 75, and captured one of Wowinchapunkes wives and her children. Returning downstream, the English threw the children overboard, and, in Percy's own words, shot out "their Braynes in the water". They stabbed the queen to death in Jamestown.
- The Paspahegh never recovered from this attack, and abandoned their town. The attack, and the English killing of elite women and children, ignited the First Anglo-Powhatan War.
1611
- February 9 - In a skirmish near the Jamestown fort, Wowinchapuncke is mortally wounded. Soon thereafter, his followers avenge his death by luring several colonists out of the fort and killing them. However, the bulk of the broken tribe appear to have merged with the other chiefdoms, and they disappear from the historical record at this point. Subsequent use of the word Paspahegh in documents is mainly in reference to their former territory.
- May 21 - Sir Thomas Dale, Lord de la Warr's new replacement, visits the site of the former Paspehegh capital and finds it overgrown with weeds.
Aftermath
The original capital of the Paspahegh Indians, present-day Sandy Point in Charles City County, was settled by the English in 1617, who called it Smith's HundredSmith's Hundred
Smith's Hundred or Smythe's Hundred was a colonial English settlement in Virginia. It was one of the original James River plantations named after the treasurer of the Virginia Company, Sir Thomas Smith. It was settled by the English in 1617 and after 1620, was known as Southampton Hundred in honor...
. After 1619, they renamed it Southampton Hundred. St. Mary's Anglican Church was established there prior to the Powhatan Uprising of 1622
Indian massacre of 1622
The Indian Massacre of 1622 occurred in the Colony of Virginia, in what now belongs to the United States of America, on Friday, March 22, 1622...
. The English later called this series of surprise attacks the Indian Massacre of 1622.
Modern archaeological site
An archaeological siteArchaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
, known as Paspahegh or Site 44JC308, is under study near Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
. First identified in 1983 by surveyors from the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
, it is one of only a few archeological sites in the state that date to the Early Contact Period. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) above the English fort at Jamestown. The James River Institute for Archeology (JRIA) conducted collections from a 31 acres (125,452.7 m²) site when it was threatened with development. More concentrated work was done in an area of 2.1 acres (8,498.4 m²). The site has remains of houses, mortuary structures, kings houses, and other elements of the village, including ceramics and copper items.
Analysis of the site showed the rise in copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
exchange and then its decline. The English quickly realized how highly the Powhatan peoples valued copper. As the English brought more copper into the colony over a nearly 20-year period, its value declined, and it never recovered what it had been at the time of English arrival. Copper was the most important metal in the Powhatan Confederacy, where it was a mark in life and death of the social hierarchy. The elite were buried with copper items to secure them passage in the spiritual world.
The fact that the English would trade copper enabled Chief Powhatan to free his people from relations with hostile Monacan and other tribes to the west. Similarly, the English hoped to use their colony to free themselves of dependence on other European nations for certain goods. The rapid abundance of the metal, however, led to its devaluation.
Other Paspahegh villages were located on the south bank of the Chickahominy River
Chickahominy River
The Chickahominy is an river in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Virginia. The river rises about northwest of Richmond and flows southeast and south to the James River...
and on the north bank of the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
in Charles City County
Charles City County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,926 people, 2,670 households, and 1,975 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
.