POWHATAN WORDS
| The Powhatan's language is not dead. Algonquian was the language of the first indigenous Americans to intimately interact with the English. Their words below survive in the English language. Caucus: From corcas. From caucauasu or "counselor". First recorded by Captain John Smith. Today, it is a political meeting to make decisions. Chipmunk: From chitmunk. Hominy: Corn. Honk: From honck or cohonk, Canadian goose. Also associated with the sound made by the bird. Also associated with winter and year. The Powhatans called the "Potomac" River "the River of the Cohonks" for the noise made by the yearly arrival of the geese there. To honk, honky, and honky tonk all come from cohonk. Match coat: From matchcores, skins or garment. Maypop: From mahcawq, a vine with purple and white flowere that has an edible yellow fruit. Moccasin: From mohkussin, a shoe. Muskrat: From mussascns. Opossum: Also possum. From aposoum, or "white beast". Papoose: An infant or young child. Pecan:From paccan. Persimmon Poke weed: From pak, or pakon, blood + weed. Pone (Corn Pone): From apan, "baked". Powwow: From pawwaw. An Algonquian medicine man. A dance ceremony used to invoke divine aid in hunting, battle, or against disease. Now used as a Pan-Indian word for a social dance festival. Racoon: From aroughcun. Susquehanna: From suckahanna, water. Terrapin: From toolepeiwa. Tomahawk: From tamahaac, tamohake, a weapon. From temah- (to cut off by tool) + aakan (a noun suffix). Tump (tump line): A strap or string hung across the forehead or chest to support a load carried on the back. |
| Copyrighted 2007 by Auld/Powhatan Updated 2013 |
| EIGHT OF THE ELEVEN STATE RECOGNIZED VIRGINIA TRIBES ARE BELIEVED TO BE PART OF THE HISTORIC POWHATAN CONFEDERACY Chickahominy (Recognized in1983) Chief Stephen Adkins 82 Lott Cary Road Providence Forge, VA 23140 Note: Some of today's Chickahominy currently state that they were not part of the extensive Powhatan "Confederacy." Eastern Chickahominy (Recognized in 1983) Chief Marvin Bradby 12111 Indian Hill Lane Providence Forge, VA 23140 Rappahannock (Recognized in 1983) Chief Anne Richardson HCR 1 Box 402 Indian Neck, VA 23148 Upper Mattaponi (Recognized in 1983) Chief Kenneth Adams 13383 King William Road King William, VA 23086 Nansemond (Recognized in 1985) Chief Barry W. Bass P.O. Box 2515 Suffolk, VA 23432 Patawomeck (Recognized in 2010 for Stafford County) Chief Robert Green 534 Fagan Drive Fredericksburg, VA 22405 The following tribe is Siouan-speaking, and was not part of the Powhatan Confederacy. Monacan Indian Nation (Established in 1989) Chief Kenneth Branham P.O. Box 1136 Madison Heights, VA 24572 The Following tribes are Iroquoian-speaking, and were not part of the Powhatan Confederacy. Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) (Recognized in 2010 for Southampton County) Chief Walt "Red Hawk" Brown P.P. Box 397 Courtland, VA 23837 Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia (Recognized in 2010 for Southampton County) Chief Lynette Lewis Allston P.O. Box 246 Capron, VA 23829 |
| The Oldest Reservations in the United States are... Pamunkey (Reservation/ Recognized in the 17th Century) Chief Kevin Brown Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/mobile/ictarchives/2008/12/24/kevin-brown-elected-as-new-pamunkey-chief-80160 Route 1, Box 2220 King William, VA 23086 Mattaponi (Reservation/ Recognized in the 17th Century) Chief Carl "Lone Eagle" Custalow 1467 Reservation Circle West Point, VA 23181 |
| Current State Recognized Virginia Indian Tribes There are other tribes in Virginia that have not yet received state recognition. |
| Powhatan Warriors The table below is a 1607 English count of Powhatan warriors and their "tribal" capitals. The recorded names of the tribes are not Algonquian pronunciations, instead, they are how the words sounded to English ears. The English estimate here shows only a total of 2,355 warriors in Powhatan's confederation of tribes whose territory covered an estimated 16,000 to 19,250 square miles. This is a conservative count from only 28 of 30 named tribes. There were considerably more warriors that the English missed. For example, Arlington, Virginia and Washington, D.C. alone had over a dozen village sites that were more than 4,000 years old. Among the warriors who also carried clubs and tomahawks, archers were the most feared. Why did archers concern the 17th century Englishmen who were equipped with cannons and muskets? A musket could only fire one shot while the bowman could get off more arrows than a 17th century musket. It was recorded that the queen of the Appamattocs in Chesterfield county asked her English visitors for a firearms demonstration. She seemed to be impressed with the sound of the gunpowder that the Chinese (other Asiatics) had invented. |
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Above table is from:
The History of Virginia
The History of Virginia
POWHATAN TRIBES
Powhatan Museum
of Indigenous Arts and Culture
It must be noted here that terms "tribe" and "chiefdom" are politically loaded designations that are
commonly used by American writers -- from anthropologists to historians and archaeologists. Similar or
smaller political entities in Europe are referred to as "nation" and "kingdom". The terms "confederacy"
or "chiefdom" are also problematic since they imply something less than a "kingdom" or "empire".
For example, in 1607 the Powhatan Kingdom -- as the English called it -- was approximately 19,250
square miles and had similar political intrigue and complexity as the Kingdom of England that is 50,350
square miles, covering more than half of the United Kingdom, an island that includes Scotland (30,410
square miles). The smallest kingdom in Europe is the Republic of San Marino (24 sq miles) and is
surrounded by Italy.
commonly used by American writers -- from anthropologists to historians and archaeologists. Similar or
smaller political entities in Europe are referred to as "nation" and "kingdom". The terms "confederacy"
or "chiefdom" are also problematic since they imply something less than a "kingdom" or "empire".
In practice, though, "chief" and "tribe" have historically been used to refer disparagingly to
frontier cultures conquered by larger societies. In textbooks the Roman emperors, heroic
custodians of Greco-Roman civilizations, are always fighting off the "Germanic tribes". But these
"tribes" had rulers who lived in big palaces, held sway over sizable domains and had to abide by
written codes of law.
[Unlike in Europe] entities of equal or greater size and technological sophistication in the Western
Hemisphere are routinely called "chiefdoms" and "tribes," implying they are somehow different
and of smaller scale. And fuzzy lines mark their borders, as if to indicate a looseness with which
they were organized or defined.
-- 1492, New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann, 2005,
Appendix A - Loaded Words, p. 391
For example, in 1607 the Powhatan Kingdom -- as the English called it -- was approximately 19,250
square miles and had similar political intrigue and complexity as the Kingdom of England that is 50,350
square miles, covering more than half of the United Kingdom, an island that includes Scotland (30,410
square miles). The smallest kingdom in Europe is the Republic of San Marino (24 sq miles) and is
surrounded by Italy.
It is worth saying here again that "The book, Fairfax County, Virginia; A History, stated that the Algonquian-
speaking Nacotchtank, also 'Nacostin' or 'Anacostin' Indians of Washington, DC, like the Tauxenent/Dogue on both
sides of the Potomac River (in Virginia and Washington, DC), were originally part of the Powhatan 'Confederacy'.
By the time of the arrival of Captain John Smith in 1607, they began to ally themselves with the Iroquoians".
Washington, DC was Algonquian speaking as were the Tauxenent/Dogue who had leaders named Taux Powhatan
and Keziah Powhatan. Washington, DC was, therefore, historically part of the Powhatan "Confederacy" -- as
recorded that Powhatan held caucuses on today's Capitol Hill. Some of today's Piscataway of Maryland, wear
Iroquoian regalia to denote their allegiance to that ethnic rival of the Algonquian. Recently, to confuse the issue,
one group of "Washington, DC's Indians", the Anacostin is erroneously promoted by the National Museum of the
American Indian and others as Southern Maryland's "Piscataway".
speaking Nacotchtank, also 'Nacostin' or 'Anacostin' Indians of Washington, DC, like the Tauxenent/Dogue on both
sides of the Potomac River (in Virginia and Washington, DC), were originally part of the Powhatan 'Confederacy'.
By the time of the arrival of Captain John Smith in 1607, they began to ally themselves with the Iroquoians".
Washington, DC was Algonquian speaking as were the Tauxenent/Dogue who had leaders named Taux Powhatan
and Keziah Powhatan. Washington, DC was, therefore, historically part of the Powhatan "Confederacy" -- as
recorded that Powhatan held caucuses on today's Capitol Hill. Some of today's Piscataway of Maryland, wear
Iroquoian regalia to denote their allegiance to that ethnic rival of the Algonquian. Recently, to confuse the issue,
one group of "Washington, DC's Indians", the Anacostin is erroneously promoted by the National Museum of the
American Indian and others as Southern Maryland's "Piscataway".