| Lcnaf uri | http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85106022 |
| Organization name | Powhatan indians |
| Other names | Powatans |
| Org type | Indian group |
| Bio notes | A powerful confederacy of Algonquian-speaking tribes in the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia Tidwater regions. Their political organization was comprised of around 30 tribes with respective chiefs, who were subordinated to the paramount chief, from whom the group received its name. They played an immensley important role in early Jamestown history, shifting from indispenable ally to bitter enemy. In 1622, the Powhatan launched their first coordinated attack on colonists in what became known as the “Indian Massacre.” After several bouts of fighting, they were finally splintered by the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Powhatan War (1644-1646). With population reduced by war and disease, and communication networks disrupted by increasing colonial settlement, the Powhatan were unable to mobilize their isolated remnants and so lapsed into separate, smaller peoples. In 1677, the separate Powhatan members signed a treaty that confined them to small reservations, some persisting to the present day. |
| Citations | Handbook of the North American Indians ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powhatan |
A Mission to the Indians from the Indian Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting to Fort Wayne, in 1804