Authority and Ceremony

Authority and Ceremony. Machicomoco State Park. , The Powhatan chiefdom was a powerful alliance of Native communities in eastern Virginia led by Wahunsenacawh (Chief Powhatan). The Powhatan region had a number of towns where chiefs lived, which the English referred to as Kings’ Houses. Werowocomoco ( WAYR-uh-wah-KOh-muh-koh ) was the most important King’s House in the Powhatan chiefdom. Wahunsenacawh’s power came from his status as political and religious leader and from his control of Werowocomoco. He and Powhatan weroances ( WAYR-oh-Ann’s-es; chiefs) relied on the advice of quioccosuks (kwee-AWK-uh-suhks; priests). , , Born sometime around 1547 in the town of Powhatan near present-day Richmond. Wahunsenacawh later moved to the town of Werowocomoco. Located 10 miles upstream from this park, Werowocomoco was an important ceremonial place even before Wahunsenacawh moved there. By 1607 the Powhatan chiefdom included 15,000 people in 32 tribes, each with its own weroance (chief) who paid tribute to Wahunsenacawh. Quioccosuks made sacrifices to spirits, including the god Okee, in order to maintain balance and keep dangerous outside forces in cheek. The Powhatans worshiped several different spirits, though Okee seems to have been the most important. Sacrifices to Okee included tobacco, blood, deer meat and other items. , , After Nepinough (start of the harvest season) and during Taquitock (fall corn harvest), Powhatan people gathered for feast and celebrations in important towns and King’s Houses like at Werowocomoco, during which quioccosuks wore deer antlers to symbolize there status. King’s Houses also celebrated the Hushanaw, a ceremony during which boys became men through a rite of passage that included dancing around a large circular track. Those who had completed the Huskanaw had special wisdom due to their instruction in history and the natural world. Archaeological studies at Werowocomoco found a large curvilinear ditch that may have played a role in the Huskanaw ceremony. , , Powhatan’s Mantle: Consisting of four white-tailed deer hides stitched together, and featuring intricate shell beadwork, Powhatan’s Mantle dates to the first period of contact between indigenous peoples and British colonists. One interpretation is that the central figure represents Powhatan, while the circles represent settlements in the Powhatan Confederacy.