Virginia Indians

Virginia Indians. Original Inhabitants. , Newport News was a small community located in Warwick County until late in the 19th century. Established as a town in 1850, it was incorporated as a city in 1896. Warwick County, one of the eight original Virginia shires formed by 1634, became extinct in 1952 when it was designated the city of Warwick. It merged with Newport News in 1958., About 1,500 years before the English settlement, Eastern Woodland Native Americans occupied eastern Virginia. They lived in a well-ordered society, but remained a stone-age people who had not developed metalworking skills beyond copper ornamentation. The women farmed corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins while the men hunted wild game and harvested fish, oysters, and other marine foods. The paramount chief Wahunsunacock (Powhatan) was born near the falls of the James River about 1550. During his long reign, Powhatan expanded his chiefdom from seven tribes to 38 tribes comprising some 20,000 people by 1607. He controlled all the Tidewater and Eastern Shore tribes except the Chickahominy tribe, which retained its autonomy. The English arrived in Virginia during the declining years of his reign., The Powhatan Chiefdom initially traded foodstuffs to the starving Jamestown settlers. Powhatan sought an alliance with the English against enemy tribes, but conflict arose between the two cultures. His daughter, Pocahontas (Matoaka) was an important emissary to the English, but she was abducted by them in 1613 and married John Rolfe in 1614. The settlers also encroached upon the Powhatan Chiefdom's hunting territory and cleared the forest for tobacco cultivation. Following Powhatan's death in 1618, his youngest brother, Opechancanough, assumed the mantel of leadership. He led attacks in 1622 and 1644 with the Powhatans attacking the scattered English settlements. The ensuing Anglo-Powhatan Wars destroyed the Powhatan Chiefdom's military power and the tribes' numbers were further reduced by disease. In 1646, the Powhatans signed a treaty and moved to reservations on the Middle Peninsula., [Caption:] , Virginia Indians fishing, ca. 1590 using spears, fish weirs, and dams.