Cockacoeske
| Cockacoeskie | |
|---|---|
| Pamunkey leader | |
| Preceded by | Totopotomoi |
| Succeeded by | Betty |
| Personal details | |
| Born | ca. 1640 Pamunkey Neck, Virginia |
| Died | 1686 |
| Spouse(s) | Totopotomoi |
| Children | John West |
| Known for | First signatory of the Treaty of 1677 |
Cockacoeskie (also spelled Cockacoeske) (ca. 1640 – ca. 1686) was a 17th-century leader of the Pamunkey tribe in what is now the American state of Virginia. During her thirty-year reign, she worked within the English system, trying to recapture the former power of past paramount chiefs and maintain peaceful unity among the several tribes under her leadership. She was the first of the tribal leaders to sign the Virginia-Indian Treaty of Middle Plantation.
In 2004 Cockacoeske was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History".
The death of Opechancanough in 1646 led to the disintegration of the confederacy built by his brother Powhatan. Chiefs competed to gain power among the various tribes. Among the Pamunkey, Cockacoeske's husband Totopotomoi became leader in 1649.
While assisting Col. Edward Hill in removing Rickohockans from their new settlement at the falls of the James River in 1656, Totopotomoi was killed in what was sometimes later called the Battle of Bloody Run (not to be confused with the 1763 Battle of Bloody Run in Michigan). The Virginia Governor's Council later censured Hill for his lack of leadership.
Following Totopotomoi's death, the Colonial Government recognized Cockacoeske the Pamunkey "Queen".
When Bacon's Rebellion erupted, Governor Berkeley's faction sought help from the Pamunkey against the hostile tribes, particularly their erstwhile enemies the Susquehannock. Sporadic raids by other Indian tribes against settlers on the colony's frontier contributed to an uprising of whites and blacks excluded from the power structure, led by Nathaniel Bacon. Although of the wealthy planter class, Bacon competed for power with Gov. Berkeley, drawing upon the frontier settler's resentments. Although raids had been by the Doeg and Susquehannock tribes, Bacon and his men sought easier wealth, and attacked the peaceful and friendly Pamunkey, Mattaponi, and Kiskiack tribes.
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