Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 14,000–21,000 (c. 1607) c.3,850 (present) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Eastern Virginia, Western Maryland | |
| Languages | |
| Historically Powhatan, in modern context, English | |
| Religion | |
| Native (indigenous) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pamunkey, Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Rappahannock, and other Algonquian peoples |
The Powhatan (also spelled Powatan) are Native American people in Virginia. It may also refer to a historic leader of those tribes, commonly referred to as Powhatan. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 Powhatan people in eastern Virginia when the English settled Jamestown in 1607. They were also known as Virginia Algonquians, as they spoke an eastern-Algonquian language known as Powhatan or Virginia Algonquian.
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a mamanatowick (paramount chief) named Wahunsunacawh (a.k.a. Powhatan), created a powerful organization by affiliating 30 tributary peoples, whose territory was much of eastern Virginia. They called this area Tsenacommacah ("densely inhabited Land"). Wahunsunacawh came to be known by the English as "Powhatan". Each of the tribes within this organization had its own weroance (chief), but all paid tribute to Powhatan.
After Powhatan's death in 1618, hostilities with colonists escalated under the chiefdom of his brother, Opechancanough, who sought in vain to drive off the encroaching English. His large-scale attacks in 1622 and 1644 met strong reprisals by the English, resulting in the near elimination of the tribe. By 1646, what is called the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom by modern historians had been decimated. More important than the ongoing conflicts with the English settlements was the high rate of deaths the Powhatan suffered due to new infectious diseases carried to North America by Europeans, such as measles and smallpox. The Native Americans did not have any immunity to these, which had been endemic in Europe and Asia for centuries. The wholesale deaths greatly weakened and hollowed out the Native American societies.
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