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The Indian Tribes of North America
by John R. Swanton
Virginia Tribes
Manahoac through Tutelo
Siouan
tribes in red
Manahoac
Meaning "They are very merry," according to Tooker (1895), but this
seems improbable. Also called: Mahocks, apparently a shortened form.
Connections ~ The Manahoac belonged to the Siouan linguistic family; their
nearest connections were probably the Monacan, Moneton, and Tutelo.
Location ~ In northern Virginia between the falls of the rivers and the
mountains east and west and the Potomac and North Anna Rivers north and south.
Subdivisions ~ Subtribes or tribes of the confederacy as far as known were the following:
Hassinunga, on the headwaters of the Rappahannock River.
Manahoac proper, according to Jefferson (1801), in Stafford and
Spottsylvania Counties.
Ontponea, in Orange County.
Shackaconia, on the south bank of the Rappahannock River in Spottsylvania
County.
Stegaraki, on the Rapidan River in Orange County.
Tanxnitania, on the north side of the upper Rappahannock River in
Fauquier County.
Tegninateo, in Culpeper County, at the head of the Rappahannock River.
Whonkentia, in Fauquier County, near the head of the Rappahannock.
Villages ~ Mahaskahod, on the Rappahannock River, probably near Fredericksburg, is the only
town known by name.
History ~ Traditional evidence points to an early home of the Manahoac people in the Ohio
Valley. In 1608 John Smith discovered them in the location above given and
learned that they were allied with the Monacan but at war with the Powhatan
Indians and the Iroquois (or perhaps rather the Susquehanna). After this they
suddenly vanish from history under a certainly recognizable name, but there is
good reason to believe that they were one of those tribes which settled near the
falls of the James River in 1654 or 1656 and defeated a combined force of Whites
and coast Indians who had been sent against them. They seem to have been forced
out of their old country by the Susquehanna. Probably they remained for a time
in the neighborhood of the Monacan proper and were in fact the Mahock
encountered by Lederer (1912) in 1670 at a point on James River which Bushnell
seems to have identified with the site of the old Massinacack town, the fact
that a stream entering the James at this point is called the Mohawk rendering
his case rather strong. Perhaps the old inhabitants had withdrawn to the lower
Monacan town, Mowhemencho. In 1700 the Stegaraki were located by Governor
Spotswood of Virginia at Fort Christanna, and the Mepontsky, also placed there,
may have been the Ontponea. We hear of the former as late as 1723, and there is
good reason to believe that they united with the Tutelo and Saponi and followed
their fortunes, and that under these two names were included all remnants of the
Manahoac.
Population
Mooney (1928) estimates that there were 1,500 Manahoac in 1600 but
this is probably rather too high, since their numbers and those of the Tutelo
together seem to have been 600-700 in 1654. However, it is possible that these
figures cover only the Manahoac, while Mooney's include part of the Saponi and
Tutelo.
Meherrin. Meaning unknown.
Connections ~ The Meherrin belonged to the Iroquoian linguistic family, their
closest connections probably being the Nottaway.
Location ~ Along the river of the same name on the Virginia-North Carolina
border.
History ~ The tribal name Meherrin first appears in the form "Maharineck"
in the account of an expedition by Edward Blande and others to North Carolina in
1650, and next in an Indian census taken in 1669. Later they seem to have
adopted a body of Conestoga or Susquehanna fleeing from Pennsylvania after their
dispersal by the Iroquois about 1675. This is the only way to account for the
fact that they are all said to have been refugee Conestoga. They were living on
Roanoke River in 1761 with the southern bands of Tuscarora and Saponi, and the
Machapunga, and probably went north in the last Tuscarora removal in 1802. (For
information regarding another possible band of Meherrin see "Nottaway")
Population ~ Mooney (1928) estimates the Meherrin population at 700 in
1600. In 1669 they are said to have had 50 bowmen, or approximately 180 souls.
In 1755 they were said to be reduced to 7 or 8 fighting men, but in 1761 they
are reported to have had 20.
Connection in which they have become noted.~ Meherrin River, an affluent of the
Chowan, running through southern Virginia and north-eastern North Carolina, and
a Virginia town perpetuate the name of the Meherrin.
Monacan
Possibly from an Algonquian word signifying "digging stick,"
or "spade," but more likely from their own language. Also called:
Rahowacah, by Archer, 1607, in Smith (1884).
Connections~ The Monacan belonged to the Siouan linguistic stock. Their nearest
connections were the Manahoac, Tutelo, and Saponi.
Location~ On the upper waters of James River above the falls at Richmond.
Villages ~ (Locations as determined by D. I. Bushnell, Jr.) Massinacack, on the right bank
of James River about the mouth of Mohawk Creek, and a mile or more south of
Goochland.
Mohemencho, later called Monacan Town, on the south bank of James River and
probably covering some of "the level area bordering the stream in the
extreme eastern part of the present Powhatan County, between Bernards Creek on
the east and Jones Creek on the west."
Rassawek, at the confluence of the James and Rivanna Rivers and probably
"on the right bank of the Rivanna, within the angle formed by the two
streams."
Two other towns are sometimes added but and they afterward appeared as wholly
independent tribes, the Saponi and the Tutelo, it is probable that their
connection with the Monacan was never very intimate. They seem to have been
classed as Monacan largely on the evidence furnished by Smith's map, in which
they appear in the country of the "Monacans" but Smith's topography,
as Bushnell has shown, was very much foreshortened toward the mountains and the
Saponi and Tutelo towns were farther away than he supposed. Again, while
Massinacack and Mohemencho are specifically referred to as Monacan towns and
Smith calls Rassawek "the chief habitation" of the Monacan, there is
no such characterization of either of the others.
History ~ Capt. John Smith learned of the Monacan in the course of an
exploratory trip which he made up James River in May 1607. The people themselves
were visited by Captain Newport the year following, who discovered the two lower
towns. The population gradually declined and in 1699 some Huguenots took
possession of the land of Mowhemencho. The greater part of the Monacan had been
driven away some years before this by Colonel Bornn (Byrd?). Those who escaped
continued to camp in the region until after 1702, as we learn from a Swiss
traveler named F. L. Michel (1916). It is probable that the remnant finally
united with their relatives the Saponi and Tutelo when they were at Fort
Christanna and followed their fortunes, but we have no further information as to
their fate.
Population ~ The number of the Monacan was estimated by Mooney (1928) at 1,200
in 1600 including part of the Saponi and Tutelo, but they can hardly have
comprised over half as many. In 1669 there were still about 100 true Monacan as
they were credited with 30 bowmen.
Connection in which they have become noted~ The name Monacan is perpetuated by
a small place called Manakin on the north bank of James River, in Goochland
County, Va.
Nahyssan
A contraction of Monahassano or Monahassanugh, remembered in later
times as Yesan.
Connections ~ The Nahyssan belonged to the Siouan linguistic stock, their
nearest relatives being the Tutelo, Saponi, and probably the Monacan and
Manahoac.
Location ~ The oldest known location of the Nahyssan has been identified by D.
I. Bushnell, Jr. (1930), within very narrow limits as "probably on the left
bank of the James, about 1 1\2 miles up the stream from Wingina, in Nelson
County."
History ~ In 1650 Blande and his companions noted a site, 12 miles south-south
vest of the present Petersburg, called "Manks Nessoneicks" which was
presumably occupied for a time by the Nahyssan or a part of them, since "Manks"
may be intended for "Tanks," the Powhatan adjective signifying
"little." In 1654 or 1666 this tribe and the Manahoac appeared at the
falls of James River having perhaps been driven from their former homes by the
Susquehanna. They defeated a force of colonials and Powhatan Indians sent
against them but did not advance further into the settlements. In 1670 Lederer
(1912) found two Indian towns on Staunton River, one of which he calls Sapon and
the other Pintahae. Sapon was, of course, the town of the Saponi but it is
believed that Pintahae was the town of the Nahyssnn Indians, though Lederer
gives this name to both towns. Pintahae was probably the Hanathaskie or
Hanahaskie town of which Batts and Fallam (1912) speak a year later. About 1675
the Nahyssan settled on an island below the Occaneechi at the junction of the
Staunton and Dan Rivers. Before 1701 all of the Sionan tribes who had settled in
this neighborhood moved into North Carolina, and it is thought that the Nahyssan
followed the Saponi and Tutelo to the headwaters of the Yadkin and that their
subsequent fortunes were identical with those of these two. (See Saponi and
Tutelo.)
Population ~ (See Saponi and Tutelo.)
Nottaway
Meaning "adders," in
the language of their Algonquian neighbors, a common designation for alien
tribes by peoples of that linguistic stock. Also called:
Cheroenhaka, their own name, probably signifying "fork of a stream."
Mangoak, Mengwe, another Algonquian term, signifying "stealthy,"
"treacherous."
Connections ~ The Nottaway belonged to the Iroquoian linguistic family, their
closest connections probably being the Meherrin, Tuscarora, and Susquchanna.
Location ~ On the river of the same name in southeastern Virginia.
History ~ The Nottaway were found by
the Virginia colonists in the location given above. Though they were
never prominent in colonial history, they kept up their organization
long after the other tribes of the region were practically extinct. In
1825 they are mentioned as living on a reservation in Southampton County
and ruled over by a "queen." The name of this tribe was also
applied to a band of Indians which appeared on the northern frontiers of
South Carolina between 1748 and 1754. They may have included those
Susquehanna who are sometimes confounded with the Meherrin, and are more
likely to have included Meherrin than true Nottaway although they
retained the name of the latter (see Swanton, 1946).
Population ~ The number of Nottaway,
exclusive of those last mentioned, was estimated by Mooney (1928) at
1,500 in the year 1600. In 1709 Lawson reported one town with 30
fighting men, but in 1827 Byrd estimated that there were 300 Nottaway in
Virginia. In 1825, 47 were reported. The band that made its appearance
on the frontiers of South Carolina was said to number about 300.
Connetion in which they have
become noted ~ The name of the Nottaway is preserved by Nottoway River,
Nottoway County, and two towns, one the county seat of the above, the
other in Sussex county. There is a Nottawa in St. Joseph County, Mich.
Occaneechi
Meaning unknown. The
Botshcnins, or Patshenins, a band associated with the Saponi and Tutelo
in Ontario, were perhaps identical with this tribe.
Connections ~ The Occaneechi belonged
to the Siouan linguistic stock; their closest connections were probably
the Tutelo and Saponi.
Location ~ On the middle and largest
island in Roanoke River, just below the confluence of the Staunton and
the Dan, near the site of Clarksville, Mecklenburg County, Va. (See also
North Carolina.) History~ Edward Blande and his companions heard of
them in 1650. When first met by Lederer in 1670 at the spot above
mentioned, the Occaneechi were noted throughout the region as traders,
and their language is said to have been the common speech both of trade
and religion over a considerable area (Lederer, 1912). Between 1670 and
1676 the Occaneechi had been joined by the Tutelo and Saponi, who
settled upon two neighboring islands. In the latter year the Conestoga
sought refuge among them and were hospitably received, but, attempting
to dispossess their benefactors, they were driven away. Later, harassed
by the Iroquois and English, the Occaneechi fled south and in 1701
Lawson (1860) found them on the Eno River, about the present Hillsboro,
Orange County, N. C. Later still they united with the Tutelo and Saponi
and followed their fortunes, having, according to Byrd, taken the name
of the Saponi.
Population ~ Mooney (1928) estimates
that there were 1,200 Occaneechi in the year 1600. There is no later
estimate, but in 1709 this tribe along with the Shakori, Saponi, Tutelo,
and Keyauwee were about 750.
Connection in which they have become
noted ~ The name Occaneechi is associated particularly with the
Occaneechi Trail or Trading Path, which extended southwest through North
and South Carolina from the neighborhood of Petersburg, Va.
Continued
on Part Two
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