Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-23

| Viu|MN1R> EEzbk, Ing in eastern Vir-
| \VEVMAI EkMHHI ginfa, who are in
| WIFI wv deed literally the
first families q.
| F. VS. of the old
dominion, being 1ineal descendants of the
| true aborigines. So blue and exclusive. In
! fact. is the Pamunkey blood, SO unmixed
| through centuries with any other strain.
| that the tribe is dying out, and experience
| ing the urgent need of q matrimonial alli-
ance with some outside stock to preserve
| the root. The detrimental effects of con-
| tinued intermarriage between members of
| the tribe have become alarming, but, mas
much as they scorn a union with their
white, as well as their colored neighbors,
they are in a dilemma to what steps
they should take to restore their blood and
save themselves from extinction. 1t is a
case somewhat like that of the primitive
Romans and the Sabines-except that thus
lar no Sabine women have been lured
among them and captured
Under these Gil Gums tances the head men
OF the Pamunkey tribe have opened ne
EQUATIONS with the Eastern Band of Chero-
kee Indians in the adjacent states of North
Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama
to procure brides for their Unmarried sons
and husbands for their unmarried dauch-
t tsrs. me male Psmunkeys understand
tle Eastern cherokee women to be excep-
tionaliy pretty, modest and sensible. and
me Iemaie Pamunkeys regard the Eastern
Snsrokee braves as handsome, loyal and
Industrious, from general hearsay and
calculated to make safe husbands Core
spondenee was begun about a year ago
with the chiefs of the Eastern Cherokees.
as me result OF repeated conferences on
me subject between representatives of the
famunkeys and Commissioner of Indian
Analrs Browning. at the Indian bureau in
inns city. ana inducements were offered
Carolina to send a select sample con-
signment of eligible girls and youths.
ms week three emissaries Of the Pa
munkey tribe departed for North Caro-
lima, to visit Principal Chief NimroI T
smith and other lead men of the Eastern
Cherokees in person at Bird Town Wolf
aoWn; soeo and Big Cove, and bring the
Whether the hardy Cherokee mountafneers
VIII consent to ally themselves with the
pamurkey jewellers at tidewater without
tha pa inducements is doubtful. put
the Pamunkeys themselves are confident
OF success. and hope for speedy infusion
| Of new blood into their tribe
Home of the Tribe
This tribe live in a queer settlement call
ed Indian Town." over in King William
county, Va, twenty-one miles due east Of
richmond, and one mile east of the his
toric White House." where George Wash
ington was married to the beautiful widow
Custis. Their reservation, comprising 500
acres. ceded to the tribe by the ancient
colonial assembly Of Virginia, is an oddly
shape neck of land, almost entirely sur-
rounded by one of the serpentine curves of
the Pamunkey river. not far from its de-
beuchment into York river. The place is
connected with the main land by single
narrow sandspit, and the isolation and pro-
lection afforded by this peculiar situation
rave doubtless saved these Indians from
destruction. About one-third of the reser
Ia M
mainder consists of woods and low
sWamps. well stocked with deer, raccoon.
outer, muskrats mink. reedbrds, wild
geese, ducks and turkeys.
There are now ninety Pamunkey Indians
actually present on the reservation proper.
ana thirty-five more residing on another
small reservation twelve miles northward
on the Mattapony river, beside twenty
others employed as boatmen on steamers
plying the Virginia rivers, making a total
of 145 Pamunkeys now living. In appear
ccpper-colored skin. straight, coarse hair
and dark eyes. They are not particularly
strong or robust and their average lon
gevity Is less than that of their white and
colored neghbors.
There are few members of the tribe who
are not closely related by consanguinity to
every other person on the reservation, and
this accounts for their waning vitality to
remedy which they are now exerting them
selves. Most of the adults can read and
write, and are reasonably well-informed
1ney are temperate, moral and peaceable.
1ll-feeling between them and their neigh
bors is almost unknown. Their homes are
comfortable and well kept, and most of
their houses are weather boarded. AS a
rule they are story and a half high, en-
bracing from two to four rooms Their
church building. where Baptist services are
held every Sabbath. is a creditable strue-
tIre. The church receives the hearty sup
pert of the whole tribe.
All Talk English.
The Pamunkeys wear ordinary citizens
dress. but affect an excessive use of gaudy
colors. All talk English, and scarcely a
vestige of their old tribal tongue is left
among them. Following the habits and in
stincts Of their forefathers. they spend
their time largely in hunting and fishing,
| using dug-out canoes in their aquatic
sports. They also do little farming to
| supply their own tables. and make little
earthen ware for domestic uses Still they
| cherish an inherent dislike for manual
| labor, and frequently hire impecunious
negroes to work their truck patches for
them. A few horses cattle sheep and hogs
are raised. A general merchandise store
| is conducted by joint stock company
composed of members of the tribe. Their
surplus fish, game, furs and farm products
| find market in Richmond and Baltimore
The reservation belongs to the tribe as
| whole, and there is no individual ownership
| of land. The houses are individual prop
| erty. however, and can be bought and sold
| at pleasure The land is allotted to fam
| lilies from time to time, and on the death
| of occupants it reverts back to the tribe
| fer reallotment. The tribe is not taxed
| by the state of Virginia, but voluntarily
pays, from time-honored custom, an an
| nual tribute to the governor, personally in
| the shape Of a brace of wild ducks or other
game. The tribal government is conducted
| by an elected chief and council of four
| who administer a code of laws framed by
| the Indians themselves. c. s. Brady is
| the present chief and J. T. Dennis. w. G.
Sweat. R. L. Sampson and Terrill Brady