The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-14

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ing Pamunkeys? Of course A need
hardly be said that only a first-grada
tribe will answer the requirements. for
as explained above, the Pamunkeys
esteem themselves a particular gilt
edge race.
THEIR ANCIENT LINEAGE.
Naturally they are proud of their
lineage, and Of the prominent place oc-
cupfed by their illustrious ancestors in
history and literature. King Opechan-
canough, the successor of Powhatan
the leader OF the great massacre Of the
whites In 1862, Is their tftular hero.
Next to him they revere the memory
or PoWhatan and his ill-starred dauRh-
ter, Pocahontas, who, as a. girl saved
capt. John Smith from death in 1908
and, as grown woman married John
Rolfe the English planter, in 1913 They
maintain among themselves a curious
kind Of native arfStocracy and assume
high superiority over their surround
ing Virginia neighbors, even as their
old Pamunkey forbears deemed them
selves the leading factors among all
the allied POwhatan tribes. If put to
the test, they might reluctantly ac-
knowledge the best whites as their
| equals, but they account the blacks as
Infinitely below themselves in the so
cial scale.
The Pamunkey tribe live in a queer
settlement called Indian Town stu
ated about mile east Of the historic
White House." where George Wash
ington welded the beautiful Widow
GUSTS. Their reservation, comprising
800 acres, ceded to the tribe by the an
cient colonial assembly of Virginia, Is
an odd-shaped neck of land, almost en-
tirely surrounded by one Of the SER
pentine curves Of the Pamunkey river,
and not far from the junctioI Of the
two. 1t is on the line of the York -l=1r
division Of the Richmond & Danville
railroad. The place is connected with
the mainland by a single narrow sand
spit, and the isolation and protection
afforded by this peculiar situation
doubtless saved these Indians from de-
struction. About one-third Of the res
ervation is good farming land. and the
remainder consists of woods and low
swamps, well stocked with deer, rae
coon, otter, muskrats. mink reed birds,
wild geese, ducks and turkeys
ONLY 145 PAMUNKEYS LEFT
There are now only ninety Panunk-
eys actually present on the reservation
proper, and thirty-five more residing
on another small reservation twelve
miles nOrthward on the MattapOny riV-
during the summer as bOatmen on
steamers plying the Virginia. rivers,
making a total Of las Pamunkeys now
living. In appearance they are distin-
guished by the usual copper-colOred
skin, straight, coarse hair and dark
eyes. They are not particularly strong
or robust, and their average longevity
is less than that of their white and
cOlOred neighbors.
There are few members Of the tribe
who are not closely related by consan-
guinity to every other person on the
reservation, and this accounts for their
waning vitality, to remedy which they
are now eXerting themselves. Most
Of the adult Pamunkeys can read and
write, ard are reasonably well in
formed. They are temperate, moral
and peaceable. Il-feeling between
them and their neighbors is almost I'M
known. Their houses are comfortable
and we'll kept, and most of them are
weatherboarded AS a rule, they are
but a story and a half high, embrac-
ing from two to four rooms. Their
church building, where Baptist serv-
ices are held every Sabbath, is a cred
liable structure. The church receives
the hearty support of the whole tribe.