Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-06-06

tasci' "ilH OtHerS, uHuer tne
name OF Portobacco
On the north side of the York river
at Gloucester Point. Gloucester county.
are the descendants of a family of
whose ancestors came orig
inally from the Pamunkey reservation.
On the eastern shore there are said
to be a very few mixed bloods still
living in the neighbrhood of Accomac
courthouse Drummondtown) in Ac-
comac county, and also a few bearing
the family name of Miles, near Fish
er's Inlet. in southern Northampton
county.
The Indian names have disappeared
from common use by marriage with
whites and negroes.
Several descendants of the abo-
rlgines live in Baltimore. Philadelphia
and New York, and several have be-
come converted to Mormonism and are
now living in Utah.
Only a few of their original customs
are preserved, one of which is the an
uual tribute to the governor of Vir-
ginia. This is done in pursuance to
treaty made between the governor
of the colony and the successor of
Powhatan in 1877. which required
three arrows and certain number of
5eaver skins to be presented to that
official annually. The pledge was full
illed in that form until the organiza-
ton of the state of Virginia. 1t was
Intended to signify the submission of
the aborigines to the white authori-
les and they considered 1t necessary
10 protect their titles to their lands.
After the organization of the state of
| Virginia the tribute was continued as
before until the civil war, when it was
interrupted OF late years, however,
| It has been resumed, and as the gov
arnor of Virginia has no use for ar
rows, and beaver skins are scarce, the
| chief of the Pamunkeys and dele
| cation consisting of the heads of sew
aral families carrying to Richmond
| half dozen wild turkeys and a saddle
| or venison (if they can shoot deer)
| annually at Thanksgiving time. They
| are expected to furnish the governor
Of Virginia his Thanksgiving dinner.
| When the English landed in James
town in 1907 the Powhatan confeder-
| lcy was of recent origin. Mr.. Moneys
| Investigations have shown that he in
| herited authority over six small tribes
| which occupied the territory around
| Richmond for radius of about TWEEN
| ty-five miles, and numbered only about
| one-ffth as many as he had subjects
when the English came. His author
| ;,,. to hn the
traditional methods of the savages.
slaughtering his enemies and carrying
off their women as captives. Short
ly before the arrival of the English
he exterminated the entire Chesa'
peake tribe and transplated colony
of his own people in the territory he
had laid desolate. To make his po-
sition more secure he placed his sons
and brothers as chiefs over the prin-
cipal towns while he ruled over them
all at his own capital He was great
ly feared and implicitly obeyed be-
cause of his own personality rather
than by tribal custom. The powerful
Chickahominies accepted him as an
overlord, but maintained their own
home rule and took an early oppor-
tunity to put themselves under the pro-
lection of the English.
The latter, being i'll supplied with
provisions, proceeded to live off the
country, and sent out foraging parties
which wefe too strong for the help
less savages to resist. AS conse-
quence, before the colony was two
years old the principal Indian towns
were occupied by the white men. Pow
hatan had withdrawn to the interior
and the hostility of the Indians was
outside the stockade. Open war was
deferred, however, until after the
death of Powhatan, in 1922, when his
brother, Opechancanough, made stimuli
taneous attacks upon almost every
settlement and plantation and massa-
cred BAT men, women and children
Retaliation was prompt and effective,
and in January of the following year,
1923, the Virginia council reported to
the home office in London that I'VE
have slain more of them this year
than hath been slain before since the
beginning of the colony"
By this war the Indians were so re-
duced in numbers and means, and the
white people grew so rapidly, that
there was no longer any serious trou-
Bile. Opechancanough was captured,
brought to jamestown and shot in
prison by one Of the guards. In Octo-
ber, 1916, his successor made a treaty
OF submission by which the Indians
agreed to abandon everything below
Richmond and confine themselves to
the narrow strip of territory peninsula
between the York and Rappahannock
rivers, now known as Gloucester and
Middlesev counties. Henceforth, as
Mr.. Mooney says, "the dwindling
tribes appear chiefly as appealing for
protection or justice, their chronic
grievance being trespass upon their re-
serve lands. From various references
1t is evident that Indian slavery was
common. even after peace had come,
and this probably FASTENED the inter
| mixture process with the negro race"