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

intermarriage nearly the same mixture
Is in all alike. although it does not
show equally in the features. Thus,
many would pass among strangers as
ordinary negroes; few show no trace
OF any but white blood, while a few |
families and individuals might pass as |
full-blooded Indians in any western |
tribe. Notwithstanding the large per
centage of negro blood, the Indian
race feeling is strong. Their one
great dread is that their wasted mum
bers may lose their identity by abb
sorption in the black race, and against
this they have struggled for full
century. Intermar1iage with the negro
race is now forbidden by Pamunkey
law and frowned upon in the other
bands. TO prevent annoyance when
travelling, under recent Virginia legls-
lation the Pamunkey now carry official
certificates of tribal membership.
They nave entirely lost their abo-
riginal language and customs. If we
| except their devotion to the water, and
differ but little from their white neigh
bors. According to the statements of
| several persons of middle age, their
parents some fifty years ago had con
| versational knowledge of the old Ian
| auage. Even this knowledge must
nave been limited, as the present wri-
ter, by the most careful search, could
| hnd but one old man, William w.
| Weaver. a Nansemond, from whom
even half dozen words could be OBJ
| ained He was then so feeble, men
tally and physically. that he could not
be questioned with any satisfaction.
He died about a year later, in 1902,
and with him faded away the last echo
Of the Powhatan as a living language.
Practically all of them can read and
write. All are consistent members of
the Baptist church, maintaining their
own church and school organizations;
they are selfsupporting, law-abiding,
Industrious and hospitable, with no
paupers or criminals. and constitute
IN every way a worthy factor in the
community
MIR. Mooney says the Pamunkey are
the remnants of the nucleus tribe of
the old confederacy and the ineal
| NtSttlludulS VI lbNHdt anu SUI
cessors. They have maintained their
organization as a tribe under colonial
md state government. and have kept
lp more OF the Indian form and ira
lition than any of the others. They
nave a state reservation of some SOC
| acres, the same which Jefferson de
3cribed in 1881, in a bend of the Pa
| riV in Il inc NNilIia m
, Virginia. with postoffce and railroad
station on the Chesapeake and Ohio
road. tw rlyfour miles eastward from
RiehmonG They derive their living
almost entirely from the water, taking
large quantities Of herring and shaC
by some. according to the season
shooting ducks and reedbirds, ant
; catching an occasional sturgeon fol
disposal to Baltimore commission
houses Their fields of corn and bean!
are cultivated chiefly by hired negro
labor They neither vote nor pa!
take but are governed by an elected
chief ana council, subject to the su
per- lsion of trustees appointed by thu
state. Their chief for many year.
until 1900 was Theophilus Dennis, wht
: has since been succeeded by Georg,
NJ. Cook, his brother-in-law. The.
number at home and abroad abou
80 souls.
The present Mattapony are chiefl.
an offshoot from the Pamunkey. The,
have state recognition ms a tribe, with
out citizenship or taxes, and have
: small reservation of some fifty acres
4 with larger personal holdings. on th
t south bank of the Mattapony river
S King William county, about ten mile
l. distant from White house They liv,
o principally by numbering and farming
and have no chief or council, bu
S combine their affairs with the Pa
uunkey. They number about fort.
e souls.
+ The Chickahominy, although with
ont regular organization or state rec
/ Csnition, are the largest of the exist
ing bands, occupying individual hol
inss along both sides of the Chiclia
/ hominy in Charles City and New Ken
counties, besides about 200 persons il
/ neighboring counties few Pamun
+ keys reside with them and both band
: are much intermarried. They divid
/ their time about equally between fish
c ing and farming, according to the sea
: son. Within the last few years the,
e are making an effort to effect triba
r organization under the leadership o
d William H. Adkins. They number il
f. all about 22O souls, of whom nearl,
= three fourths bear the family namei
e OF Adkins and Bradby.
A The Nansemond have no state rec
1 agnition or tribal organizatl) IN, anC
d reside chiefly in the country southwes
l. from Portsmouth and Norfolk IL Nor
S iolk county. They are all truck farm.
e ars, shipping their produce to Norfoll
e commission houses. Many also have
4 served from time to time as sailor!
S on coastine vessels. Although with
+ out any regular chief, their principa
: man Is probably A. A. Bass of Bowers
Hill, Norfolk county. They number
2 cbout 1S0 souls
Besides the four larger Lands. Mr.