Powhatan Religion

According to Hariot, who claims to have learned from the Powhatan priests, the Virginian Native American tribes who lived near the English colonies worshipped a number of gods, who they referred to as Mantic. Hariot, T. (1588). A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia
The Mantic are said to be human in form, and thus are represented in artwork as humans. Such representations are called kewasowok (sing. kew). These representations are kept in temples called machicuck. In these temples, the humans worship, pray to, sing, and make offerings to the Mantic. A machicuck may contain just a single kew, but can have up to three kewasowok. 
== Myths ==
The Mantic were created by their Chief God to help him create and govern the world. He started with the Sun, Moon, and stars, and then went on to create gods for other aspects of creation. 
Once all the Mantic were created, they started by creating waters, and from the waters they created all the creatures of the world. 
When it came to creating humanity, the Mantic started by creating a woman, who one of the gods impregnated, with her children becoming the ancestors of humanity. 
== Afterlife ==
When a person dies, it is believed that they go to one of two afterlives, depending on the works they did while alive.
Those who accomplished much ascend to the heavenly realms where the gods live, and continue to exist in bliss and happiness. 
Those who accomplished little are taken to the westernmost point of the world and thrown into a great pit called Popogusso, where they burn for eternity. 
Those sentenced to Popogusso could be rescued by the gods and returned to life in order to guide the living in how not to go there. Hariot records one instance of this that he was told took place in the mid 16th century. 
Likewise, Hariot also records an account of events that took place while he was in Virginia, though in a settlement sixty miles from the colony. In this account, a man died and ascended to the heavenly realm, where he saw delicate and pleasant trees bearing the rarest and most excellent fruits, as well as the homes of the deceased. He met his father there, who charged him with returning to the land of the living and doing what he could to help his friends go to that place when they died. 
== References ==
Category:A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia
Category:Culture Pages
Category:Afterlives