This portion of our guide to the American Indians celebrates the Pamunkey people, who occupied the Chesapeake Bay region, particularly along the Pamunkey River, for as long as twelve thousand years.

Historically, the Pamunkey were among the most influential tribes within the Powhatan Confederacy, which also included the Chickahominy, the Nansemond, the Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, and the Kecoughtan.

Prior to the European colonization of America's eastern coast, the lifestyle of the Pamunkey people was one of subsistence living, which included fishing, trapping, hunting, and agriculture, although the latter developed between 900 and 1600 AD. The Pamunkey River served as a source of food and transportation, giving them access to hunting areas and other tribes with which to trade. Most Pamunkey villages were not permanent settlements; because they didn't use fertilizers, they moved their agricultural fields and homes every decade to allow the land to recover from cultivation.

Among the Pamunkey, the land belonged to the group as a whole, with each family being allotted a section of cleared ground for farming. However, they considered that any land that was not being actively farmed was available for public use. This was a practice that would later cause problems when English colonists would consider land to be theirs once it was sold to them, while the Pamunkey assumed they were free to use it for hunting and gathering if it wasn't being farmed.

Traditional Pamunkey homes were of the longhouse style, made from bent saplings lashed together at the top to form a barrel shape, and covered with woven mats or bark. Inside the house, beds lined both walls, made of posts placed in the ground, with small poles attached. Mats were placed on top for bedding, and additional mats or skins were used as blankets.

In the traditional Pamunkey tribal government, the tribe was governed by a weroance (chief) and a tribal council composed of seven members, who were elected every four years, with votes cast through the use of a basket, peas, and corn kernels. For each candidate, a corn kernel signified approval, while a pea was a vote against the candidate.

The contemporary Pamunkey governmental system is largely the same, with a weroance and seven elected council members, although they probably don't currently use corn kernels and peas for voting. The tribe operates under a constitution that outlines the powers, limitations, and responsibilities of the tribal government.

The first contact the Pamunkey had with Europeans was probably in 1570, and, in the following years, they were visited by the Spanish, French, and English. At the time that the English Jamestown settlement was established in 1607, the Powhatan Confederacy numbered as many as 21,000.

In the winter of 1607, Captain John Smith was captured by the chief of the Pamunkey tribe, who brought Smith to his brother, Chief Powhatan. This meeting led to an alliance between Powhatan and Smith that resulted in the tribes helping the settlers survive the winter.

Continued colonization by the English, and encroachment on Pamunkey lands eventually led to conflicts, however. While the Pamunkey people largely honored their alliances with the English, the colonists generally distrusted Indians in general and were hungrier for land than friendship.

In what became known as the Indian Massacre of 1622, the allied Powhatan tribes destroyed colonial settlements, and nearly wiped out the colony, sparing Jamestown.

In 1646, a treaty was signed between the Powhatan Confederacy and the English, establishing boundaries between lands set aside for the Virginia tribes and those that were now considered property of the English colonists. However, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, settlers continued to encroach on tribal lands, further displacing the Pamunkey.

In 1675, a rebellion was led by Nathaniel Bacon, an English merchant who sat on the Governor's Council, against Governor Sir William Berkely. Bacon was upset because, in his perspective, Berkeley had refused to come to the aid of colonists subjected to raids by various Indians. During the course of Bacon's Rebellion, several attacks were made on tribes that were loyal to the English, including the Pamunkey.

As victims of Bacon's Rebellion, the Pamunkey were allies of Berkeley against Bacon. After the rebellion was put down, the Pamunkey were given authority over the Rappahannock and Chickahominy tribes by treaty, which brought in a period of peace between the Virginia tribes and the English. More reservation lands were established for the tribes, but the tribes were required to acknowledge that they were subject to the King of England.

Today, the Pamunkey Tribe has between 400 and 500 enrolled members, some of whom reside on their 1,200-acre reservation, while others are spread out throughout the country.

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