Manahoac Confederacy of Virginia

The Manahoac Confederacy of Virginia

Welcome to the Internet School Library Media Center. This page is part of the Virginia Indians page. You can search the ISLMC site. Information on this page is taken from The Manahoac Tribes in Virginia, 1608 by David I. Bushnell, Jr.. The work was originally published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1935 and reprinted by University Microfilms International in 1985. This page is written for younger readers who are interested in learning more about Virginia's Indians.

Virginia was the home of many Indian clans or bands. In thinking about these native peoples, you should remember that we are not talking about great numbers of people. One estimate is that only some 50,000 people lived in Virginia when the English arrived. These people lived over a wide geographic area. (1) Individual clans or bands of Indians would be at a distinct disadvantage since warfare between the tribes was common. Individual clans would form a confederacy for mutual protection and support. The Manahoacs lived in the piedmont area of Virginia in the area above the falls of the Rappahannock River to the Rapidan River. They belonged to the Siouan language group. Peoples of the Siouan language group might not understand each other's languages, but may have come from a common origin. When we speak of "The Manahoacs" we are talking about the Manahoac tribe and also the Manahoac Confederacy. Several other small tribes or clans were part of the confederacy. The clans of the Manahoac Confederacy were allies of some other tribes, including the Monacans and the Tuscaroras. The Monacans and the Tuscaroras also belonged to the Siouan language group. The Manahoacs and Monacans were enemies of the Powhatan Confederacy whose tribes were Algonquian, not Siouan, in origin.(2)

We do not know much about the Manahoacs. In 1608, Captain John Smith, eager to learn more about this new land, began an expedition to explore the area where the Manahoacs lived. His expedition was attacked by Manahoac warriors who were gathered at a large fishing camp on the Rappahannock River. People from the various tribes in the Mannahoac Confederacy had gathered at the camp. The Manahoacs had heard that the English had come to take their land away from them. They attacked Smith and his men to drive them away. Smith and his party were able to capture a Manahoac brave who had been wounded. Smith questioned this man and learned something about the people and where they lived. When the Manahoac attacked again the next day, Smith promised his captive his freedom if he could stop the attack. Luckily for the expedition, the captive persuaded his people that the white men were not enemies. The Manahoac then welcomed the Englishmen and gave a great feast in their honor. The information that Smith and his men learned at this time is really about all we know about this people, outside of the artifacts they have left behind. Smith's expedition turned back and never visited the Manahoac's villages.(3)

Archaeologists have found traces of Manahoac villages and camps along the Rapidan River and Rappahannock River above the falls. When the river levels rise, Indian artifacts, such as arrow heads and broken pieces of pottery, are frequently found when the water recedes. Many of the places where the Manahoacs lived show evidence of people having lived there for long periods of time. (4)

Like the Powhatans, the Manahoac people practiced agriculture and gathered fruit, nuts and other vegetable materials. They were hunters and fishermen. Their's was a Stone Age culture. We have many artifacts, including pottery; stone tools such as axe s, grinders, scrapers; household goods made of stone such as mortars and tobacco pipes; fish weirs; and burial sites.

The English never visited a Manahoac village. John Lederer who explored the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1669-70 crossed the Rappahannock River. He did not find the Manahoac village which Captain John Smith had reported to be in the area. Most of the tribes of the Confederacy had moved by the middle of the seventeenth century, possibly due to attack from other Indian tribes from the north. The English had brought diseases which killed many of the native people. These diseases may have reduced the number of people, as well. Many of the tribes in Virginia were nearly wiped out. The survivors of some tribes, such as the Saponis and the Occaneches, banded together. The Manahoacs may have joined with these tribes. A small population of the Manahoac remained in the area for generations, however.(5)

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History of Virginia Indians

References

Egloff, Keith and Deborah Woodward. First People; The Early Indians of Virginia. University Press of Virginia, 1992. p. 5

Bushnell, David I. The Manahoac Tribes in Virginia, 1608.. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1985. p. 1-2.

Ibid., p. 3-4.

Ibid., p. 27-28.

Ibid., p. 13-14; 93-94

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