Moon Time

Photo by Orion 8

In Virginia, on March 22, 1622, and again on April 18, 1644, paramount chief Opechancanough arranged attacks killing several hundred colonists on both occasions. The fact that assaults could be carried out with such devastating consequences on unsuspecting colonists demonstrates Opechancanough's organizational skills. But how did he time his attacks with such precision?

For the most part, the various tribes commonly referred to as the Powhatan lived in towns near water, which could be reached by dugout (a type of canoe). Runners were also common messengers, but the tribal people used the moon as a calendar. Both attacks came one day shy of the third-quarter moon.

Moon cycles have been used for thousands of years to mark the passage of time. Each month the moon cycles has a new moon, first quarter, a full moon, last quarter, then returns to the new moon. The cycle repeats approximately every 29 days. One clergyman wrote that the Powhatan kept track of time by days, moons, and years. In their numbering system, they had specific words for one to ten, after which, according to John Smith, they counted by tens, and they also had a word for a thousand. If necessary, they used notched sticks and knotted strings to keep track of larger numbers.

The people tracked the lunar calendar with seasonal and solar cycles, along with crop and migratory seasons. Little is known about the astronomical knowledge of the Powhatan, but they recognized lunar months, such as "moon of the stags," the "corn moon," and the first and second "moon of cohonks." Cohonk is the Algonquian word meaning Canada goose, and the moons so named occurred in early winter when the geese returned. It was also the beginning of their year. The word itself sounded like a goose honking. Not only that, I recently discovered an interesting tidbit that to honk your car horn is derived from the same Algonquian word.

According to some anthropologists, calendars were developed by women to coincide with not only the lunar cycle, but menstrual cycles as well. Mayan midwives knew that when a woman missed her period a baby would be delivered about 260 days later. Opechancanough most likely timed his attacks using a similar method. In any case, the attacks were timed with precision, taking place just before spring planting and the beginning of the busiest time of year.

Kim Murphy

www.KimMurphy.net

Tangier Island

Photo by Albert Herring

Before the Europeans arrived in the 17th century, the name of Tangier Island is unknown. An island in the Chesapeake Bay, the land was used by the Pokomoke for their marine food sources of oysters, fish, and crabs. The tribe survives to modern times. They live in Maryland, but Tangier Island is regarded as part of Virginia today. Because there is no source for fresh water on the island, it's believed there were no permanent towns at that time.

The first known European to visit Tangier Island is John Smith in 1608. He named Tangier and another island in the bay Russell Isles after a Doctor Russell, who was on the ship with him. A storm forced his crew to seek shelter on one of the islands, but his diary is unclear as to whether it was Tangier. At the time, he stated the islands were unoccupied.

In 1644, paramount chief Opechancanough led an organized attack against the colonists like he had on March 22, 1622 because of their encroachment on the Powhatan chiefdom's land. Again he carried out the attack in typical Indian fashion by striking as quickly and as hard as possible, then retreated. Like the previous attack, hundreds of colonists were killed. Because there were many more colonists in 1644, his attack had less impact.

In retaliation, Governor Berkeley led strikes against the tribes in July 1645. They took many prisoners, and in August, the Virginia Council decided that all male prisoners over the age of eleven were to be abandoned on Tangier Island, in order "to prevent their returning to and strengthening their respective tribes." Berkeley used his own ship to transport the prisoners to Tangier. What became of them is unknown.

In the 1670s, two colonists used Tangier for grazing livestock. The historical record is unclear whether they actually lived on the island themselves or not, but it's generally believed they did not. Those who inhabit the island say the first permanent settlement was in 1686. Around 500 people live there today. Some claim their accent goes back to Elizabethan times. While there may be some remnants, the language has evolved since colonial times. Sadly with global warming and rising sea levels, Tangier Island will be claimed by the sea sometime in the next 50 to 100 years. I hope to make a research trip to the island this summer.

Kim Murphy
www.KimMurphy.net

Jamestown

Recently, I visited Jamestown, the first English colony to survive on the North American continent. It had been several years since my last visit and very little had changed. One of the most interesting aspects wasn't a display or anything like that, but some archaeologists who were working on a dig. They took the time to talk with us. Unfortunately, we had missed their big find earlier in the week, when they had uncovered an intact horse skeleton. Also, unfortunately for them, they discovered the horse was from the 18^th century and the Revolutionary War era, not the 17^th century.

On my previous visit, I was most interested in the original Jamestown. Part of the original fort is already underwater, and it's said that with global warming, the rest will eventually follow suit. On this trip, my response was the same as on the previous occasion when I passed the Pocahontas statue. Let me just say, she appears to be attired more like she had belonged to a western plains Indian tribe rather than eastern woodland. But then, I believe the statue was made in the 1930s. It just seems to me a historic site could add a more accurate portrayal.

The newest exhibit was the reconstruction of Jane, the girl whose remains had been the first forensic evidence of cannibalism during the Starving Time. As I walked through many of the other exhibits, I grew saddened and disappointed. Nothing showed or explained the original colonization from the Paspahegh point of view. After all, the land belonged to them when the colonists first arrived. In fact, the exhibits seemed to go out of the way to perpetuate the myth of how primitive these people were. But then, the Paspahegh were annihilated because they had resisted English encroachment, and there are no descendants to tell their side of the story.

A few years later, paramount chief Opechancanough organized an attack against the colonists. By that time, Jamestown definitely belonged to the English. The exhibits claimed that a boy by the name of Chanco had saved Jamestown from certain annihilation. In reality, there is no historical evidence that Jamestown was ever threatened. I guess, even now, it may be too much to ask a historic site to tell both sides to a story.

Fortunately for me, my visit was to research how Jamestown had grown in the 1640s. During this time, much of the ship trade had been cut off from England due to the Civil War there. That was another fact that I didn't see mentioned, but the port remained busy because of trade from the Dutch, New England, and the West Indies. I walked the path that the colonists of the era would have walked, and it helped me see and feel what my characters in my upcoming book The Dreaming: Wind Talker would see.

Afterward, I traveled the island by car. Maybe someday I'll return and walk the island. Before leaving, I saw a large bird in a tree. Other observers said that it was a bald eagle. According to most indigenous people, the eagle is a sacred messenger spirit. In that regard, I know the Paspahegh would be pleased.

Kim Murphy
www.KimMurphy.net

Queen of the Pamunkey

Daughter of paramount chief, Opechancanough, Cockacoeske was known as the Queen of the Pamunkey. Queen is an incorrect term, but it was the closest 17th-century word to the English concept. In reality, Cockacoeske was a weroansqua, or a female chief. The correct title for a male chief was weroance, and they were usually referred to by the English as kings.

Born around 1640, little is known about Cockacoeske's early life. In 1656, she became chief of the Pamunkey upon the death of her husband Totopotomoy. An ally of the English, he was killed in a battle while fighting against other native tribes. Later, Cockacoeske had an illegitimate son with Colonel John West. The boy was also named John West.

Despite the Pamunkey's alliance with the English, they were attacked during Bacon's Rebellion (a topic for a future blog). Men, women, and children were captured or killed. To save her own life, Cockacoeske went into hiding and nearly starved to death. Her son was one of those captured. During the investigation of the rebellion, the royal commissioners determined that Cockacoeske had remained loyal to England, and she was rewarded with regal attire.

Cockacoeske is best known for the Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677. The treaty made her the leader over a number of Indian nations, including the Chickahominy and Rappahanock, who were previously not part of the Powhatan chiefdom. The treaty set up the first Indian reservation, the Pamunkey, which exists to this day. Members from the tribe, as well as the Mattaponi, gave tributes of the now endangered river otter skins that were highly prized by the English to the governor. The agreement is still honored and tribal members present deer and wild turkeys to the Governor's Mansion in Richmond annually, on the day before Thanksgiving.

Cockacoeske died around 1686. Her attempt to restore the paramount chiefdom failed as there was little cooperation with the other tribes. By maintaining her alliances with England, she made it possible for her people to survive.

Kim Murphy
www.KimMurphy.Net

Henry Spelman

In 1609, Henry Spelman, a boy of fourteen, sailed from his home in England to Jamestown. Within two weeks of his arrival, he sailed up the James River with John Smith where his indenture was sold to the paramount chief Powhatan. Basically, Henry's job was to learn the Algonquian language so that he could serve as an interpreter. Such exchanges were not uncommon, and the young boys served as messengers between the two cultures.

In the beginning, Henry was treated well until relations between the Powhatan people and the English disintegrated. A short time later, Henry returned to Jamestown only to be caught in the midst of the "Starving Time." When several Natives brought venison to the fort, Thomas Savage, another English boy interpreter, accompanied them.

Due to lack of food in the colony, Henry was ready to return to the Indians and went with Thomas. He took a hatchet and some copper, a metal highly valued among the Powhatan, and gave them to the paramount chief. The offering eased tensions, and Henry spent about a year and a half among the Natives.

When a local chief of the Patawomeck tribe visited the pararmount chief, Henry, Thomas, and another boy by the name of Samuel, returned with him, without informing Powhatan they were leaving. Thomas had second thoughts and returned, but Powhatan sent a message that Henry and Samuel were also to return. In the dispute, Samuel was killed, and Henry sought refuge among the Patawomeck, living among them for another year as a special guest.

In 1610, Captain Samuel Argall found Henry living with the Patawomeck. With Henry's knowledge of the language and culture, he helped the English and Indians trade. Later, Captain Argall kidnapped Pocahontas, Powhatan's favorite daughter. After she married John Rolfe, there was peace for several years. During this time, Henry served as an interpreter and freely mixed between the cultures.

Over the years, Henry made several trips to England. He rose to the rank of captain and married a Patawomeck woman. In 1619, Samuel Argall had risen to the rank of governor, and another interpreter accused Henry of speaking badly about him to then paramount chief Opechancanough. If he had been found guilty of treason, he would have been executed. Instead, he was convicted of a lesser crime and was sentenced to serve the governor as an interpreter for seven years.

In 1622, Opechancanough led an organized attack against the English, killing many of the colonists. In the aftermath, Henry attempted to renew an English alliance with the Patawomeck, but a year later when he agreed to take a group of men to trade for corn, in the area of present day Washington, D.C., his party was attacked by a group of Anacostan Indians. According to Chief Robert Green, of the modern day Patawomeck tribe, Henry had been mistaken for a Patawomeck himself. Henry's manuscript Relation of Virginia is the only written account by an Englishman who spent a great length of time living with Indians.

Kim Murphy
www.KimMurphy.Net

March 22, 1622

In Virginia, the date March 22, 1622, has been given many names. Period sources claim the day was a massacre. Since then, some historians state that it was Opechancanough's uprising or coup with the intent to annihilate the colonists. In my upcoming book, The Dreaming, I call it Opechancanough's organized attacks. Why? Because I show the event from the point of view of the Arrohateck, a tributary tribe of an alliance commonly referred to as the Powhatan.

When the paramount chief Powhatan died in 1618, leadership passed to his brother, Opitchapam. Although second in command, another brother, Opechancanough, soon became the real leader and planned a co-ordinated assault on the encroaching English settlements.

On the day of the attacks, warriors wore no face paint nor carried weapons to give the illusion that it was an ordinary one for work or trade. At the agreed upon time, they turned on the colonists and the bloodshed began, oftentimes using the colonists' own weapons or tools.

By the end of the day, over 300 colonists, equaling a third of the population, were dead. On both sides of the James River, the death toll included women and children. Until the annihilation of the Paspahegh in 1610, such a tactic had been uncharacteristic for Virginia Indians as it had been against the law of nations. The previous hostilities with the colonists had forever changed the nature of their warfare.

Legend states that a Native Christian boy by the name of Chanco saved Jamestown. The story goes that he warned his employer, Richard Pace, of the upcoming assault. Pace lived across the river from Jamestown, so he rowed to the colony to alert them before the impending disaster. As it turns out, there's no historical or archaeological evidence that Jamestown was ever threatened.

To explain the possible reason further, I consulted with a tribal historian and was informed a treaty had been in place since 1614 giving Jamestown to the colonists. During the time of peace before Powhatan's death, the colonists encroached further into Indian territory. Opechancanough's attacks were co-ordinated to enforce the treaty. Essentially it was his way of saying, the land belonged to the Native people, and the colonists needed to live by the rules they had agreed to.

The attacks were carried out in typical Indian fashion of striking as quickly and as hard as possible, then retreat. At that time, the Powhatan had the larger numbers and could have carried out even greater damage had they wished, which makes the treaty explanation very plausible.

In the end, the colonists responded by increasing their attacks on the indigenous population and seizing more of their land. Although Opechancanough is often portrayed as a villain in modern history books, he remains a hero to present-day Virginia Indians as a defender of their homelands.

Kim Murphy

www.KimMurphy.Net