(Redirected from Tenakomakah)
'Tsenacommacah' (variously spelled as 'Tenakomakah', 'Attanoughkomouck', and 'Attan-Akamik') was a territory in present-day eastern
Virginia that was controlled by the
Powhatan Confederacy in the late 16th and early
17th century. Its area extended roughly 100 miles inland from
Cape Henry to the west and north, and included the areas east of the
fall line on the rivers emptying into the southern
Chesapeake Bay.
The 'Powhatan' (also spelled 'Powatan' and 'Powhaten') were a powerful
confederacy of
Native American tribes speaking an
Algonquian language, and united under
Chief Powhatan (c. 1547 - c.1618) — whose proper native name was
Wahunsunacock.
When Wahunsunacock created a powerful empire by unifying much of eastern Virginia, he called his lands ''Tsenacommacah'' and himself the ''Powhatan''. Besides the capital town of Powhatan, at the fall of the
James River, present-day
Richmond, another capital of the Powhatan Confederacy was called
Werowocomoco and was located in
Gloucester County on the north bank of today's
York River. This was only 20 miles as the crow flies from
Jamestown where the English established their first permanent settlement of the
Virginia Colony in 1607.
Around 1609, Wahunsunacock shifted his capital from Werowocomoco to
Orapakes, located in a swamp at the head of the
Chickahominy River, near the modern-day interchange of
Interstate 64 and
Interstate 295. Sometime between 1611 and 1614, he moved further north to
Matchut, in present-day
King William County on the north bank of the
Pamunkey River, near where his brother Opechancanough ruled at
Youghtanund.
After the death, of Wahunsunacock in 1618, the Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy for many years was his younger brother
Opechancanough {c 1548 - c.1644), who was violently opposed to the ever-expanding English settlements on what had been Indian lands, and sought in vain to eradicate them. He led the
Indian Massacre of 1622 and another in 1644. These attempts saw strong reprisals from the English, ultimately resulting in the near destruction of the Powhatan Confederacy, which had been largely decimated by 1646.
Main articles: Powhatan
External links
★
The Anglo-Powhatan Wars
★
Powhatan Renape Nation - Rankokus American Indian Reservation