Powhatan Religion

Tsenacommacah is the name given by the Powhatan people to their native homeland, an area encompassing all of Tidewater Virginia and portions of the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The Powhatan were part of a powerful political network of Virginia Indian tribes known as the Powhatan Confederacy. Members spoke the Powhatan language. The paramount chief of the Powhatan people in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Wahunsenacawh, originally controlled only six tribes, but throughout the late 16th century, through diplomacy or force, he added many more. By 1607, Wahunsenacawh controlled more than 30 tribes. Wahunsenacawh died in 1618, and the chiefdom was ultimately passed to his younger brother Opechancanough who led the Indian Massacre of 1622 as well as a second attack in 1644. Both attacks provoked retaliations from the English colonists. A peace treaty, signed in 1646, ended the conflicts. The size of Tsenacommacah was reduced. The treaty specified boundaries between Virginia Indian lands and colonial territory and restricted crossing the border to those on official business. Badges were required for all visitors. The treaty also established the payment of a yearly tribute to the English. The Virginia Colony long respected its southern boundary established by this treaty, refusing to recognize settlements beyond it as late as 1705. Every Indian reservation, except for two, were lost over the next two centuries. Despite this, many of the remaining tribes still live in or near their ancestral lands. Powhatan homes, called yehakins, were constructed by bending saplings and laying woven mats or bark over them. Virginia's natives practiced slash-and-burn agriculture and cultivated maize. A village became unusable when the productivity of the soil declined and local fish and game supplies were depleted, so they periodically moved their villages to a new location. Powhatan men were warriors and hunters who traveled on foot through forests in pursuit of enemies or game. Women tended agricultural fields and gardens. The original Powhatan religion was documented by the Jamestown colonists. The Powhatans believed in two primary gods. Ahone was the Great Hare creator god. Okee was the twin of Ahone, less powerful, but more approachable than his brother. Men cut their hair in imitation of Okee’s. To assuage his anger in times of crisis or court his pleasure before the hunt, they offered Okee sacrifices. Beneath Ahone and Okee, there were many other spirits, including an unnamed female deity. The Powhatan attempted to appease Oke with various offerings such as jewelry and tobacco. Religious leaders served as advisors to tribal leaders. It is believed that Powhatans would make offerings and pray to the god of the sun at sunrise. Relations were managed with the various spirits by the kwiocosuk, or shamans, who lived apart from common tribespeople and were Powhatan society’s ultimate authority figures. The kwiocosuk served as advisors to tribal leaders. Quiocosins, or holy temples, housed the religious leaders and hosted various rituals. When the weroances, or chiefs, died, their remains were reduced to bundles of bones and stored in the temples for several years. The Powhatans had a variety of rituals that were associated with eating, hunting, male initiation, and the killing of prisoners of war.