Opechancanough "Mangopeesomon", paramount chief of the Powhatan

Opechancanough “Mangopeesomon”, of the Powhatan

• BIRTH say 1554 in current day York County, Virginia, USA
• DEATH 1646 (aged 91–92) in current day York County, Virginia, USA
• do not confuse with Chief Eagle Plume Hololesque Cornstalk, {Fictional - Shawnee Heritage}
• some say "Cleopatra", of the Powhatan was one of his wives

Paramount Chief of Tsenacomoco, also known as the Powhatan Confederation 1618-1646.

Various historians reference him as the younger brother, half brother or cousin of Chief Powhatan, Opechancanough is most famous for leading assaults on the English settlers in Virginian and for the capture of colonist John Smith.

Opechancanough ordered the Great Assaults of 1622 and 1644 (Anglo-Powhatan Wars) which led to the massacre of thousand of English settlers. In 1646 Opechancanough was captured by an expedition of Virginia governor William Berkeley and brought him to Jamestown where approximately two weeks later he was shot and killed by one of the guards.

There are no written records of where Opechancanough is buried but most historians believe he was buried near his brother Chief Powhatan.

Family notes

From documents, we do not know the names of any of Opechancanough’s children. “According to Helen Rountree who is an authority on the Powhatans, the wives and children of Opechancanough are unrecorded.”

Citations

• Rountree, H. C. Opechancanough (d. 1646). (2015, May 7). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Opechancanough
• Egloff, Nancy, Historian, (28 Feb 2014) Curatorial Dept., Museum Operations & Education, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation P.O. Box 1607, Williamsburg, VA 23187, (757) 253-7336 fax (757) 253-7350, (JYF) [nancy.egloff@jyf.virginia.gov] Email from Nancy Egloff, to Nancy Perry, titled RE: Jane Eagle Plume
• Rountree, Nancy C. “Pocahontas's People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries.” University of Oklahoma Press, 1996 - History - 404 pages GoogleBooks

Biography

Brother of Chief Powatan (real name Wahunsonacock) When Powatan died in1618, Opechancanough took over. he was much more violent than his brother. in 1622 he invaded Jamestown. Brother Wahunsonacock was the father of Pocahontas. Therefore Princess Nicketti was her cousin. Brother's parents were : Emperior Wahunsonacock Powhatan. Many names are very similar. Note: On Powhatan's death in 1618, Opechancanough, brother of Powhatan and chief of the Pamunkey, became the central power in the Powhatan Confederacy.

For many years he was the scourge of the early colonists, and the fierce and implacable enemy of the whites. Constant encroachment and attempts to force European culture upon the Indians led to tensions that erupted in a general war. Opechancanough organized the March 22, 1622 attack, in which some 347 settlers were killed and came close to destroying the entire colony. English reprisals were equally violent, but there was no further fighting on a large scale until 1644, when Opechancanough led the last uprising, in which he was captured and taken to Jamestown. He was kindly treated by the governor, but in a few days shot in the back by one of his guards for some private revenge and died of the wound. He was nearly a hundred years old and very infirm. His successor was Necotowance. The British soon conquered the empire, and, after a few ill fated attempts at rebellion, the Powhatan's were soon destroyed. Survivors fled northward, to Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

A Powhatan chief, born about 1545, died in 1644.

He captured Capt. John Smith shortly after the arrival of the latter in Virginia, and took him to his brother, the head-chief Powhatan (q. v.). Some time after his release, Smith, in order to change the temper of the Indians, who jeered at the starving Englishmen and refused to sell them food, went with a band of his men to Opechancanough's camp under pretense of buying corn, seized the chief by the hair, and at the point of a pistol marched him off a prisoner. The Pamunkey brought boat-loads of provisions to ransom their chief, who thereafter entertained more respect and deeper hatred for the English. While Powhatan lived Opechancanough was held in restraint, but after his brother's death in 1618 he became the dominant leader of the nation, although his other brother, Opitchapan, was the nominal head-chief.

He plotted the destruction of the colony so secretly that only one Indian, the Christian Chanco, revealed the conspiracy, but too late to save the people of Jamestown, who at a sudden signal were massacred, Mar. 22, 1622, by the natives deemed to be entirely friendly.

In the period of intermittent hostilities that followed, duplicity and treachery marked the actions of both whites and Indians. In the last year of his life, Opechancanough, taking advantage of the dissensions of the English, planned their extermination. The aged chief was borne into battle on a litter when the Powhatan, on Apr. 18, 1644, fell upon the settlements and massacred 300 persons, then as suddenly desisted and fled far from the colony, frightened perhaps by some omen. Opechancanough was taken prisoner to Jamestown, where one of his guards treacherously shot him, inflicting a wound of which he subsequently died.

Pronunciation: (O-pech"un-kä'nO)

Information from Wm. Dey Herbert gedcom, Sara Pollastrini : Chief Opechanacanough led the native american indian attack on Jamestown colony, resulting in the death of 347 settlers. This massacre lead to the collapse of Virginia Company and the return of the colony to the control of the King of England. Chief Opechanacanough died by a brutal murder while in captivity in 1644.

Information from Arnold gedcom, JD Watson: Opechancanough, uncle to Pocahontas, was considered a master tactician. He led the Pamunkey tribe for twenty-five years following the death of his brother, Powhatan. For the first six months following Powhatan's death, Opechancanough reassured the settlers of Jamestown, Virginia of their safety. Opechancanough became Werownsi or Werowance (Good Person) of Pamunkey. However, Opechancanough saw that the settlers were beginning to encroach on his tribe's hunting grounds by clearing the trees to make tobacco fields and driving away the game. He saw a pattern building which he wanted to stop. In 1622, on Good Friday, the Indians struck, killing nearly 350 settlers and destroying the town's iron works. Opechancanough was captured during a peace council with the colonists, but managed to escape soon afterward. The attack had so effectively curtailed the community's growth that Opechancanough did not attack again until 1644. Soon after this assault, the chief was taken prisoner for the last time.

When the English first met him, Opechancanough was in his compound five miles north of Apamatuk on land belonging to the Werowans of Winau (Weanoc). This neck of land lies between the Mattaponi (Mattapanlent) River and the Pamunkey River. Opechancanough's major village was at Menapacuts (Menapacunt) on the Pamunkey River, near the sacred center of Uttamussak.

Some of what was written of Opechancanough and the tribe's homeland by early settlers:

"Wyroans Panaunche a Rychland of Copper and pearle. His country lyes into the land to another [Pamunkey] Ryver. The Copper They weare it in eares, about neckes in long lynckes, and in broade plates on heades. The Kyng had a 'Chaine of pearle about his neck thrice Double, the third part of them as bygg as pease. One hundred acres were planted with beans, corn, peas, tobacco, gourds, pumpkins, and other crops."

Near to Opechancanough's village of Menapacunt was the sacred center of Uttamussak, located on "top of certaine red sandy hils." In the woods there were "three great houses filled with images of their kings, and Devils, and Tombes of their Predecessors. Those houses are neare sixtie foot in length built arbour-wise, after their building [style]. This place they count so holy as that but the Priests and Kings dare come into them." People going up the adjacent Pamunkey River "solemly cast some piece of copper, white beads, or Pocones [red paint powder] into the river" to honor Oke, or Okee (probably Auki) ["Earth-Spirit"]. Opechancanough had similar places in the territory of his brothers.

Brother of Chief Powatan (real name Wahunsonacock) When Powatan died in1618, Opechancanough took over. he was much more violent than his brother. in 1622 he invaded Jamestown.

Brother Wahunsonacock was the father of Pocahontas. Therefore Princess Nicketti was her cousin.

Brother's parents were : Emperior Wahunsonacock Powhatan. Many names are very similar.

Note: On Powhatan's death in 1618, Opechancanough, brother of Powhatan and chief of the Pamunkey, became the central power in the Powhatan Confederacy. For many years he was the scourge of the early colonists, and the fierce and implacable enemy of the whites. Constant encroachment and attempts to force European culture upon the Indians led to tensions that erupted in a general war. Opechancanough organized the March 22, 1622 attack, in which some 347 settlers were killed and came close to destroying the entire colony. English reprisals were equally violent, but there was no further fighting on a large scale until 1644, when Opechancanough led the last uprising, in which he was captured and taken to Jamestown. He was kindly treated by the governor, but in a few days shot in the back by one of his guards for some private revenge and died of the wound. He was nearly a hundred years old and very infirm. His successor was Necotowance. The British soon conquered the empire, and, after a few ill fated attempts at rebellion, the Powhatan's were soon destroyed. Survivors fled northward, to Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

http://www.gurganus.org/ourfamily/browse.cfm?pid=90804

Notes

1. "Library of the Maryland Historical Society, an item of three lines covering eleven years. During the period covered by the fragment, matters became so bad between the Whites and the Indians that Opechancanough , Chief of the Powhatans, was induced to agree upon a line being established which neither White nor Indian, excepting truce bearers, should cross under penalty of being shot on sight. To insure strict obedience to the compact, a law was passed at Jamestown imposing a heavy penalty on any people crossing the line without a special permit from the Commissioners Council and the General Court. This accounts for the item alluded to, which is given verbatim. It reads: "Note:
2. Dec. 17th, 1641 -- Thomas Rolfe petitions the governor to let him see Opechankeno to whom he is allied, and Cleopatra, his mother's sister."
3. The record of the General Court was evidently intended to be a verbatim copy though they differ in phraseology and spelling: Note: "Dec. 17th, 1641 -- Thomas Rolph petitions Gov. to let him go see Opechanko, to whom he is allied, and Cleopatre, his mother's sister."
4. Thomas Rolfe was the son of John Rolfe and Pocahontas. Source: http://www.kentuckykinfolkorganization.com/descendantofSamuelBurks....

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His name reportedly means either "He Whose Soul Is White" or "At the Waterfall" in the Algonquian language.

He was Weroance of the Pamunkey and a tribal chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of what is now Virginia in the United States, and its leader from 1618 until his death in 1644.

[LINKS]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opechancanough

http://www.southern-style.com/powhatan_vann.htm

The following information comes from Dan Bryan (dmbryanfamily@msn.com).

"I recently found a Record that might lend some credence to the existence of our Chief Eagle Plume, and it might be right. I will give what I have and let you judge it from there."

Chief Eagle Plume = Chief Opencancanough

Spouse: Princess Cleopatra "Scent Flower"

Iroquois Tribal Leader - Brother of Chief Powhatan

Cause of Death: Gunshot Wound

(Note: I, Charles D Brown, will leave out about two (2) pages if geneology and jump to the notes at the end of this paper.)

"Opechancanough. A Powhatan chief, born about 1545, died in 1644. He captured Capt. John Smith shortly after the arrival of the latter in Virginia, and took him to his brother, the head-chief Powhatan (q.v.). Some time after his release, Smith, in order to change the temper of the Indians, who jeered at the starving Englishmen and refused to sell them food, went with a band of his men to Opchancanough's camp under pretense of buying corn, seized the chief by the hair, and at the point of a pistol marched him off a prisoner. The Pamunkey brought boat-loads of provisions to ransom their chief, who thereafter entertained more respect and deeper hatred for the English. While Powhatan lived Opechancanough was held in restraint, but after his brother's death in 1618 he became the dominant leader of the nation, although his other brother, Opitchapan, was the nominal head-chief. He plotted the destruction of the colony so secretly that only one Indian, the Christian Chanco, revealed the conspiracy, but too late to save the people of Jamestown, who at a sudden signal were massacred, March 22, 1622, by the natives deemed to be entirely friendly.

In the period of intermittent hostilities that followed, duplicity and treachery marked the actions of both whites and Indians. In the last year of his life, Opechancanough, taking advantage of the dissensions of the English, planned their extermination. The aged chief was borne into battle on a litter when the Powhatan, on April 18, 1644, fell upon the settlements and massacred 300 persons, then as suddenly desisted and fled far from the colony, frightened perhaps by some omen. Opechancanough was taken prisoner to Jamestown, where one of his guards treacherously shot him, inflicting a wound of which he subsequently died.

This is none other than My 16th Great Grandfather - Chief Eagle Plume! The dates are as Follows:

Chief Opechancanough Chief Eagle Plume

1545 Birth: 1543 or 1545

Jamestown Birth Place: Jamestown

1644 Death: 1643 or 1644

Powhatan/Pamunke Tribal Affilation: Powhatan/Pamunke

Dominant Leader of Iroquois - Dominant Leader of Iroquois

Coincidence? I doubt it!

YEEHAW!

A Note from Tim and Dianne Erwin (erwin@cox.net)

A very good genealogist once said to me when I was trying to stop a myth in one of my lines. . . "Trying to correct something incorrect/undocumented that has been printed is like trying to nail Jell-o to a tree."

This tale has evidently been "out there" for years and researchers have been attempting to find anyone who might be able to document it. So far, I haven't seen anyone come forward with anything to prove it. If you have proof, please share it with us. We would love to know for sure!

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opchanacanough
• Opechancanough or Opchanacanough (1554-1646)[1] was a tribal chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of what is now Virginia in the United States, and its leader from sometime after 1618 until his death in 1646. His name meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquian Powhatan language.[2] He was the famous Chief Powhatan's younger brother (or possibly half-brother)

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Wind Clan, Cornstalk, AKA Young Cornstalk Wind Clan Powhatan - Young Shewanee Cornstalk (1598-1650)

Son of Cornstalk Wind Clan - Powhatan Sheewanee Powhatan (1577-1635) & the daughter of the Chalakatha Tree Clan Chief. Married, in 1617, to the daughter of the Chalakatha Turkey Clan Chief; their children included daughters Pride (married Thomas "Pashmere" Carpenter) & Nomura (married her uncle Hokolewska "Stream" Cornstalk).

In 1635 he inherited the position of chief upon the death of his father, and ruled as paramount Chalakatha chief for 25 years.

From Wikipedia

According to one European legend, some Shawnee were descended from a party sent by Chief Opechancanough, ruler of the Powhatan Confederacy 1618–1644, to settle in the Shenandoah Valley. The party was led by his son, Sheewa-a-nee.[12] Edward Bland, an explorer who accompanied Abraham Wood's expedition in 1650, wrote that in Opechancanough's day, there had been a falling-out between the Chawan chief and the weroance of the Powhatan (also a relative of Opechancanough's family). He said the latter had murdered the former.[13]

Links

• Powhatan-Vann-Jernigan connection
• http://mornstarz.blogspot.com/
• Shawnee Heritage IV  By Don Greene.  Page 168

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Opechancanough or Opchanacanough was a tribal chief within the Powhatan Confederacy of what is now Virginia in the United States, and its paramount chief from sometime after 1618 until his death in 1646. His name meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquian Powhatan language.[3] He was the younger brother (or possibly half-brother) of Chief Powhatan, who had organized and dominated the Powhatan Confederacy.

The Powhatan Confederacy was established in the late 16th and early 17th centuries under the leadership of Chief Wahunsonacock (who was more commonly known as Chief Powhatan, named for the tribe he originally led which was based near present-day Richmond, Virginia). Over a period of years, through negotiation and/or coercion, Chief Powhatan united more than 30 of the Virginia Indian tribal groups in the Tidewater region of what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, essentially the southeastern portion of the state.

At the time of the English settlement at Jamestown which was established in May 1607, Opechancanough was a much-feared warrior and a charismatic leader of the Powhatans. As Chief Powhatan's younger brother (or possibly half-brother), he headed a tribe situated along the Pamunkey River near the present-day town of West Point. Known to be strongly opposed to the European settlers, he captured John Smith of Jamestown along the Chickahominy River and brought him before Chief Powhatan at Werowocomoco, one of the two capital villages of the Powhatans. Located along the northern shore of the present-day York River, Werowocomoco was the site where the famous incident with Powhatan's young daughter Pocahontas intervening on Smith's behalf during a ceremony is thought to have occurred, based upon Smith's account.

Written accounts by other colonists confirm that Pocahontas subsequently did serve as an intermediary between the natives and the colonists, and helped deliver crucial food during the winter of 1607-08, when the colonists' fort at Jamestown Island burned in an accidental fire in January 1608.

The marriage of Pocahontas and colonist John Rolfe in April 1614 brought a period of peace; this ended not long after her death while on a trip to England and the death of her father, Wahunsonacock, in 1618. A short time later, after a brief succession of the chiefdom by Opitchipam, Opechancanough became paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.

The natives and the colonists came into increasingly irreconcilable conflicts as the land-hungry export crop, tobacco (which had been first developed by Rolfe), became the cash crop of the colony. The relationship became even more strained as ever-increasing numbers of Europeans arrived and began establishing "hundreds" and plantations along the navigable rivers.

Beginning with the Indian massacre of 1622, in which his forces killed many settlers, Chief Opechancanough abandoned diplomacy with the English colonists as a means of settling conflicts and tried to force them to abandon the region altogether. On March 22, 1622, approximately a third of the settlers in Virginia were killed by Powhatan forces during a series of coordinated attacks along both shores of the James River, extending from Newport News Point, near the mouth of the river, all the way to Falling Creek, near the fall line at the head of navigation. The colony eventually rebounded, however, and later they killed hundreds of natives in retaliation, including many warriors poisoned by Dr. John Potts at Jamestown.

Chief Opechancanough launched a last major effort to expel the colonists on April 18, 1644, the third Anglo-Powhatan War. In 1646, forces under Royal Governor William Berkeley captured Opechancanough, at the time believed to be between 90 and 100 years old. They paraded him as a prisoner through Jamestown before a jeering crowd; the chief was subsequently killed by a soldier, who shot him in the back while assigned to guard him. Before dying, the chief reportedly said, "If it had been my fortune to take Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I would not have meanly exposed him as a show to my people."

Rechristened as "Don Luis", the young man returned to his homeland in what is now the Virginia Peninsula subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, where Jesuit priests established their Ajacán Mission in September 1570. Shortly thereafter, Don Luis is believed to have returned to live with the Powhatan and turned against the Europeans. Don Luis and his allies killed the Jesuits at the mission in the winter of 1571, ending Spanish efforts to colonize the area.

From various contemporary reports, it is speculated that Opchanacanough may have suffered from myasthenia gravis. These reports include symptoms of weakness which improved with resting, and visible drooping of the eyelids.

Origins: Experts are saying there are West Indian origins of this paternal line.

Best Book of Who's Who: [https://books.google.com/books?id=fYYMAAAAIAAJ&vq=Nectowance&pg=PA5...]

History: [https://www.nps.gov/cajo/learn/historyculture/powhatan.htm]

DNA Matching Fun: Please consider joining with kit matching fun at Nicketti Hughes, Person of legend

Opechancanough was a war-chief of Tsenacommacah, a political alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians, who famously led assaults against the English settlers in 1622 and 1644. He was the younger brother (or cousin) of Powhatan, the paramount chief famous for his relations with the English at the time of their arrival in Virginia in 1607. Known for his leadership and military prowess, Opechancanough’s favor and fortune rose as that of his brother diminished in the years following hostilities with the English during the First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609-1614). At some point before the arrival of the English, Powhatan likely designated Opechancanough as werowance, or chief, of the Youghtanund Indians and later the head of the adjacent Pamunkey tribe. This appointment made him the military leader of one of the most critical Powhatan territories, a position that served him well during his later military conflicts with the expanding English settlements. Opechancanough quickly becomes a part of the English’s Jamestown story after encountering Captain John Smith shortly after the arrival of the English in 1607. Smith was captured by a winter hunting party led by Opechancanough near the mouth of the Chickahominy River in December of that year. Although Opechancanough consistently demonstrated a distrust of the English, he nonetheless treated Smith as an honored guest, bestowing him with a feast and entertainment, as well as protection during his stay. In his A True Relation, Smith notes that, “Each morning [three] women presented me three great platters of fine bread; more venison than ten men could devour I had…Though [eight] ordinarily guarded me, I wanted not what they could devise to content me. And still our longer acquaintance increased our better affection.” Eventually Opechancanough delivered Smith to Powhatan at Werowocomoco, Tsenacommacah’s capital on the York River.

For the next decade, Opechancanough only occasionally appears in the English records: assisting Powhatan again in entertaining Smith and Captain Christopher Newport in February 1608, and in preventing Smith's seizure of the Powhatan’s winter food supply early in 1609. He then disappears from the record for five years. During those years, the English continually expanded their settlements beyond Jamestown fort, establishing numerous small communities along the area’s rivers. Conflict became inevitable as the English encroached further into Indian territory, namely the construction of a settlement at Henrico in 1611, resulting in the First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609-1614). While the devastating guerrilla attacks by the Powhatan may have slowed English expansion, the colonists had by now established themselves as a permanent fixture in the Indian’s realm.

Though little is known of Opechancanough’s history, he appears to have been able to establish his independence from Powhatan, demonstrated by his seizing control of the powerful Chickahominy tribe in 1616. When Powhatan surrendered his position as paramount chief, he “left the government of his kingdom to Opechancanough and his other brother [Itoyatan].” Opechancanough served as war-chief of the Powhatan and interacted with “outsiders,” whereas his brother (or cousin) Itoyatan (about whom little is known) acted as the “peace chief” while holding the position of paramount chief, the head of council. This duality of leadership was common in Algonquian culture, but a difficult balance of power for the English to interpret. Because Opechancanough was more visible in his interactions with the English, it is understandable that his role as chief is more extensively mentioned by the English than is Itoyatan’s.

During this period the English continued their expansion in Tsenacommacah. In part, the infamous attacks led by Opechancanough in 1622 and 1644 can be seen as the military leader’s realization that English settlements were growing rapidly and would sooner or later threaten the Powhatan’s way of life. Historians estimate that Opechancanough spent between one and three years planning the attack in 1622, despite maintaining overall friendly relations with the English. On the morning of March 22, 1622, the Indians who had visited the colonists and stayed overnight joined others who entered the James River settlements, some using boats to cross rivers, to launch well-coordinated surprise attacks. The Indians entered the settlements unarmed and when the time came to attack they used the colonists’ own tools and weapons to kill the 347 English men, women, and children that lost their lives that day. Colonist Edward Waterhouse recounted that the Powhatan were “so sudden in their cruel execution that few or none discerned the weapon or blow that brought them to destruction.”

It appears likely that Opechancanough’s ultimate goal in planning the attack was not to exterminate the English but rather to confine them to a small territory, ideally back to a single settlement at Jamestown, or force them to leave. In addition, the war chief hoped to frighten the English into subsequent passivity by demonstrating Powhatan military superiority over that of the colonists. Opechancanough’s hopes were quickly dashed by an immediate English offensive intended to eradicate the Powhatan, but the latter were able to easily escape into the woods. By September, the Powhatan had resumed their guerrilla attacks, and the English experienced more hardship that winter than the Indians, having been too frightened by these attacks to plant corn. By 1632, with both the English and the Powhatan now exhausted, an uneasy peace was agreed upon by both sides and the English continued to expand into Tsenacommacah faster than ever before.

On April 18, 1644, the aging Opechancanough launched the second of his great assaults against the English with little success. Like in 1622, the coordinated attacks took place at various sites close to Powhatan settlements as a single blow rather than a series of chronic battles, followed by a quick retreat. Unlike in 1622, however, the attack appears to have had little effect on the settlers’ way of life. By now, English settlement policies had resulted in larger numbers of settlers. Though more colonists lost their lives in 1644 than in 1622, the dead accounted for a much smaller proportion of the English population, and everyday life soon returned to normal for the majority of the colonists. The English launched a counteroffensive against multiple Powhatan tribes, and in 1646 the Virginia General Assembly authorized a force to locate Opechancanough to initiate peace talks.

The once formidable war-chief was captured by forces under Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley around this time and no longer described as the “king of the Indians.” In October of 1646 a peace agreement was signed by Opechancanough’s predecessor. Opechancanough was thought to be near one hundred years old and “was now grown so decrepit that he was not able to walk alone…and his eyelids became so heavy that he could not see, but as they were lifted up by his servants.” He was captured alive and returned to Jamestown as the governor’s prisoner. Within two weeks of his arrival, the Powhatan leader was shot dead by an irate guard seeking revenge for the misfortunes suffered by the English at the hands of Opechancanough’s warriors. The death of Opechancanough, as well as the 1644 attack, signified the end of the delicate balance of power the Powhatan and English maintained during the first three decades of their coexistence. The English consolidated their superiority by forcing the Powhatan to recognize the sovereignty of the English king, and while the peace treaty recognized the boundaries of the colonists’ settlements, these demarcation lines would soon be unrecognizable in the coming decades.

Bibliography: Applebaum, Robert and John Wood Sweet, eds. Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Making of the North Atlantic World. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.

Gleach, Frederic W. Powhatan’s World and Colonial Virginia: A Conflict of Cultures. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.

Rountree, H. C. “Opechancanough (d. 1646).” (2011, December 8). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved November 2013 from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Opechancanough_d_1646.

Rountree, Helen C. Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2005.

Smith, John. A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Noate as Hath Hapned in Virginia [1608]. In Edward Wright Haile, ed. Jamestown Narratives: Eyewitness Accounts of the Virginia Colony, The First Decade: 1607-1617. Champlain, VA: RoundHouse, 1998. http://www.virtualjamestown.org/Opechancanough.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Deyo, Bill L CTR NSWCDD, E03A (Tribal Historian of Patawomeck Indians) AttachmentsAug 8,2016

Hi Linda,

You are not bugging me. I am glad to help.

Pocahontas' son, Thomas Rolfe, sought permission to go to visit his Aunt Cleopatra and Uncle Opechancanough, which is on colonial record. Many have said that it does not mean that his aunt and uncle were married. I believe that it did, as it was a common practice for a chief in line to be the head of the Powhatan Federation, which Opechancanough became, to marry his niece, if she was in the line of royal matrilineal succession, in order for his children to be eligible to become rulers. The famous ethnologist, Helen Rountree, also stated in her books that Opechancanough and Cleopatra were husband and wife.

Opechancanough was NOT the same person as Don Luis de Velasco. Don Luis gave his age when in captivity and he was born much too early to have been Opechancanough or even Opechancanough's oldest brother, Wahunseneca (Powhatan). It is likely that Don Luis was the brother of the mother of Opechancanough and Powhatan.

I have no idea about Hokoleuska Opechan, but Necotowance was likely the son of Opechancanough, as he was his successor, which, if his mother was Cleopatra, would have been appropriate. Nicketti was "traditionally" the daughter of Opechancanough but probably not by Cleopatra. When he was the Federation Chief, he was allowed to have as many wives as he wished.

Bill Deyo

Powhatan (Wahunsenaca) and Opechancanough, as well as Keckatough and Opitchipam, were all full brothers of the Pamunkey Tribe. "Powhatan" was actually the name of the Federation of many tribes that Wahunsenaca was the head of. They simply called him "Powhatan" because of that.

The book on Pocahontas by Linwood Custalow and Angela Daniel spoke of "Little Kocoum" in the story presented about Pocahontas and her husband Kocoum. The fact is, however, that the Mattaponi did not pass down the name or gender of the child that Pocahontas had by Kocoum. If you look in the back of the book, at the timeline, it explains that. The one child known by the Patawomeck that Pocahontas had was Ka-Okee. That is not to say that she did not have other children. I actually think that she did have at least one more between her marriage in 1610 and her abduction in 1613. I do not believe that the child was named Little Kocoum, however.

Deyo, Bill L CTR NSWCDD, E03A (Tribal Historian of the Patawomeck Indians of Virginia - State Recognized Tribe) AttachmentsAug 4, 2016

Hi Linda,

I am afraid that there is a lot of fabrication of names in the Indian ancestry. There is no evidence that Powhatan had a grandfather named Dashing Stream. Nothing is known about Powhatan's bloodline except that the great Nemattanon/Don Luis de Velasco was probably his maternal uncle. Some records call him Powhatan's father, but that was the Indian Uncle/Father relationship, as Nemattanon was not old enough to have been Powhatan's father. You have to be VERY careful if you are using the Shawnee Heritage books. They are very largely fabricated with a multitude of errors. Opechancanough was actually Cockacoeske's grandfather rather than father. That information was given by Thomas Matthews, the Indian interpreter, in his contemporary account of Bacon's Rebellion. Since Necotowance succeeded Opechancanough, it is believed that he was Opechancanough's son and the father of Cockacoeske.

Some of the surnames that descend from the Patawomeck are: Bryant, Owens, Newton, Sullivan, Roberson, Curtis, Monteith, etc.

If Opechancanough was married to Pocahontas' sister, Cleopatra, there would likely be Patawomeck ancestry there. The early records of William Strachey, the VA Company, etc., indicate that the mother of Pocahontas and Cleopatra was Winganuske, a Patawomeck woman, who was the daughter of the Great King of Patawomeck by Powhatan's sister. The Federation chiefs each had one "favorite wife" who lived with them and bore them many children. She was the "favorite" because she was of the royal bloodline of matrilineal succession and was the only chance for the chief's children to become rulers. All of the other wives of the chief had to go back to their tribes after marriage and would turn their child over to the chief at some later point. Powhatan's sister carried the royal line of matrilineal succession through their mother. By marrying the daughter of his sister, his children would all have the right to rule. Necotowance would have received that right to rule through Cleopatra, daughter of Winganuske, if Cleopatra was his mother. Necotowance's wife was apparently his close relative and of the royal matrilineal bloodline since his daughter, Cockacoeske, was a ruler in her own right, not just because she was the wife of Totopotomoi. (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((