The Accomac people were a historic

Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, tribal nation, or similar concept is any extant or historical clan, tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Native Americans in the Unit ...

in Accomack and

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

counties in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

.Frederick Webb Hodge, ''Handbook'', 8. They were loosely affiliated with the

Powhatan Confederacy The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...

. The term Accomac was eventually applied to a larger group of related Indigenous peoples living on the

Eastern Shore of Virginia The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties ( Accomack and Northampton) on the Atlantic coast detached from the mainland of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is se ...

. To the north, the

Eastern Shore of Maryland The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that ...

was home to the Pocomoke and related tribes, such as the

Annamessex The Annamessex people were a historic Native American tribe from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.Christian F. Feest, "Nanticoke and Neighboring Tribes," 241. Their homelands were part of present-day Somerset County, Maryland. Along with the Manokin ...

. Further north, the

Assateague people The Assateague (meaning: "swifly moving water") were an Algonquian peoples, Algonquian people speaking the Nanticoke language who historically lived on the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coast side of the Delmarva Peninsula (known dur ...

lived on the Atlantic Coast of Maryland and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

History

Their primary settlement, also called Accomac, was near present-day

Cheriton, Virginia Cheriton is a town in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. The population was 487 at the 2010 census. History Eyre Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on Mar ...

, on Cherrystone inlet in Northampton County.

Debedeavon Debedeavon (died 1657) was the chief ruler of the Accawmack people who lived on the Eastern Shore of Virginia upon the first arrival of English colonists in 1608. His title was recorded as "Ye Emperor of Ye Easterne Shore and King of Ye Great Nuss ...

(Accomac, died 1657) was the principal chief of the Accomac when

English colonists The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the American Revolutionary War, ...

first arrived in 1608. They called him the "Laughing King" and allied with him. In 1608, they were recorded as having 80 warriors. By 1700, the Accomac population had declined by approximately 90 percent due to introduced diseases such as

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and violence from the colonists. The colonists began calling all American Indians to the immediate east of

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

"Accomac." They maintained communal lands through 1812, mostly in and near Accomack County. A subgroup, the Gingaskins, lived near present-day

Eastville, Virginia Eastville is a town in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. The population was 203 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County. The Northampton County Courthouse Historic District is part of the Eastville Historic Di ...

. They intermarried with

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

living nearby. After the Nat Turner's slave rebellion of 1831, local

White Americans White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 61.6%, or 204,277,273 people, were white alone. This represented ...

forcibly expelled them from their homelands.

Subtribes

Historical marker for Gingaskin reservatoin

Subtribes of the Accomac included the following groups: * Acohanock, also written Accohannock * Anancock, Oanancocke, Onancock * Chiconessex, Chicconessick * Combec * Gingaskin, Gangascoe, Gingaskoyne, * Kiquotank, Kikotanke * Matchapungo, Machepungo, Mastiapungo, Matchopungo, * Macheteege * Mashawatoc * Matomkin, Matompkin, Motomkin * Nadue, Nandewy, Nanduye * Pungotege, Pungoteque.

Name

Philologist

James Hammond Trumbull James Hammond Trumbull (December 20, 1821 – August 5, 1897) was an American historian, philologist, bibliographer, and politician. A scholar of American Indian languages, he served as the first Connecticut State Librarian in 1854 and as Secr ...

wrote that ''Accomac'' means "the other-side place" or "on-the-other-side-of-water place."Frederick Webb Hodge, ''Handbook'', 7. Alternative spellings include Accawmacke, Accomack, Accowmack, Acomack, and Acomak.

Cultural heritage group

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

designated the

Accohannock Indian Tribe The Accohannock Indian Tribe, Inc. is a state-recognized tribe in Maryland and a nonprofit organization of individuals who identify as descendants of the Accohannock people. The Accohannock Indian Tribe is not federally recognized tribe, federa ...

as a

state-recognized tribe State-recognized tribes in the United States are organizations that identify as Native American tribes or heritage groups that do not meet the criteria for federally recognized Indian tribes but have been recognized by a process established under ...

in 2017. They claim to be descendants of the Accomac people; however, historians and other Native American tribes dispute those claims.

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accomac People Algonquian ethnonyms Eastern Algonquian peoples Extinct Native American tribes Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands Native American tribes in Virginia Powhatan Confederacy