The Weyanoke people ( ) were an
Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands
Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands include Native American tribes and First Nation bands residing in or originating from a cultural area encompassing the northeastern and Midwest United States and southeastern Canada. It is part ...
.
Name
Their name is also spelled Weyanock,
[Rountree, ''The Powhatan Indians of Virginia'', 9.] as British colonist
John Smith recorded on his map.
[Rountree, ''The Powhatan Indians of Virginia'', 154.] Alternative spellings include Weanoc,
[ Weanock, Winauh, Winauk, Wynauh, and Wynauk.][ Their name may mean "at the bend" of a river,][ coming from either the Eastern Niantic or ]Nipmuck language
Loup is an extinct Algonquian language, or possibly group of languages, spoken in colonial New England. ''Loup'' ("Wolf") was a French colonial ethnographic term, and usage was inconsistent. In modern literature, it refers to two varieties, Loup ...
.[
]
Territory
Their lands were located along the James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...
[Hodge, ''Handbook of North American Indians'', 926.] and west of the mouth of Appomattox River
The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia in the United ...
, near present-day Weyanoke, Virginia
Weyanoke is a plantation farmstead in Charles City County, Virginia, United States. In 1619, the First Africans in Virginia arrived at the Weyanoke Peninsula. They created the first African community in North America. The Westover Plantation and ...
. Their main capital settlement was at Weyanoke Point in Charles City County, Virginia
Charles City County is a county located in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated southeast of Richmond and west of Jamestown. It is bounded on the south by the James River and on the east by the Chickahominy River.
The ...
.[ Their second primary settlement was at the head of ]Powell's Creek
Powell's Creek is a tributary of the James River on the south side of the James River in Prince George County, Virginia, United States. The creek borders James River National Wildlife Refuge near Garysville, Virginia. History
In 1730, a tob ...
in Prince George County, Virginia
Prince George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,010. Its county seat is Prince George.
Prince George County is located within the Greater Richmond Region of the U.S. stat ...
.[
]
History
At the beginning of the 17th century, when the tribe had early contact with English colonists, the Weynock traded with Wahunsenacawh
Powhatan ( c. 1547 – c. 1618), whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh (alternately spelled Wahunsenacah, Wahunsunacock or Wahunsonacock), was the leader of the Powhatan, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans living in Tsenacommacah ...
(Powhatan
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 ...
, c. 1547–c. 1618). Some historians considered them to be a part of 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 ...
.[
Their population was 500 in 1608.][ After attacks by the ]Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
at the end of the 17th century, they migrated out. They signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation
The Treaty of 1677 (also known as the Treaty Between Virginia And The Indians 1677 or Treaty of Middle Plantation) was signed in Virginia on May 28, 1677, between the English Crown and representatives from various Virginia Native American tribes ...
with the Virginia Colony
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
in 1677.
Remnants of the Weyanock and the Nansemond
The Nansemond are the indigenous people of the Nansemond River, a 20-mile long tributary of the James River in Virginia. Nansemond people lived in settlements on both sides of the Nansemond River where they fished (with the name "Nansemond" meanin ...
joined the Nottoway in the early 18th century.
By 1727, they lived along the Nottoway River
The Nottoway River is a river in the U.S. state, U.S. State of Virginia and northeastern North Carolina that is 155 miles (249 kilometers) in length. The river begins in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Prince Edward County and merges with the Bla ...
.[At the end of the 18th century, the Weyanock merged completely into the Nottoway, with the surnames Wynoake and Wineoak occasionally appearing on public documents.][Rountree, "The Termination and Dispersal of the Nottoway Indians of Virginia," 199.]
Notes
References
* Hodge, Frederick W
''Handbook of North American Indians''
Washington, DC.: Government Printing Press, 1912.
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weyanock
Eastern Algonquian peoples
Extinct Native American tribes
Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands
Native American history of Virginia
Native American tribes in Virginia