Indians on the Eastern Shore of Virginia: Evolving Relationships with the English and Powhatan Indians

Abstract

My work parallels that of historian Helen C. Rountree who closely examined the Eastern Shore Indians in Powhatan Foreign Relations, 1500 - 1722; Pocahontas's People; The Powhatan Indians of Virginia; and Eastern Shore Indians of Virginia and Maryland which she co-authored with Thomas E. Davidson. Rountree argues that the Eastern Shore Indians were part of the Powhatan chiefdom, but a separate and distinct group. I do not believe my conclusions are dramatically different from those of Rountree and other historians because most agree that the Accomacs and Occohannocks were a separate entity. I believe that I have examined the Accomacs and Occohannocks more thoroughly, and specifically their interaction with both the colonists on the peninsula and the Indians on the mainland. The relationship the Eastern Shore Indians developed with colonists was beneficial for them initially, but it became destructive. They were in a "nowin" situation because they would lose their independence if they continued to ally themselves with the Powhatans, but their alliance with colonists on the peninsula also resulted in their loss of independence. [From Preface]