Updated:
10/21/2008
Werowocomoco Indians
Early American Indians
Drawing by
Kasmin Torres
Most of the Indians were members of the great family called Algonquins, scattered among forty villages. The more familiar names to the average reader are the Pamunkey and Mattaponi, who live in King William County; the Chickahominy Indians in Charles City and New Kent. The last tribe in Gloucester was the Chiskiake, called "cheesecake" by the settlers.The early Virginia Indians were tall, well built people, with red or copper colored skin and dark piercing eyes. Their hair was coarse, straight and black, but they had no beards. The women wore their hair in long braids down their backs. The men cut their hair on one side and left it long on the other side. They wore no clothing, but in winter wore garments made of bird feathers or animal skins. Often they would stain or tattoo their bodies with plant juices.
They were roving people moving after game or food. They lived in huts or wigwams. Furniture consisted of bark mats or beds and crude utensils. Their most important crop was maize or Indian corn. Other crops included pumpkins, peas, squash, apples and tobacco, which they used for medicine and religious services as well as for smoking. Religion was a very important part of their lives, and their worship of god Okee, was carried out with sacrifices and other acts. Boys and girls were trained to observe nature, learn the uses of plants, and endure hardships.
