Virginia Indians Review

Siouan

This language was spoken by tribes in the Piedmont Region between the fall line and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Iroquoian

This language was spoken by the tribes in Southwestern Virginia and in Southern Virginia near the border of North Carolina.

Algonquian

This language was spoken by tribes in the coastal plain area of Virginia.

Monacan

This tribe lived in the Piedmont region of Virginia and spoke a Siouan language.

Cherokee

This tribe lived in southwest Virginia and spoke an Iroquoian language.

Powhatan

This tribe lived in the Coastal Plain Region of Virginia and spoke an Algonquian language.

Cherokee, Monacan and Powhatan

The three indian tribes of Virginia

Southwest Virginia, Piedmont and Coastal Plains

The areas where the three tribes lived in Virginia

Native Americans

The first people to live in Virginia.

Christopher Columbus

This explorer called the people in the lands he discovered, "Indians" because he thought he had reached the Indies (near China).

Eastern Woodland Indians

Because the environment they lived in had dense (very thick) forest, Virginia's Indians were known as...

Archaeologists

People who study objects from the past.

Artifacts

These were historical objects made or used by humans that have been found from long ago. Examples include arrow heads, spears, tools and pottery.

Deerskin

Virginia Indians made their clothing from...

Shelter

The Virginia Indians used bark, tree branches, and reeds to make their ..., which they called yehakins.

Werowocomoco

This was a large Indian town used by Indian leaders, such as Chief Powhatan, for several hundred years before the English settlers came.

Winter

The season when Woodland Indians hunted birds and animals and lived on stored foods from the previous fall.

Spring

The season when Woodland Indians hunted, fished and picked berries.

Summer

The season when Woodland Indians grew crops (beans, corn, squash).

Fall

The season when Woodland harvested crops and hunted for foods to preserve and keep for the winter.

Siouan, Iroquoian, and Algonquian

The three major Native American language groups in Virginia.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America. It was built upon Indian lands.

Eleven

The current number of recognized Indian tribes in Virginia. [Mattaponi, Pamunkey, Chickahominey, Eastern Chickahominey, Rappahannock, Upper Mattaponi, Nansemond, Monacan Indian Nation, Cheroenhaka (Nottoway), Nottoway of Virginia, Patawomeck]