TSENACOMMACAH

TSENACOMMACAH

Tsenacommacah,, the Powhatan's name for their native homeland territory along the Rappahannock River, all of Tidewater Virginia and part of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, which later became Virginia. Tsenacommac had rivers and it's inhabitants

were native to the region. Translated, it means “dense inhabited land”. A 100 x 100 mile

span from the south side of the James River , north, to the south end of the Potomac

and from the Eastern Shore west to the Atlantic Seaboard ' Fall Line ' where the coastal

plain meets the Piedmont, 900 miles long, includes most of New Jersey, Delmarva Peninsula,

and the outer banks of the Carolina's.

There were 30 tribes or more, each with it's own name and 'chief' , known as Powhatan

confederacy.

Early 1609 relations between the English and Powhatan became sour and Powhatan moved

northwest where he died in 1618, his chiefdom passed to Opechancanough, a younger

brother who waged wars upon English settlers until 1646 when a peace treaty was signed.

That was when Tsenacommacah was reduced in size to six reservations and required an

annual tribute payment. Today the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Tribes make payment , as they

have for over 330 years, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, to the Virginia Governor,

in a ceremony in which deer, turkey and fish make the 'gift' or annual payment, after a feast

the tribes use to converse with the governor.

Source: WIKIPEDIA