VS.3 Native Americans of Virginia

NATIVE AMERICANS OF

VIRGINIA

4th Grade VA Studies

1492 Christopher Columbus

▣ Called the people

he found in the
lands he
(discovered)
explored
“Indians,”
because he
thought he was in
the Indies (near
China).

Artifacts

▣
Such as arrowheads,
pottery, and other
tools that have been
found tell a lot about
the people who lived
in Virginia.

Map of Virginia in 1624

3 Major Language Groups of VA

Native Americans

Algonquian Language

Algonquian language spoken in the Tidewater region.

This language is spoken by the Powhatan.

Siouan Language

Siouan language spoken in the Piedmont region.



This language is spoken by the Monacan tribe.

Iroquoian Language

Iroquoian language spoken in the southwest and southern part of Virginia.


This language is spoken by the Cherokee tribe.

Climate and Environment

▣
Virginia’s American Indians interacted (worked with) the
climate and the environment to meet their basic needs.

What are some characteristics of Virginia's climate?

▣
Relatively mild with distinct seasons
(which result in a variety of vegetation)

• Spring

• Summer

• Fall

• Winter

Eastern Woodland Indians

▣
Forests, which have a variety of trees, cover
most of the
land.

▣
Virginia’s Indians are
referred to as
Eastern Woodland Indians.

Longhouse

What are some ways Virginia’s
American Indians related to the climate and interacted with their environment to meet their basic needs?

Environmental Connections

▣
The kinds of foods they ate, the clothing they
wore, and the shelters they had depended
upon the seasons.

Foods changed with the seasons.

Winter

▣
VA Native Americans hunted
birds and animals and lived
on stored foods from the
previous fall.

Spring

▣
VA Native
Americans

◼ hunted, fished and picked berries

Fishing in the Spring

Summer

▣
VA Native
Americans grew
crops

◼ C = corn

◼ B = beans

◼ S = squash

Fall

▣
VA Native Americans

◼ harvested crops

◼ Hunted for foods to preserve

and keep for the winter

Clothing

▣
Animal skins (deerskin)
were used for clothing.

Shelter

▣
Made from materials
around them.

▣
Longhouses

Native peoples of the past
farmed, hunted, and fished.

They made homes using
natural resources. They

used animal skins for
clothing in the winter.

Powhatan

Confederacy

▣
Capital city =
Werowocomoco

▣
Included most of
the tribes in the
Coastal Plain
region of Virginia
(Pamunkey and
Mattaponi, etc.)

Werowocomoco

▣
Largest Indian town
used by Indian leaders
for several hundred
years BEFORE the
English came.

▣
In 1607, when the
settlers arrived it was
the headquarters for the
leader of Powhatan.

Rediscovery of Werowocomoco

▣Documented by Jamestown settlers in 1608.

▣
Rediscovered in 1977!

▣
Excavations at the site by archeologists since 2003 have revealed evidence of a large
village, including two 200-foot (61 m)-long, curved, earthwork
ditches built 1,000 feet (300 m) from the river bank about 1400, two hundred years before English settlement.

Multiple Choice

What language was spoken in the Coastal Plain region?

• Iroquoian

• Siouan

• Algonquian

Multiple Choice

What language was spoken in the Piedmont region?

• Iroquoian

• Siouan

• Algonquian

Multiple Choice

What language was spoken in southwestern and southern Virginia?

• Iroquoian

• Siouan

• Algonquian

Multiple Choice

What tribe lived in the Coastal Plain region?

• Cherokee

• Monacan

• Powhatan

Multiple Choice

What tribe lived in the Piedmont region?

• Cherokee

• Monacan

• Powhatan

Multiple Choice

What tribe lived in the Appalachian Plateau region?

• Cherokee

• Monacan

• Powhatan

Multiple Choice

What is the term for arrowheads, pottery, and other tools that have been found in Virginia?

• artifacts

• archaelogoists

• Werowocomoco

Multiple Choice

Who digs up and examines artifacts?

• tribes

• archaeologists

• scientists

Multiple Choice

Virginia's Indians are known as_____?

• Eastern Plains Indians

• Eastern Woodland Indians

• Southern Indians

Multiple Choice

Do American Indians still exist today?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

The food they ate, the clothing they wore, and the shelters they had depended upon the _____.

• seasons

• stores

• weather

• trading with settlers

Multiple Choice

What was used for clothing?

• buffalo skin

• deer skin

• cloth

• leaves

Multiple Choice

What was used to make homes?

• Natural resources

• bricks

• buffalo skin

• clay

Multiple Choice

_______________ was the large Indian town near Jamestown.

• Werowompan

• Werowocomoco

• Richmond

• Siouan

Multiple Choice

What famous person lived at the Indian city mentioned in the slide before?

• Powwow

• Powhatan

• Powered