Description
The Appomattoc lived along the lower Appomattox River, in present-day southeast Virginia and were affiliated with the estimated 30 tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy, who controlled the area then known as Tenakomakah, present-day Tidewater Virginia. According to William Strachey, the Appomattoc were one of four subtribes within the original inheritance of Chief Powhatan, before he incorporated the other tribes into his Confederacy, and were said to be closely connected with the Powhatan royal line. A tribe of the Powhatan confederacy formerly living on lower Appomattox River, Virginia. They had 60 warriors in 1608, and were of some importance as late as 1671, but were extinct by 1722. Their principal village, which bore the same name was on the site of Bermuda Hundred, Prince George County, was burned by the English in 1611. Appomatox was also one of the terms applied to the Matchotic, a later combination of remnants of the same confederacy.
Language
Appomattoc (also spelled Appamatuck, Apamatic, and numerous other variants) were a historic tribe of Virginia Indians speaking an Algonquian language.
Culture
On May 8, 1607, the Appamatuck tribe had their first encounter with a group of English explorers led by Christopher Newport. According to English records, the front warrior was carrying a bow and arrow in one hand and a pipe with tobacco in the other, allegedly offering the choice of war or peace. From there, the colonists established a settlement about 40 miles east on Jamestown Island. Relations between the colonists and the Native Americans began to deteriorate in the following years, which led to the First Anglo-Powhatan War from 1609-1614. The Powhatan Confederacy was defeated by the English during the Anglo-Powhatan War (1644-46).