Description
The Rappahannock are a federally recognized tribe in Virginia and one of the eleven state-recognized tribes. They are made up of descendants of several small Algonquian-speaking tribes who merged in the late 17th century. In December 1607, after the first English settlers had founded Jamestown, the Rappahannock people met Captain John Smith at their capital, whose name Smith recorded as “Topahanocke.” At the time, the Rappahannock lived in towns and villages along the Rappahannock River. They spoke a dialect of Algonquian and were among the roughly twenty-eight to thirty-two tribes of Tsenacomoco, a political alliance of Algonquian-speaking tribes that was ruled by Powhatan.
Language
Algonquian
Culture
Most Northeast peoples relied on farming for food. Men and women cleared the ground for fields by burning off the trees and bushes. Trees were felled by girdling. A fire set at a tree’s base charred the wood so it could be chipped with a stone ax until the tree fell. A ring of wet clay kept the flames from spreading up the trunk. Women then planted the fields with corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, and gourds. Corn-based soups and stews were staples of the diet. Some produce was dried and stored for winter meals. Northeast Indians also fed themselves by hunting and gathering. The diet included deer, elk, moose, waterfowl, turkeys, fish, leaves, seeds, tubers, berries, roots, and nuts.