NO. 8 MANAHOAC TRIBES IN VIRGINIA BUSH NELL 7 



catumeck, of late Toppahanock, and we the Queen's River ; this is 

 navigable some one hundred and thirty miles. At the top of yt in- 

 habite the people called Mannahoacks, amongst the mountaynes, but 

 they are above the place described in Captain Smithe's mappe." This 

 was the present Rappahannock, the old Indian name of which was 

 Opiscatumeck. 



Although it is to be regretted that more information about the 

 manners and ways of life of the Manahoac tribes is not available, 

 it is gratifying to realize how much was gathered and preserved 

 as a result of the brief contact of colonists and Indians in August 

 1608. But for the willingness of one wounded native, even that would 

 not have been recorded. 



MANAHOAC SITES INDICATED ON THE 1624 MAP 



As previously mentioned, only five Manahoac sites are indicated 

 on the 1624 map, one being that of the " hunting Towne ", a tem- 

 porary camp, the other four probably being the names of the chiefs 

 whom the English met during the morning after the encounter near 

 the falls. In addition to these, three others were mentioned in the 

 text but not shown on the map ; these were Outponcas, Tegoneaes, and 

 Whonkentyaes. There is nothing to suggest where they may have 

 been situated — whether on the Rappahannock or the Rapidan. 



Concerning the true significance of the eight names, it is not known 

 whether they were place names that would have been applied to 

 settlements through a long period of years or the names of chiefs, 

 who in 1608 were recognized and acknowledged by others and whose 

 people dominated a region that corresponded ^vith the position of the 

 name on the map. Amoroleck, the Manahoac Indian, once referred 

 to himself as " brother to Hassininga " who was later mentioned 

 as " the King of Hassininga ". Evidently Amoroleck was a brother 

 of a chief named Hassininga, wdiose village then stood on the banks 

 of the Rappahannock just above its junction with the Rapidan. If 

 this hypothesis is correct, it should be assumed that the eight names 

 were primarily those of individuals rather than of places. The names 

 may have been provided by the four chiefs themselves, who at the 

 same time would probably have indicated the relative positions of 

 their villages as later recorded on the map. 



The five sites will be considered separately in the endeavor to de- 

 termine where they may have stood in the year 1608. However, there 

 is no record of any of the native villages having been visited by a 

 European, their actual existence and approximate position having 



