122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 71 



with another layer of bark, and the mound heaped above." (Squier 

 and Davis, (1), p. 164.) 



The latter burial also closely resembled those discovered in a 

 mound on Creiffhton Island, Mcintosh County, Georgia, although 

 there the deposits of bark or wood were only of sufficient size to 

 cover a single skeleton. But a great many burials within mounds 

 may originally have been so protected by slabs of wood, or sheets 

 of bark, all traces of which have long ago decayed and disappeared. 



SIOUAN GROUPS 



The piedmont region of Virginia, and southward, was claimed and 

 occupied by tribes belonging to the Siouan linguistic group. Among 

 these may be mentioned the Monacan, enemies of the Powhatan tribes 

 during the early years of the colony ; the Tutelo and Saponi, whose 

 lands extended into the northern part of Carolina; and the better 

 known Catawba, the most important of the eastern Siouan tribes. 

 The Biloxi and Ofo of Mississippi and the Winnebago of Wisconsin 

 were likewise members of this stock. And there is reason to suppose 

 the upper Ohio Valley was once the home of other Siouan tribes who 

 had moved westward, beyond the Mississippi, some years before the 

 coming of Europeans. 



THE MONACAN 



During the autumn of the year 1608 a party of the colonists from 

 Jamestown, led by Capt. Newport, ascended the James to the Falls, 

 the site of the present city of Richmond, and leaving their boats, 

 continued westward "into the Land called the Monscane." This 

 was the territory of the Monacan, a Siouan people who were ever 

 enemies of the Powhatan tribes of the tidewater region, which ex- 

 tends eastAvard from the line of the Falls to the Atlantic. Moving 

 westward from the Falls the party discovered the Monacan villages 

 of Massinacak and Mowhemenchouch. Although the eastern bound- 

 ary of this tribal territory was so clearly defined its western limits 

 are not known, but at some time it undoubtedly extended westward 

 to the mountains beyond the Jackson Valley. The Rivanna was 

 near the center of this region, and at or near the mouth of this 

 stream, on the left bank of the James, in the present Fluvanna 

 County, Virginia, was one of the most important Monacan towns, 

 Rassawck. as indicated on the map prepared by Capt. John Smith. 



An Indian village seldom remained for many years on a given 

 spot, its position being shifted back and forth, as certain causes 

 made necessary ; therefore, it is more than probable that remains 

 of an old settlement encountered on the river bank some 3 miles 

 above Columbia indicate the site of Rassawck during some period 



