Weyanoke, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Weyanoke is an unincorporated community in Charles City County
, Virginia
, United States
. In 1619 the English
transported enslaved
Africans to the Weyanoke Peninsula
. They created the first African community in North America. The community is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
The area was named for, and historically inhabited by, the Weanoc (also spelled Weyanoke) Indians, an Algonquian
-speaking tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy. The peripatetic
movements of this tribe back and forth between their original home and North Carolina during the years following the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1644–46) were extensively documented as part of the later boundary dispute between Virginia Colony and North Carolina Colony, and this unusual wealth of detailed information has been the subject of much study. At the heart of the dispute was the intended location of the "Weyanoke River" mentioned in the Carolina Charter boundaries, as the Weyanoke had by then lived on several rivers, and each colony produced many witnesses avowing that they had known various local rivers by that name.
Despite their many moves, the Weyanoke after 1646 became partly Anglicised, preferring to have some English-style houses built, rather than yehakans, wherever they moved. The colony, in assigning them reserve land on the upper Blackwater in 1650 (from which they were driven by colonists the following year), even expressed a desire to teach the Weyanokes the English concept of property ownership, and this was successful. In their subsequent wanderings, the Weyanoke always made land purchase or rental contracts with the chiefs of the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora
and Nottoway
tribes. By the 18th century, they had fully integrated with the Nottoways, and were speaking their language, their former presence visible only in the surname "Wineoak".
The Weyanoke Association was formed in Charles City County in 1996 to help mixed-race African-American and Native American peoples research, understand and celebrate their joint heritages.
Charles City County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,926 people, 2,670 households, and 1,975 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1619 the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
transported enslaved
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
Africans to the Weyanoke Peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
. They created the first African community in North America. The community is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
The area was named for, and historically inhabited by, the Weanoc (also spelled Weyanoke) Indians, an Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-speaking tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy. The peripatetic
Peripatetic
The Peripatetics were members of a school of philosophy in ancient Greece. Their teachings derived from their founder, the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, and Peripatetic is a name given to his followers. The school originally derived its name Peripatos from the peripatoi of the Lyceum gymnasium in...
movements of this tribe back and forth between their original home and North Carolina during the years following the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1644–46) were extensively documented as part of the later boundary dispute between Virginia Colony and North Carolina Colony, and this unusual wealth of detailed information has been the subject of much study. At the heart of the dispute was the intended location of the "Weyanoke River" mentioned in the Carolina Charter boundaries, as the Weyanoke had by then lived on several rivers, and each colony produced many witnesses avowing that they had known various local rivers by that name.
Despite their many moves, the Weyanoke after 1646 became partly Anglicised, preferring to have some English-style houses built, rather than yehakans, wherever they moved. The colony, in assigning them reserve land on the upper Blackwater in 1650 (from which they were driven by colonists the following year), even expressed a desire to teach the Weyanokes the English concept of property ownership, and this was successful. In their subsequent wanderings, the Weyanoke always made land purchase or rental contracts with the chiefs of the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora
Tuscarora (tribe)
The Tuscarora are a Native American people of the Iroquoian-language family, with members in New York, Canada, and North Carolina...
and Nottoway
Nottoway Tribe
The Nottoway, in their own language Cheroenhaka, Cherohakah, Cheroohoka or Tcherohaka, are an Iroquoian-language tribe of Virginia Indians. Two Nottoway groups, the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia and the Cheroenhaka Indian Tribe, have both been recognized as tribes by the state of Virginia...
tribes. By the 18th century, they had fully integrated with the Nottoways, and were speaking their language, their former presence visible only in the surname "Wineoak".
The Weyanoke Association was formed in Charles City County in 1996 to help mixed-race African-American and Native American peoples research, understand and celebrate their joint heritages.
External links
- The Weyanoke Association, Official Website
- "Upper Weyanoke", James River Plantations, National Park Service