Native nations and colonists: trade, alliances, land and conflict

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Tsenacomoco and Virginia, 1607 to 1677 (cards A to E). Card A, a summary in our words from the Pamunkey Indian Tribe's own history page: the Pamunkey were one of six core tribes of Tsenacomoco, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking tribes ruled in 1607 by Powhatan. The page says the Powhatans were "approximately 30 tribal groups" with a total population of about 14,000, and a few lines later says scholars estimate the alliance numbered about 14,000 to 21,000 people in 1607. It labels many facts with outside sources such as Encyclopedia Virginia. It names three wars between the English and the alliance: 1609 to 1614, 1622 to 1632 and 1644 to 1646. Card B, an act of the Virginia General Assembly ending the third war (October 1646), printed in Hening's Statutes at Large (1814) and copied by Encyclopedia Virginia, which modernized some spelling (cuts marked): "Necotowance do acknowledge to hold his kingdome from the King's Ma'tie of England, and that his successors be appointed or confirmed by the King's Governours from time to time" and, in return for protection, "as an acknowledgment and tribute for such protection" he is to pay "twenty beaver skins" every year. The treaty put the Powhatan people north of the York River. Card C, a summary in our words from the Pamunkey page on the same treaty: the yearly gift of 20 beaver skins acknowledged the authority of English rulers and created "tributary" tribes that were to receive some protection against hostile tribes. Native people also had to get permission and wear a badge or a striped coat when traveling on the Peninsula. Card D, a summary in our words from the Pamunkey page: the Articles of Peace, published in London in 1677 and signed on May 29, 1677, came after Bacon's Rebellion (1676 to 1677). Several tribes formerly part of Tsenacomoco reunited under the Pamunkey chief Cockacoeske and promised fidelity to the Crown in exchange for its protection. The page adds that to the English she was known as "Queen of the Pamunkey". Card E, a summary in our words from the Pamunkey Indian Tribe's home page: the U.S. Department of the Interior announced its final decision to acknowledge the Pamunkey Indian Tribe as federally recognized on July 2, 2015, effective January 28, 2016. The tribe runs its own departments for cultural resources, housing, natural resources and business.

2. 1.

   Card B is a law passed by Virginia's General Assembly. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • How the Pamunkey Indian Tribe tells the story of the treaty today
   • What both sides freely agreed in their own words
   • What the colonial government said the terms of the treaty were
   • What Necotowance himself said about the terms
3. 2.

   Cards A, C, D and E come from the Pamunkey Indian Tribe's own website. What are they best evidence for, Bo asks?

   • Nothing, since a tribe is too close to the story
   • A neutral account, since a tribe's own page cannot take any side
   • A record made in the 1600s by a Pamunkey writer
   • How the tribe tells its own history, crediting outside sources
4. 3.

   Card B says "acknowledgment and tribute," and card C says a yearly gift that created "tributary" tribes. What do they agree on, Jun asks?

   • Necotowance wrote the terms himself
   • The payment ended the conflict for good
   • The beaver skins acknowledged English authority in return for protection
   • The payment was a free gift between equals, with no claim of authority behind it
5. 4.

   A student writes: "In 1646 the Powhatan alliance and Virginia treated each other as equals." How strong is that claim, given cards B and C, Kira asks?

   • Strong: card C says the Pamunkey signed the treaty
   • Weak: card A says the Pamunkey took no part in the wars of the period
   • Strong: card B says Virginia would protect him
   • Weak: card B has Necotowance hold his kingdom from the English king
6. 5.

   A student writes: "The 1677 treaty returned land to the tribes." How strong is that claim, given card D, Luz asks?

   • Weak: card D mentions fidelity and protection, not land returned
   • Weak: card D says Cockacoeske signed for the English
   • Strong: card D says the tribes reunited under one chief, Cockacoeske
   • Strong: card D says the treaty was published in London
7. 6.

   Which chain do cards A to C support for 1646, Milo asks?

   • The Pamunkey stayed out of the wars, so the treaty needed no payment from the tribes
   • The yearly payment ended the war in 1632, and a later treaty moved the tribes in 1646
   • A treaty set the tribes north of the York River, and that treaty caused the first war in 1609
   • Three wars from 1609 to 1646 ended with a treaty setting the tribes north of the York River
8. 7.

   Card D says "Queen of the Pamunkey" was how the English knew Cockacoeske, and calls her the Pamunkey chief. What does this show, Pia asks?

   • The English gave her rule over the whole of Virginia and over the Native peoples in it
   • She asked the English to call her queen and they agreed to it
   • The English used a title from their own system; the tribe's page says chief
   • The Pamunkey had not had a leader before her
9. 8.

   Count each war's years as end year minus start year. About what share of the years from 1609 to 1646 were years of declared war, Ren asks?

   • About 46 percent, since 5 + 10 + 2 = 17 years of war out of 37
   • About 54 percent, since 20 of the 37 years were years of peace
   • About 62 percent, since 1632 minus 1609 is 23 years
   • About 17 percent, since 17 years of war
10. 9.

    What does card E show about the Pamunkey Indian Tribe today, Tala asks?

    • It was recognized in the 1600s, and the decision in 2015 merely confirmed it again
    • It is a federally recognized tribe, decided July 2, 2015, with its own departments
    • It is recognized by the state of Virginia, but not by the United States government
    • It ended after the Articles of Peace in 1677 and no longer has a government today
11. 10.

    Comparing card B (1646) and card D (1677), what stayed the same, Zee asks?

    • Both required twenty beaver skins a year from the tribes
    • In both, the English offered the tribes no protection whatsoever
    • Both were signed by Necotowance on behalf of the tribes
    • In both, protection was tied to acknowledging the Crown