The
Nottoway ("adders"), in their own language
Cheroenhaka (
Čiruˀęhá•ka•ˀ (
TuscaroraTuscarora, sometimes called Skarure, is an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people, spoken in southern Ontario, Canada, and northwestern New York around Niagara Falls, in the United States. The original homeland of the Tuscarora was in eastern North Carolina, in and around the Goldsboro,...
for "fork of a stream"), are an
IroquoianThe Iroquoian languages are a First Nation and Native American language family. The language family, amongst others, includes Mohawk, Huron-Wyandot and Cherokee.Every language in this family has at least one nasal vowel phoneme...
American IndianAmerican Indian may refer to:*Native Americans in the United States*Indigenous people of the Americas*Indian American*Americans in India*With a hyphen, India – United States relations,...
tribe native to Virginia. They now occupy areas around Southampton, Virginia. Although neither federally nor state recognized today, the tribe has been recognized since colonial times by regional governments, as attested by numerous treaties. The
Cheroenhaka, like other Iroquoian tribes of the south, lived west of the
fall lineIn geomorphology, a fall line marks the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet. Technically, a fall line is an unconformity. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
.
The
Nottoway ("adders"), in their own language
Cheroenhaka (
Čiruˀęhá•ka•ˀ (
TuscaroraTuscarora, sometimes called Skarure, is an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people, spoken in southern Ontario, Canada, and northwestern New York around Niagara Falls, in the United States. The original homeland of the Tuscarora was in eastern North Carolina, in and around the Goldsboro,...
for "fork of a stream"), are an
IroquoianThe Iroquoian languages are a First Nation and Native American language family. The language family, amongst others, includes Mohawk, Huron-Wyandot and Cherokee.Every language in this family has at least one nasal vowel phoneme...
American IndianAmerican Indian may refer to:*Native Americans in the United States*Indigenous people of the Americas*Indian American*Americans in India*With a hyphen, India – United States relations,...
tribe native to Virginia. They now occupy areas around Southampton, Virginia. Although neither federally nor state recognized today, the tribe has been recognized since colonial times by regional governments, as attested by numerous treaties. The
Cheroenhaka, like other Iroquoian tribes of the south, lived west of the
fall lineIn geomorphology, a fall line marks the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet. Technically, a fall line is an unconformity. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
. Their neighbours and relatives included the
TuscaroraThe Tuscarora are a Native American people with members in New York, Canada, and North Carolina. The Tuscarora emigrated from the region now known as Western New York to the region now known as Eastern Carolina prior to the arrival of Europeans in North America. They had their first encounter...
and
MeherrinThe Meherrin Nation is one of eight state-recognized Nations of Native Americans in North Carolina. They received formal state recognition in 1986...
.
They were first visited and described by explorer Edward Bland on an expedition from
Fort HenryFort Henry was an English frontier fort in 17th century colonial Virginia near the falls of the Appomattox River. Its exact location has been debated, but the most popular one is on a bluff about four blocks north of the corner of W. Washington and N...
, in his journal for August 27, 1650. At the time they numbered no more than four or five hundred. Bland visited two of their three towns, on Stoney Creek and Rowantee Branch of
Nottoway RiverThe Nottoway River is in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. It is part of the Chowan River system, which flows into Albemarle Sound in North Carolina....
(in what is now
Sussex CountySussex County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the population was 12,504. Its county seat is Sussex. The County is named after the county of Sussex, England.-Geography:According to the U.S...
). These were led by two brothers,
Oyeocker and
Chounerounte. The Nottoway and Meherrin became friendly to the English, being the only tribes to send warriors to help them in their troubles with the
SusquehannockThe Susquehannock people were natives of areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries from the southern part of what is now New York, through Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the Susquehanna in Maryland at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay...
in 1675. Following
Bacon's RebellionBacon's Rebellion was an uprising in 1676 in the Virginia Colony, led by Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy planter. It was the first rebellion in the American colonies in which discontented frontiersmen took part; a similar uprising in Maryland occurred later that year...
, both tribes signed onto the Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677, thereby becoming Tributary Nations to the Virginia Colony. However, by 1681, hostile tribes caused the Nottoway to relocate southward to Assamoosick Swamp in modern
Surry CountySurry County is a county located in the South Hampton Roads region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2000 census, the population was 6,829. Its county seat is Surry....
. In 1694 they had to move again, to the mouth of that swamp, in what is now
Southampton CountySouthampton County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 17,482. Its county seat is Courtland.-History:...
. Around this time they absorbed the remnants of the Weyanokes, an Algonquian tribe that had formerly been part of the Powhatan Confederacy.
Although never numerous, the Nottoway were able to keep their organization and not disappear off the record, merge into other tribes, or get pushed too far from their original homeland. From what is known about the early Nottoway, scholars believe that they were similar to the Tuscarora and Meherrin.
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States , the principal author of the Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States...
, former president and a man greatly interested in Native American languages, concluded in 1820 their language was Iroquoian after receiving notes on it. The tribe depended on the cultivation of staples such as
maizeMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
, squash, and beans (usually done by women), while the men hunted game and fished the rivers. Dwellings consisted mostly of longhouses in fenced communities.
The Nottoway population was first reduced by various epidemics of new diseases brought about by European contact. Tribal warfare and encroaching colonists also lowered their numbers. When the
Tuscarora-Native American:*Tuscarora *Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people*Tuscarora War, fought in North Carolina during the autumn of 1711 until 11 February 1715-Places:In Maryland:...
fled northward to join the Iroquois Confederacy in New York or the
ConestogaPlaces:*Conestoga Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania*Conestoga River, a tributary of the Susquehanna River in the state of Pennsylvania** Conestogo River, a river near Waterloo, Ontario...
of Pennsylvania, some Nottoway also embarked on the journey. Others remained in Virginia.
It is likely that some descendants of the Iroquois, especially the Tuscarora in New York and Canada, may contain some Nottoway ancestry. Some Nottoway returned to the South, with bands of Tuscarora and Meherrin joining and merging with them. These groups went to
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
.
Additional reading
- "Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) State and Federal Recognition", Cheroenhaka website
- Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 145. Washington DC.: Government Printing Office, 1952.
- Hodge, Frederick W. Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, DC.: Government Printing Press, 1910.