Tribes of Native America

 
The Powhatan Nation
By: Chelsea M.

 
 
 
General Overview: The Powhatan Tribe was located on the East Coast. It was famous because it was the Tribe Pocahontas was from. The name "Powhatan" refers to the Algonquin speaking tribes of the Virginia coast.

 
 
Food- fish, nuts, berries, grapes, corn, pumpkins, squash, sunflowers, beans, deer, bear, raccoon, rabbit, squirrel

 
Clothing- Clothing were apron like  skirts made of deer skins. Skirts hung down in front and back of their bodies, upper bodies were bare. Children didn't wear any clothing until 7 or 8 years old. Men wore necklaces and bracelet and also pierced their ears. 

 
Shelter-  lived in "long houses" which were made out of bark, trees, and branches, housed 6 to 20 people, women built the homes, long houses were just one big room with no windows, cooking hearth was in center with a hole in the ceiling to let out the smoke.











 
Culture-
Entertainment: played a game similar to "lacrosse", a stick counting game, and a card game similar to poker in which they gambled bows, beads, arrows, and other items. 












Religion: believed in many gods, their gods looked like men, when someone died they went to a wonderful place where gods live, they had temples with idols where they prayed, sometimes they had healing ceremonies where they did hoop dances (like in pictures)
 
 

Arts: women wove baskets, made pottery,  cord, and rope, and cured animal hides
 

Family Life: Men could have more than one wife, girls married at ages as young as 13, boys age 15. In the homes women built houses, grew and gathered food and firewood, and tanned the animal skins. Men fished, hunted, and went to war. The birth of a baby was a happy occasion.

 
Sources Used:
http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfriend/powhatan.htm
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/vaindianspowindex.htm
 http://dir.coolclips.com/Food/Vegetables/
 http://www.powhatan.org/
 http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfriend/powhatan.htm