Powhatan

[ pou-uh-tan, -hat-n ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural Pow·ha·tans, (especially collectively) Pow·ha·tan

a member of any of the Indian tribes belonging to the Powhatan Confederacy.
the Eastern Algonquian language spoken by the Powhatan people.
c1550–1618, North American Indian chief in Virginia, father of Pocahontas and founder of the Powhatan Confederacy.

Powhatan

/ ˌpaʊhəˈtæn; paʊˈhætən /

Powhatan1618MAmerican IndianPOLITICS: tribal leader American Indian name Wahunsonacock. died 1618, American Indian chief of a confederacy of tribes; father of Pocahontas

In 1622, just months after “the first Thanksgiving,” 347 colonists were killed in an attack by Powhatan Indians.

Gallatin gives in the Powhatan dialect the word for mountain as pomottinke, doubtless another form of the same.

Powhatan was therefore solemnly invited to Jamestown, to receive these gifts and be crowned.

Powhatan and many of his tribe were invited to this wedding, the first between an Englishman and an Indian girl.

Powhatan, who had vowed that the sky should fall before the Indians broke peace with the Virginians, was now dead.

This marriage brought about a peace between Powhatan and the English settlers in Virginia.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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