Powhatan Indian Analysis

Powhatan Indians When the English colonists arrived in 1607, Powhatan indians were living in the Virginia area that the colonists wanted to settle. The Powhatan indians had a population of about 14,000 and organized themselves in about 32 tribes. They were very adapted to their area, and had very valuable skills like farming and fishing. Unlike the powhatans, the colonists had no skills and had a hard time adapting. Powhatans shared their skills and taught them how to survive. Farming was a main source of food for the Powhatan indians. Usually, the women and the children would do all of the farming, and harvesting, while it was the men's responsibility to do the hunting. In the picture “Detail from Susquehannock Indian”, an indian is standing there with what looks like a bow and arrow. This bow and arrow was one of the weapons that they handcrafted to kill things such as deer and other sources of food. The Powhatans were very good at making tools and weapons and this greatly helped them to get the food that they need. In the picture “The broiling of their fish” by Theodor de Bry, it shows the indians cooking fish. They have built a fire and even constructed a rack to put the fish on to keep them out of the logs, but also getting touched by the

The English then took advantage of them and during the “starving time” and began to forcefully take food, which caused conflict. It was even worse for the indians at the time because Virginia was going through a drought period, when food resources were especially low. The colonists were scared for their lives as they had saw so many of their own people pass away from starvation. This was their motivation for attacking the indians and starting a fight with them. This only resulted in deaths of indians, including the chief and his family, and then abandoning the