Post-Contact Era (1500-1900)

The Chickahominy originally lived in permanent villages along the Virginia river that still bears our name.

The Treaty of 1646 displaced the Chickahominy people from this area and set aside land for them in the Pamunkey Neck area of Virginia. As the settlers prospered, they crowded the Chickahominy Tribe out of this area as well.

The Chickahominy families began a gradual migration to the area called the Chickahominy Ridge, where they now reside. This area, between Richmond and Williamsburg, is only a few miles from one of our 1607 village sites. In 1901, the Chickahominy Tribe established Samaria Indian Baptist Church, which serves as an important focal point for our community to this day.

We are an Algonquin people: one of the largest cultural and linguistic groups in North America. Algonquin lands once stretched all the way from the southeastern coastal plain to near the Arctic Circle. Like other Algonquins in this area, the Chickahominy are often called Powhatan Indians. However, our villages were always independent--never under the control of Chief Powhatan, known to his people as Wahunsunacock.

Throughout the post-contact era the Chickahominy people have maintained their independence, while remaining close to other Native people in this area.