A History of Space, Place, and Power in the Algonquian Chesapeake, A.D. 200-1644

FAIN: FB-56514-12

Martin D. Gallivan
College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA 23186-0002)

Beginning with Jamestown’s settlement, the history of Native societies in the Chesapeake has been framed largely by colonial documents produced for European audiences. The proposed book aims at a different perspective on Tidewater Algonquians’ past by emphasizing the archaeology of prominent settlements from AD 200 to 1644. In this shift, archaeology provides a landscape history and a basis for reassessing colonial accounts. Investigations at the Powhatan town of Werowocomoco and within Chickahominy settlements supply the primary source materials. The study will contribute to conversations in the humanities concerning social and political landscapes, Native and English colonial histories, and contemporary American Indians’ efforts to reclaim their pasts. Currently, the principal touchstone for the Native past in the Chesapeake is John Smith’s Map of Virginia. A landscape history that crosses the historic/prehistoric divide would offer other reference points in a deeper history.