Mattaponi

William Bradby dressed in Mattaponi regalia.

The Mattaponi tribe traces its history back to the Powhatan Confederation of tribes led by Chief Powhatan. The native people had no written language and recorded their historic events through storytelling and symbolic drawings.

Currently, the tribal members live in King William County on tribal lands that border the Mattaponi River.

(1) The Mattaponi Indian Tribe and the Mattaponi Indian people have been identified from historical times until the present on a substantially continuous basis as `American Indians' by anthropologists, historians, and other scholars. (2) In 1607, the Mattaponi Indians were identified by name by the English explorers John Smith, who noted that they were living along the Mattaponi River, and William Strachey, who placed the number of their warriors at 140. The Mattaponi Tribe was 1 of the 6 tribes under the leadership of Chief Powhatan in the late 16th century. (3) During the war of 1644-1646, the Mattaponi fled their homeland along the Mattaponi River and took refuge in the highlands along Piscataway Creek. With the cessation of hostilities, the tribe gradually returned to its homeland. In 1656-1657, the King and greatmen of the Mattaponi Tribe signed peace treaties with the Court of Rappahannock County and the justices of Old Rappahannock County in which the tribal members were to be treated as Englishmen as far as court and civil rights were concerned. (4) During Bacon's Rebellion, the Mattaponi and Pamunkey were subjected to attacks by forces under Nathaniel Bacon. At the end of that conflict, the Virginia colony signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation on May 29, 1677. The treaty was signed on behalf of the Mattaponi Tribe by Cockacoeske, who was Weroansqua (or `Chief') of the Powhatan Chiefdom. Cockacoeske had become the head of the Powhatan Chiefdom upon the death of her husband Totopotamoy, in 1656. The Treaty of Middle Plantation required, among other provisions, that the Powhatan Chiefdom provide an annual tribute to the Governor of Virginia. The Mattaponi and Pamunkey Tribes continue to provide that tribute. (5) In 1685, the Mattaponi, along with the Pamunkey and Chickahominy Tribes, attended a treaty conference at Albany. (6) The Mattaponi continued to occupy their reservation throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, as acknowledged by encroachments on tribal land during that time period, the presence of a Baptist missionary who worked with the Tribe beginning in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, and by the comments of then Governor Thomas Jefferson in 1781. Throughout their history, the Mattaponi had their own tribal government separate from the Powhatan leadership, although the tribe remained a part of that Chiefdomship. (7) The same patterns of occupation and internal political control continued throughout the nineteenth century, with the Mattaponi repeatedly defending themselves and their land against efforts by local officials and individuals to dispose of their property and deny their existence as a tribe. In 1812, an effort was made to take an acre of land from the Mattaponi Tribe for a dam, but it was defeated, and in 1843, the so-called `Gregory Petition' alleged that the Pamunkey and Mattaponi were no longer Indians. This effort to remove the Mattaponi and Pamunkey from their lands was also defeated. At about the same time, the historian Henry Howe reported that there were 2 Indian groups living in King William County, the Pamunkey and the Mattaponi. In 1865, the Pamunkey Baptist Church was formed, which many Mattaponi attended over the years. (8) Throughout the 19th century, the Mattaponi Tribe had its own tribal leadership. In 1868, the Mattaponi Tribe submitted a list of its Chiefs, headmen and members to the Governor. The list identified the Chief as Ellston Major, headmen as Austin Key and Robert Toopence, and tribal members as Nancy Franklin, Claiborne Key, Austin Key, Jno Anderson Key, Henry Major, Ellston Major, Ellwood Major, Lee Franklin Major, Coley Major, Mary Major, Parkey Major, John Major, Park Farley Toopence, Elizabeth Toopence, Robert Toopence, Emeline Toopence, Laura Toopence, Mary Catherine Toopence, James C. Toopence, and Lucy J. Toopence. The list was signed by Hardin Littlepage and William J. Trimmer, Trustees for the tribe. Present-day tribal members trace back to the individuals on that list. In the same year, L.D. Robinson, another trustee for the Tribe, reported on a road dispute involving access to the reservation. In an effort to resolve the dispute, the Tribe petitioned Governor Wells to prevent the blocking of the road. (9) As the last two tribes to function as part of the Powhatan Chiefdom, the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Tribes were treated by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a single administrative entity until 1894, when the Mattaponi formally separated from the Pamunkey-led Powhatan Chiefdom. The Commonwealth's general assembly responded in 1894 by appointing five trustees to the Mattaponi Tribe. The Mattaponi, like the Pamunkey Tribe, were declared exempt from certain local and county taxes. For its part, the Mattaponi Tribe adopted bylaws for its governance and established a school on its reservation. (10) During the 20th century, the Mattaponi Tribe and its reservation have been repeatedly acknowledged by the Commonwealth's Governors and Attorneys General. The Mattaponi Tribe has been repeatedly identified in scholarly publications and newspaper articles. (11) The Mattaponi Tribal Council continues to exercise its autonomous control over the affairs of the reservation. It assigns land for its members' use, settles internal disputes, maintains tribal property, and protects the interests of the Mattaponi Tribe in its relationships with local, State, and Federal Governments. It continues to maintain its obligations under the Treaty of Middle Plantation of 1677 by giving to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia the annual tribute.

info from VA House of Representatives, 106th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5073

External links

• Mattaponi Indian Reservation
• Mattaponi Indian Tribe Information