Indian Prisoners Abandoned on Tangier Island

JT-91

Following paramount chief Opechancanough's 1644 organized attacks against the English colonists for encroaching on Indian lands, Governor William Berkeley led further military strikes against the Virginia Indians in July 1645, taking many prisoners. On August 9, the Virginia Council decided to transport all the Indian male prisoners more than 11 years of age to Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay “to prevent their returning to and strengthening their respective tribes.” Berkeley's own ship transported the prisoners to Tangier, where they were abandoned. Their fate is unknown.

Department of Historic Resources, 2009

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Martha W. McCartney. Last Refuge, p 226-227, in Dennis Blanton and Julie King. Indian and European Contact in Context, 2004, University of Florida Press. H.R. McIlwaine. Minutes of Council and General Court of Colonial Virginia. 1924. Library Board of Virginia. (Quote is from the Council minutes of August 9, 1645, p 564) The Council minutes refer to the island as “Western Island.” Evidence that Western Island is Tangier Island is found in the patents in Nugent as follows. Nell M. Nugent. Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants. in 3 volumes, 1969-1979. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore. Volume 2, p 83: references “the W’n island of Chesapeake Bay.” 10/10/1670 Ambrose White Volume 2, p 183: references “Westerne Island of Ches Bay” Patent to Chas Scarburgh, Maj Jno West”. 1678 Volume 3, p 128-120: references re-patenting by the widowed Eliz Scarburgh and Anth. West, of land “being all of Tangier Island.” of the same land that was granted to “Chas Scarburgh and Maj Jno West”. 1713.