Pamunkey Indians

Eight miles south is the reservation on which the Pamunkey Indians live. The land has never been in non-Indian ownership and the Pamunkey live on it under a treaty made in 1677. In the early seventeenth century the Pamunkey were a chiefdom ruled by Opechancanough, brother and subject of the paramount chief Powhatan, the father of Pocahontas. Though they continually lost land to non-Indian settlers, they remained the most powerful chiefdom in eastern Virginia for as long as the traditional system lasted. Today the Pamunkey are governed by an elected chief, assistant chief, and council.