Prior to European settlement, all of the area that is now Virginia was inhabited by Native American tribes. The Native American tribes in Virginia are the indigenous tribes who currently live or have historically lived in what is river bear american meats the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. All of the Commonwealth of Virginia used to be Virginia Indian territory.
Indigenous peoples have occupied the region for at least 12,000 years. Their population has been estimated to have been about 50,000 at the time of European colonization. Few written documents assess the traditions and quality of life of some of the various early tribes that populated the Virginia region. One account lists the observations of an Englishman who encountered groups of Native peoples during his time in Virginia.
The author notes the Virginia Natives’ diet depended on cultivated corn, meat and fish from hunting, and gathered fruits. Because of the early and extended history By the post-Civil War period, most tribes had lost their lands and many had suffered decades of disruption and high mortality due to epidemics of infectious diseases. Because the Native Americans generally lacked reservations and some had intermarried with Europeans and African Americans, many colonists and later European-American residents of Virginia assumed that the Native Americans were disappearing. But many Native Americans maintained their cultures and became increasingly active in the late 20th century in asserting their identities. After struggling to gain recognition from the state and federal governments, six tribes gained Congressional support for recognition. In addition, the Commonwealth of Virginia has recognized these seven and another four tribes, most since the late 20th century. Federal legislation to provide recognition to six of Virginia’s non-reservation tribes was developed and pushed over a period of 19 years.
Hearings established that the tribes would have been able to meet the federal criteria for continuity and retention of identity as tribes, but they were disadvantaged by lacking reservations and, mostly, by racially discriminatory state governmental actions that altered records of Indian identification and continuity. Following nearly two decades of work, federal legislation to recognize the six tribes was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on January 29, 2018. Green is Algonquian, orange is Iroquoian, and olive is Siouan languages. The first European explorers in what is now Virginia were Spaniards, who landed at two separate places several decades before the English founded Jamestown in 1607. By 1525 the Spanish had charted the eastern Atlantic coastline north of Florida.
In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in his expedition to the North American continent encountered the Chisca people, who lived in present-day southwestern Virginia. 60, the Spanish had explored Virginia, which they called Ajacán, from the Chesapeake Bay while they sought a water passage to the west. Although the island site is located in present-day North Carolina, the English considered it part of the Virginia territory. The English collected ethnological information about the local Croatan tribe, as well as related coastal tribes extending as far north as the Chesapeake Bay. There were no records of indigenous life before the Europeans started documenting their expeditions and colonization efforts.