Mattaponi History | Mattaponi Indian Reservation

Who We Are

The Mattaponi are a Native American tribe that has inhabited the eastern Virginia region for thousands of years. We are a part of the larger Powhatan Confederacy, which was a group of tribes that lived in the Chesapeake Bay area.

The Mattaponi people have a rich history that spans back to before the arrival of Europeans in North America. The Mattaponi are skilled hunters and fishermen who live off the land and the nearby rivers and streams.

Initial European Encounters

During the 17th century, the Mattaponi were one of the tribes that were encountered by English colonists who settled in Virginia. The Powhatan Confederacy, which included the Mattaponi, had a complicated relationship with the English. While we initially traded with them, the English eventually began to take more and more of our land and resources.

The Mattaponi then participated in the assault against English settlements, led by Opechancanough, that began the Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1622–1632).
The Mattaponi joined Opechancanough again in the Third Anglo-Powhatan War (1644–1646).
The peace treaty concluding that war established a tradition of paying yearly tribute to the Virginia governor that, after being reestablished in 1677, continues to this day.

The Fight to Keep Our Culture

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Mattaponi Indians incorporated native traditions with English habits, largely converting to Christianity. In the early twentieth century, many Virginia Tribes struggled to preserve their identity and culture due to the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 and subsequent legislation banned interracial marriage in Virginia and asked for voluntary racial identifications on birth and marriage certificates. “White” was defined as having no trace of African ancestry, while all other people, including Indians, were defined as “colored.” To accommodate elite Virginians who claimed Pocahontas and John Rolfe as ancestors, the law allowed for those who had “one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no other non-Caucasic blood [to] be deemed to be white persons.” The laws essentially erased Virginia Indians as a category of people. Source: Encyclopedia Virginia.

Tribal Sovereignty

We are governed by a Chief, an assistant chief, and seven council members. The reservation at King William includes the Mattaponi Indian Baptist Church, the Mattaponi Tribal Museum, a fish hatchery and marine science facility, and a community tribal building that was formerly the reservation school. The hatchery and marine science facility were funded through grants and individual contributions which support the tribe’s work with American shad.