29 Jan 23:
The Warraskoyack Indians, members of the Powhatan paramount chiefdom, lived near the mouth of the Pagan River and along its tributaries. Their town of Mokete likely stood in the vicinity of present-day Rescue, while Mathomouk town was probably situated along Burwell Bay. The principal settlement of Warraskoyack was located farther inland, perhaps east of modern Smithfield
The Warraskoyak were an Algonquian-speaking tribe in Tsenacommacah. The Warraskoyak werowance, Tackonekintaco, paid tribute to paramount chief Powhatan. The homeland of the Warraskoyak provided easy access to oysters and fish from the river. It had been occupied for at least 5,500 years. Sea level rise at the end of the last Ice Age drowned the mouth of the Pagan River, and the resulting wetlands were valued food sources for Native Americans long before the evolution of the Warraskoyak tribe.
Inland, across the watershed divide separating the James and Blackwater rivers, hunting and gathering opportunities were rich in what today are labeled Pettit and Belle Meadow pocosins and Pouches, Passenger, and Rattlesnake swamps. In those swamps and woods, the Warraskoyak must have encountered Iroquoian-speaking Nottaway hunters coming up the Blackwater River.
The Algonquian-speaking Quiyoughcohannock lived to their west, upstream on the James River beyond Hog Island. The powerful Algonquian-speaking Nansemond tribe, with 200 warriors according to John Smith, lived downstream on the Nansemond River with a "kings house" on Dumplin Island. The size of the Nansemond tribe would have deterred the Warraskoyak from conflict, if those neighbors chose to hunt near Mokete, Mathomauk, or the king's house of the Warraskoyak. From those three towns, the Warraskoyack found it easy to canoe out into the James (Powhatan Flu) River to trade with the English. They welcomed visitors from Jamestown, bypassing Powhatan with direct trade of food for metal tools and prestige goods. At John Smith's request, they hosted Samuel Collier, an English boy so he could learn the Algonquian language and facilitate trade and diplomacy.
In early 1608, the Warraskoyack allowed a Paspahegh guide to lead two Jamestown colonists into their territory to search for survivors of the "lost colony" on Roanoke Island. Later that year, they assisted another searcher, Michael Sicklemore, to journey towards the Chowan River on another futile expedition.
FMI.
FMI:
"The Warraskoyack Tribe," Isle of Wight History Centre, https://www.iwhistory.org.uk/RM/iwcounty/warra.htm; Frank E. Grizzard, Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., D. Boyd Smith, Jamestown Colony A Political, Social, and Cultural History, 2007, p.228, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jamestown_Colony/555CzPsGLDMC; "046-0094 Basses Choice Archaeological District," National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/046-0094/ (last checked December 23, 2020)
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