The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture

Helen C. Rountree

Jul 2013 · The Civilization of the American Indian Series Book 193 · University of Oklahoma Press

About this ebook

Among the aspects of Powhatan life that Helen Rountree describes in vivid detail are hunting and agriculture, territorial claims, warfare and treatment of prisoners, physical appearance and dress, construction of houses and towns, education of youths, initiation rites, family and social structure and customs, the nature of rulers, medicine, religion, and even village games, music, and dance.

Rountree’s is the first book-length treatment of this fascinating culture, which included one of the most complex political organizations in native North American and which figured prominently in early American history.

About the author

Helen C. Rountree is an ethnohistorian with degrees from the College of William and Mary, the University of Utah, and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Her research and fieldwork for two decades have been among North American Indians in both Virginia and Nevada; she has worked both with historical documents and with living Indians and has written numerous journal articles. She is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Old Dominion University.