MONACAN INDIANS

ANTHROPOLOGISTS THINK THAT THE NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES THAT SPOKE THE SIOUAN LANGUAGES, STARTED IN THE OHIO VALLEY. SOME OF THE SIOUAN SPEAKING NATIVE AMERICANS MOVED FROM THE OHIO VALLEY SOUTH EAST AND WEST. THE TRIBES THAT WENT WEST ARE TODAY REPRESENTED BY THE OMAHA, MANDAN, CROW, AND LOKODA. THERE WERE AT ONE TIME EIGHT (8) SIOUAN TRIBES LIVING IN THE VIRGINIA AREA, THAT COMPPRISED THE MONACAN CONFEDERACY. OF THE EIGHT TRIBES IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES, THE ONLY ONE THAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD STILL EXISTS IS THE MONACAN TRIBE.

THE MONACAN NATION, ALONG WITH THE OTHER 7 TRIBES OF SIOUAN LANGUAGE TRIBES THAT SETTLED IN THE EAST HAVE BEEN THERE SINCE AN ESTIMATED 10,000 YEARS. THE MONACANS TERRITORY WAS THOUGHT TO BE FROM AROUND WHERE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA IS TODAY TO THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. THE MONACANS LIVED ALONG THE JAMES RIVER AND THE MANNAHOAC (A NEIGHBORING TRIBE) LIVED ALONG THE RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER.

THE MONACANS LIVED IN THE SAME AREAS FOR GENERATIONS. THEY LIVED AN AGRICULTURAL LIFE STYLE. THEY RAISED THE THREE SISTERS, CORN , BEANS AND SQUASH. THEY ALSO HUNTED FOR BUFFALO, ELK, DEER, BEAR, SMALL GAME,BIRDS, AND FISH. THEY GATHERED BERRIES AND NUTS.

THE MONACANS MINED COPPER. SOME OF THE COPPER WAS MADE INTO BEADS. THE THE COPPER BEADS WERE VALUED BY SACHEMS AND OTHER HIGH RANKING NATIVE PEOPLE. THE COPPER BEADS WERE TRADED WITH OTHER TRIBES FOR BEADS AND OTHER THINGS. THE MONACAN WOMEN WERE SKILLED BASKET MAKERS. THEY WERE WELL KNOWN FOR THEIR ANIMAL AND FLORAL DESIGNS ON THEIR BASKETS.

THE MONACANS, LIKE OTHER TRIBES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES, BURIED THEIR DEAD IN BURIAL MOUNDS. THERE ARE STILL TODAY A TOTAL OF 13 MOUNDS LOCATED IN THE PIEDMONT AND BLUE RIDGE AREAS OF VIRGINIA. THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF THESE MOUNDS IS ESTIMATED TO DATE BACK ABOUT 1,000 YEARS. MANY OF THE THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT THE MONACANS HAVE BEEN LEARNED FROM THESE BURIAL MOUNDS.

THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE ENGLISH SETTLERS AND THE MONACANS. THE FIRST IS. THE MONACANS FIRST MET THE ENGLISH SETTLERS IN 1608. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH MET AND FOUGHT THE NATIVE AMERICANS ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER. A NATIVE MAN NAMED 'ARNOROLEK SUPPOSEDLY SAID AS HE WAS DYING, "'WE HEARD THAT YOU WERE A PEOPLE COME FROM UNDER THE WORLD, TO TAKE OUR WORLD FROM US." THE OTHER VERSION IS THAT CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT VISTED THE MONACANS IN 1608. AT THE REQUEST OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. CAPTAIN NEWPORT REPORTEDLY TOOK A MONACAN LEADER CAPTIVE SO HE COULD SAVELY LEAVE.

THE MONACANS JOINED OTHER TRIBES (AS MEMBERS) INCLUDING, THE DELEWARES, THE SAPONI, THE TUTELO, AND THE CATAWBA TRIBES. MANY DIED DUE TO WAR WITH THE ENGLISH SETTLERS AND OTHER NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES. SMALL POX, AND OTHER DISEASES BROUGHT BY THE EUROPEANS KILLED MANY MORE INDIANS. THE MONACAN WERE ENEMIES OF BOTH THE IROQUOIAN SPEAKING CHEROKEES AND THE ALGONQUIAN SPEAKING POWHATANS.

IN THE 1870'S THE MONACANS BUILT A LOG CABIN WHICH THEY USED AS A CHURCH. THEY WERE OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA IN 1989. THE MONACANS ARE STILL TRYING TO GET FEDERAL RECOGNITION..

TODAY THE MONACANS HAVE AN ESTIMATED 700 TO 1,400 MEMBERS. MOST OF THE MEMBERS LIVE AROUND LYNCHBURG, AMHERST COUNTY, VIRGINIA AND THE STATE OF MARYLAND. THE MEMBERS OF THE MONACANS ARE TRYING TO PRESERVE THEIR CULTURE, HISTORY AND CUSTOMS. THEY WILL HOLD THEIR 17TH ANNUAL POW WOW ON MAY 15, 16, AND 17, 2009.

EDITORIAL FOOTNIOTE: I UNDERSTAND THAT TWO MEMBERS OF THE MOHEGAN TRIBAL COUNCIL DO NOT LIKE WHAT I WROTE IN FOUR ARTICLES. IN THE INTEREST OF THE MOHEGAN TRIBE I AM WILLING TO REMOVE THEM. I REQUEST THAT ANY MEMBER OF THE TRIBAL COUNCIL OR COUNCIL OF ELDERS THAT WANTS THE ARTICLES REMOVED TO EITHER E-MAIL ON THE WEBSITE (COMMENT ON THIS STORY) OR MAIL ME A REQUEST.