Warraskoyak

(Powhatan villages (left) usually consisted of Algonkian long houses, enclosed within a palisade. The houses were made from poles, tied together and covered with bark or rush matting.)

The Warraskoyak were one of a number of about thirty tribes that formed part of the Powhatan empire under the domination of the Powhatan chief, Wahunsunacock, who John Smith referred to as Powhatan. These tribes were loosely knitted together into a tribal confederation and allegiance to Powhatan varied according to the strength of the individual tribes. Some tribes, like the Nansemond, were fairly independent but sent tribute to Chief Powhatan. Indeed this tribe was the eastern neighbour of the Warraskoyak and inhabited an area around the modern Nansemond river. They were a powerful tribe with a great 'werowance'(chief) and three subordinate ones, and an estimated two hundred fighting men. From John Smith's accounts , it would seem the Nansemonds were a fairly aggressive and independent tribe and he came into conflict with them several times, when he attempted to bargain with them for corn for the fledgling colony.