Truckin' on the Western Branch

The Story Place

Long ago, tall pine and fir forests crowded the shorelines Churchland and Western Branch. Hickory and oak trees grew inland. Native hunters and gatherers followed high ground trails inland to freshwater springs at the headwaters of Drum Creek, the site of a fall hunting camp. Where creeks and low lying marshes made foot travel difficult, ancient people used dugout canoes for fishing, trading, and transportation. Tribes from the nearby Nansemond and James Rivers probably visited the shoreline trading sites to exchange coastal shell beads and pearls for quartz projectile points and pieces of copper from inland regions. Huge riverside piles or middens of discarded oyster shells still found along the shorelines, document the trade sites. Local forests and rivers were rich in fish, birds, deer, bear, small game, seasonal plants, nuts, and shellfish. Diverse fresh- and salt-water plants flourished in the varying salinity of the waters. Early travelers, traders, and hunters crossed the territory but left no evidence of permanent village settlements. By the late sixteenth century, tribes under the control of the paramount chief Powhatan established villages along the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The Nansemond tribe lived a full day’s journey from Werewocomoco, Powhatan’s base, to the southwest on the Nansemond River, and the Chesapeake tribes lived to the east along the main stem of the Elizabeth and on the Lynnhaven River.

Red-tailed hawk. Image by Sheally

Prophecy and Mystery As Chief Powhatan strengthened his hold over Algonquian tribes in the lower Chesapeake Bay, Spanish and English explorers competed for a foothold in the New World. The Spanish visited the Bay and captured Indian boys in the 1560s. The 1571 Spanish attempt to start a mission near Yorktown did not go well and resulted in killings on both sides. Algonquian warriors had good reason to be wary of European visitors.

Barry Bass, Chief of the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association overlooking the Nansemond River. Image by Sheally

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