Virginia Indians Today

Nansemond

At the time of their earliest English contact in Virginia, the Nansemond tribe lived in several villages along the Nansemond River centered near Chuckatuck, in the current city of Suffolk. Their head chief lived near Dumpling Island where the tribe’s temples and sacred items were located. At that time the tribe had a population of 1,200 persons with 300 bowmen.

The arriving English raided the Nansemond villages in 1608, burning their houses and destroying their canoes to force them to give up their corn, thus beginning the open hostilities between the two communities. As increasing numbers of Europeans poured into the Nansemond River area, the tribal members had to relocate their tribal lands and reservation on several different occasions, losing their last known reservation lands in 1792.

Currently most Nansemond Indians still live in the Suffolk/Chesapeake area. The tribe holds its monthly meetings at the Indiana United Methodist Church, which was founded in 1850 as a mission for the Nansemond Indians, and is adjacent to the site of earlier tribal schools. The members have a tribal museum and gift shop in Chuckatuck and have current plans for a tribal center/museum and living history area on ancestral lands along the Nansemond River. They co-host a PowWow each June with the city of Chesapeake and celebrate their annual tribal Pow Wow each August.

State recognized: February 20, 1985

Contact Information:
Chief Barry Bass
P.O. Box 655
Churchland Post Office
Portsmouth, VA 23703
Visit their Web site at http://www.nansemond.org.