Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs: The Development of Algonquian Culture in the Potomac Valley [Paperback]

Stephen R. Potter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1994

Using an innovative combination of archaeology, anthropology, and ethnohistory, Stephen R. Potter traces the rise of the Chicacoans, whose domain on the south shore of the Potomac River straddled the boundary between the Powhatans and the Conoys. By presenting a case study of the Chicacoans from A.D. 200 to the early seventeenth century, Potter offers readers a window onto the development of ALgonquian culture in the Chesapeake and illuminates the responses of its constituent societies to the invading Europeans. He examines the stratification of individual cheifdoms into elites and masses of tribute-paying commoners, and he demonstratesthe progressive consolidation of ALgonquian peoples in the century preceding the European influx.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

"When the English invaded Virginia in 1607," writes Potter, "they unwittingly settled in the midst of one of the most politically complex Indian groups along the Atlantic coast, the Algonquian speaking Powhatans." Combining historical records, ethnological studies, and archaeological survey data, Potter, a U.S. Park Service archaeologist, has written an important book about the development of Algonquian culture. He focuses on Chicacoan life, carefully traced from A.D. 200 until townsites and natives were displaced or absorbed into the fringes of English plantations in the 1640s. His work joins two recent groundbreaking books by enthnohistorian Helen C. Rountree, The Pohawtan Indians of Virginia and Pocahantas's People (Univ. of Oklahoma Pr., 1989, 1990) in reviving once "lost" Algonquian history. This is a tightly constructed work with many closely documented comparisons. Recommended for serious Native American collections.
- Margaret W. Norton, Hoffman Estate H.S., Ill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Stephen R. Potter is Regional Archaeologist for the National Park Service, National Capital Region, and a Research Associate with the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution.

Product Details

• Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813915406
• ISBN-13: 978-0813915401
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,639,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs, May 4, 2000

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This review is from: Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs: The Development of Algonquian Culture in the Potomac Valley (Paperback)

Potter combines findings from ethno-history, archaeology, and anthropology to trace the living patterns of natives occupying the Potomac Valley during the years from 200 to 1700. In particular, Potter uses these findings to trace the Chicacoan political organization, social behavior, and settlement patterns as they changed over time showing how and why the Chicacoans went from being a distinct group before contact with Europeans to moving to new land and merging with two other tribes and becoming the Wicocomoco by the latter 1600s and finally becoming landless tenants living on an English plantation. Potter shows that Chicacoan life (as well as the living patterns of other native groups in the region) was affected by changing subsistence patterns (increasing importance of agriculture), increasing population, conflicts with neighboring tribes, changing climate, and finally contact with Europeans.