TSENACOMMACAH

“For twelve thousand years,
Powhatans have placed their settlements
along the smooth inner semicircles of the Powhatan River and
all five major rivers of the region and their tributaries…

Placing their villages this way,
each village could remain close to the next
but still have as much access to the shoreline as possible.

Families could wave to one another from the banks,
politicians and diplomats could come visiting
from different villages and tribal nations with ease…
and fishermen could set weirs in rock dams
in narrow spots to catch shad.”

— Dr. Hayley Negrin, 2023