Name: Grace September

Making Thirteen Colonies Homework

Directions: Read chapters 3 in Making Thirteen Colonies. Answer the following questions below. Read carefully and be sure to answer ALL parts of each question. Use complete sentences. Be sure to use textual evidence and analysis for questions 2 and 3.

Questions From Chapter 3:

1. Briefly identify the following names/terms:
2. Werowance-

The Werowance were the leaders of the smaller tribes inside the Powhatan area. They worked with and for Powhatan but Powhatan was more powerful. They are really rich, Werowance translates to he is rich.

1. Estuary-

An Estuary is a body of water that is made from the ocean. This means that over time the ocean poured out and eventually was made into an Estuary.

1. Powhatan (the man)-

Powhatan was the leader of a giant area of land. He had over 100 wives and 9,000 subjects. He and Captain Christopher Newport became good friends. Christofer was given Powhatan’s decorated deerskin.

1. Powhatan Indians-

The Powhatan indians were Powhatan’s followers. They first started off small but soon they had taken over villages and thousands of individual indians and even whole tribes.

2.  Describe the region in which the Powhatans lived. (Use textual evidence.)

The Powhatan indians lived in East Virginia. “The area surrounded the Chesapeake bay, and went west to mountain foothills and south to what would someday be North Carolina’s border.” (Page 22) This was an area of fertile land, with rivers, bays and estuaries. There were lots of animals in the land and sea, such as ducks, geese, wild turkeys and deer. “There was much small game in the region, such as raccoons, opossum, squirrel, turkey, and rabbit.” (page 22)

3.  Describe the way the Powhatans lived. (Use textual evidence.)

The Powhatan indians were woodland indians. They hunted and fished and farmed. “The men hunted, fished and fought, while the woman farmed.” (page 22) These people grew vegetable such as corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins. Corn was their most important food and it was more than half of what they ate. The Powhatans used the corn to make pancakes that served as bread and rice. “Aside from corn, the food they ate changed with the seasons: fresh vegetables in the summer and fall; game in winter; and fish and stored nuts, and berries in the spring. The children helped their parents but they didn’t go to work until they were young adults. “The boys threw stones at rabbits or other animals that might nibble at the crops. It trained their throwing arms, and that helped when they became hunters.” (page 22) Men and women tattooed beautiful designs all over themselves, and hung animal claws and even live snakes around their necks. Powhatans also ware deerskin in the winter to keep them warm.

Notecards

Powhatan clothing and makeup

Source:

First, Powhatan interpreter. Interview. 18 Oct. 2016.

Quote:

“every one made what they needed”

Paraphrase:

• wore very little clothing
• the fringe on clothing was for beauty or it was used so the clothes would dry faster
• if you were older you had more clothing
• women made most of the clothing
• clothing was made seasonally 
• woman wore necklaces made from trade bead, copper or shells
• clothes were held together by deer tendon call sinue 
• clothes were sewed together with a bone needle
• ranking showed through clothing
• people tattooed themselves by burning the skin and rubbing ashes into it
• men painted themselves to show culture and origin
• un married woman shaved their heads half way back
• when you were a kid you are shaved completely 
• you start to grow your hair out when you were 13 

My Ideas:

Powhatan woman dressed very plain but they had very beautiful and colorful jewelry and tattoos. All woman in the Powhatan community made their own clothing. You learned how to sew and make your own clothing at 13. Clothes were held together by deer tendon and sewed together with a bone needle. If you were an infant you ran around naked until you were 3. Your first piece of clothing was given to you at 4 years old and it was a frontal apron. As you grew older you would start to wear more and more clothing. Even though there wasn’t much rank in a Powhatan village clothing could show your rank because the more wealthy you were the more clothes you had. The people of the Powhatan tribes didn’t have to change their clothing seasonally because being exposed to such harsh weather conditions. They wore the same clothing all year round but new clothing was made seasonally. I can infer that when the Europeans came that most of the deaths were because the people weren’t fully prepared for such drastic change in weather so they either got too hot or too cold.  Powhatan woman loved to make jewelry. They made necklaces from trade bead, and copper. Jewelry was one of many things that the Powhatan’s traded with the Europeans. I can infer that clothing took longer to make for the Powhatan’s than the Europeans. I wonder if the Europeans got leather from the Powhatan’s before they had a full colony?

Along with clothing the Powhatan’s had certain hair styles almost like the Europeans. When you were a kid your hair was shaved all the way off. I wonder if they shaved it to it wouldn’t get in the way of the child’s hunting training or house chores. When you were 13 or 14 you were allowed to start to grow your hair out. You were allowed to fully grow your hair out when you were married. But if you were unmarried woman had to shave their heads half way back. Can infer that the length of your hair or the bay it was styled was a way that people in other Powhatan tribes to see who was married and who wasn’t for possible arrangements. I wonder how people determined what the different hair styles meant.  

The Powhatan culture also expressed themselves through big and colorful tattoos. Tattoos were mostly done on women and the men were painted. The tattoos and paint were used to show someone’s origin or it was used as make up. The process of getting a tattoo was pretty quick. First you used a heated instrument to burn through the skin then ashes or powders were poured the burn. The cooling process is still un certain because this method is long retired. Some skilled people could make really detailed designs and marks on both men and women. I can infer that all women in the Powhatan village were not favored over each other. I know that their was a rank each village but I think that everyone was allowed to have a tattoo. I wonder if people did the tattoos themselves or if other people did it for them? 

History:

Created: 10/26/2016 09:06 AM