Featured Items

Powhatan's Mantle

Small, polished marine shells configured in the shape of discs, animals (probably a deer and a cougar), and a human figure are sewn onto this seventeenth-century Virginia Indian cloak. The artifact, in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, was described in a 1656 catalogue as…

Unus Americanus ex Virginia

This engraving, taken from life, shows an American Indian man wearing a necklace, earrings, and head ornaments. The inscription in the upper left reads, "Unus Americanus ex Virginia" (an American from Virginia), a place name that early in the seventeenth century referred to much of both present-day…

Monacan Quilt

This quilt, depicting Bishop Heath Light of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia shaking hands with former Monacan chief Kenneth Branham, is the work of Pat McCauley, wife of Monacan tribal member Tommy McCauley. It was made to commemorate the return of seven-and-a-half acres of Monacan…

A Festive Dance

This watercolor by English artist John White shows a festive dance scene in Secotan, an Indian town in the Outer Banks region of present-day North Carolina. White visited the town in July 1585, when a great religious ceremony, perhaps connected to the corn harvest, was taking place. Indians from…

Mattaponi Blackware

This pot is a piece of classic blackware by Christine Custalow, a member of the Mattaponi tribe. The pottery is formed with coils of clay, then covered in pine needles and wood and fired in an outdoor kiln to create a black finish. For more information about the artist and her process, see this…

Recent Items

Brass Buckle

This brass buckle was found at a Virginia Indian village site in Caroline County on the northern Coastal Plain. It was manufactured by Europeans and traded to Virginia Indians during the early seventeenth century. Clothing and metal objects were amongst the materials exchanged in order to navigate relationships between the two groups.

Iron Agricultural Tools

These iron agricultural tools, including hoes and a shovel, were found at a site in York County on the southern Coastal Plain. Virginia Indians manufactured and used tools made from traditional materials alongside those that they obtained from Europeans. European iron agricultural tools were one type of trade item exchanged by Virginia Indians and colonists during the seventeenth century.

About the Project

The Virginia Indian Archive is a collection of images, documents, and audiovisual resources representing the history and cultural experiences of Virginia Indians since colonial times. Items in the collections were gathered from a wide range of sources, both historical and contemporary. A resource tool available to teachers, students, researchers, and the public, the archive is accessible to anyone interested in Native peoples in the region we now call Virginia. ... Read More