Opechancanough Powhatan (abt. 1550 - abt. 1646)

Born about 1550 in Tsenacommacah

Died about 1646 at about age 96 in Jamestown, Virginia

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Biography

Opekenkeno was born about 1550 in Tsenacommacah (the name given by the Powhatan people to the place they lived),^[1] in what is currently known as Virginia.

"Opekenkeno was a war-chief of Tsenacommacah, a political alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians, who famously led assaults against the English settlers in 1622 and 1644. He was the younger brother (or cousin) of Powhatan, the paramount chief famous for his relations with the English at the time of their arrival in Virginia in 1607. Known for his leadership and military prowess, Opekenkeno’s favor and fortune rose as that of his brother diminished in the years following hostilities with the English during the First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609-1614). At some point before the arrival of the English, Powhatan likely designated Opekenkeno as Werowance, or chief, of the Youghtanund Indians and later the head of the adjacent Pamunkey tribe. This appointment made him the military leader of one of the most critical Powhatan territories, a position that served him well during his later military conflicts with the expanding English settlements."^{[citation needed]}

Opechancanough was one of Chief Powhatan's heirs. His exact relationship to Powhatan is unknown. Although Powhatan called Opechancanough "brother," its meaning is ambiguous. He could have been full, half or might mean that he was the son of Powhatan's mother's sister.

Opechancanough's birth year is also unknown. Most researchers assume he was younger than Powhatan. At his death in 1646 he was said to be nearly 100 years old, which would make him older than Powhatan.

Opechancanough inherited the Powhatan kingdom through his mother. He ruled from about 1628 until his death in 1646. According to Helen Rountree who is an authority on the Powhatans, the wives and children of Opechancanough are unrecorded.

Opechancanough is known for his two great assaults on the early Virginia Colonists in 1622 and 1644. He was shot and killed by his guard while in prison. ^[2] He was one of 200 Powhatan leaders served poisoned wine at a peace meeting with the English in May 1623, but survived.^[3]

Like many Native Americans, Opechancanough had multiple names during his life. Mangopeesomon was the name taken by Opechancanough in 1622 when he was preparing to make war on the English at Jamestown. This personal name was not used by any other member of his family. This name should not be applied to the father of Powhatan. ^[4]

He is known to have at least one unnamed daughter whose marriage was recorded and a wife who was seduced away by another werowance. ^[5]

Disputed Spouse and Daughter

Some claim that Opechancanough was a) the husband of Cleopatra (sister or half sister of Pocahontas) and b) father of Nicati/Nickette Powhatan who supposedly married Capt John Rice Hooe. They cite, in part, Thomas Rolfe's request to visit Cleopatra and Opechancanough:

Petition in MD Museum of History:

"Pocahontas' son, Thomas Rolfe, sought permission to go to visit his Aunt Cleopatra and Uncle Opechancanough, which is on colonial record. Many have said that it does not mean that his aunt and uncle were married. I believe that it did, as it was a common practice for a chief in line to be the head of the Powhatan Federation, which Opechancanough became, to marry his niece, if she was in the line of royal matrilineal succession, in order for his children to be eligible to become rulers. The famous ethnologist, Helen Rountree, also stated in her books that Opechancanough and Cleopatra were husband and wife." -- Floyd Family Association whose family found this petition in 1760.

Two points about the above claim:

1. The original actually says: Thomas petitioned to see his Aunt Cleopatra and Oppachanko, to whom I am allied. Thomas does not call Opechancanough "Uncle."
2. Helen Rountree never in any books states that Cleopatra and Opechancanough were married, nor does she hint at any type of relationship between them. ^[6]

Therefore, WikiTree's Native American Project has detached Cleopatra as spouse of Opechancanough.

Research Notes

From Floyd, N. J. Biographical genealogies of the Virginia-Kentucky Floyd families: with notes of some collateral branches. (Williams & Wilkins Co.: Baltimore , 1912):

"The writer, feeling confident that the original tradition was

correct, made an exhaustive search for information on that and many similar matters, and finally found, in the old library of the Maryland Historical Society, an item of three lines in a fragment of Jamestown records covering eleven years — 1630 to 1641 — which furnished in a positive and indisputable form the proof sought. During the period, covered by the fragment, matters became so bad between the Whites and Indians, that Opechancanough was induced to agree upon a line being established which neither White nor Indian, excepting truce-bearers, should cross under penalty of being shot on sight. To insure strict obedience to the compact a law was passed at Jamestown imposing a heavy penalty on any of the people crossing the line without a special permit from the Governor's Council and the General Court, ^his accounts for the item alluded to, which is given verbatim et liter- atim. In the Council record it reads:

NOTE :"Dec. 17th, 1641. — Thomas Rolfe petitions Governor to let him go see Opechankeno to whom he is allied, and Cleopatra, his mother's sister."^[7]

The record of the General Court was evidently intended to be a verbatim copy, though they differ somewhat in phraseology and spelling.

Some descendants, apparently associated with something called the Floyd Family Association, claims that the existence of Nicati (aka Nicketti) and her parents as Cleopatra and Opechancanough is proven by:

"10 vetted Bolling kits of Pocahotas to 20 of our own Pocahontas kits run against Bill Deyo, Historian of the Pamunky's kit who did not match Nicati but did match his line's Keziah Bryant; but, he did abutt in the right places to the always growing circle of Nicati claimants who include 53 kit claimants of FTDNA at DNA Harrison's project, the 40 kits of the Cheraw, Saponi, and Lumbee Team N8V and the Wind Clan of the vetted Shawnee brother of Cleopatra's sister Nicati Hooe, who all share Nicati Hooe and Capt John Rice Hooe 1 as dna ancestors in the SNP Cluster perfectly at 71-74m which abutts the Powhatan claimants is large group chromosome brower runs to hundreds of kits, of the sister on Cockacoeske and the others nearby who are vetted to the line of Pocahontas. Therefore, whoever wrote the following is now in the knowledge that for 2 years, CODIS run validation that Nicati Hooe, partner of John Rice Hooe 1 has upwards of 120 claimants all triangulating to those parents with enough endogamy to make a factual judgement. Therefore, read the following of what was debunked in the year 2016: From Facebook:

"If Opechancanough was married to Pocahontas' sister, Cleopatra, there would likely be Patawomeck ancestry there. The early records of William Strachey, the VA Company, etc., indicate that the mother of Pocahontas and Cleopatra was Winganuske, a Patawomeck woman, who was the daughter of the Great King of Patawomeck by Powhatan's sister. The Federation chiefs each had one "favorite wife" who lived with them and bore them many children. She was the "favorite" because she was of the royal bloodline of matrilineal succession and was the only chance for the chief's children to become rulers. " -- Bill Deyo, Patawomeck Historian

This next paragraph is passed on from a group of vetted testers to vetted Powhatan lines on paper and on dna:

"The name Neck a Tie pronunciation of the 25 yr old Nicati was passed on by one of the founders of the Virginia Historical Society who made reference to his Native heritage in his personal diary(which had a lot of dissatisfaction with Andrew Jackson's doings), growing up in NJ recording Nicati as his grandma tied to Opeckeno and Cleopatra. Generation 2 Floyd the Petition naming Cleopatra as in the Powhatan house, with said petition being turned into the MD History Museum. Same family in NJ who found the Petition claimed Nicati as their Grandmother. Then Alexander Brown, amous VA Historian and author Brown came to Va Historian, Fredrick Holmes and wife/aka Gov Floyds daughter, he presented his findings to her and the other founding members of the VA historical Society was John Marshall and the President of Hampden Sydney College. This was 7 years after the Floyd Gov. passed away, in 1837; therefore a body of historians settled this in Virginia History Recorded History in 1844." Source: Mike Floyd, President of Floyd Family Association.

Sources

1. ↑ Tsenacommacah (Wikipedia.com; accessed 8 August 2018); thanks to Daniel Ange for alerting th NA project to this fact.
2. ↑ Helen Rountree, Opechancanough (d. 1646), Encyclopedia Virginia; Virginia Humanities, in partnership with Library of Virginia; First published: April 11, 2011 | Last modified: May 7, 2015
3. ↑ Mancall, Peter C. "Was the 1623 Poisoning of 200 Native Americans One of the Continent’s First War Crimes?" Smithsonian Magazine, 22 May 2023, citing Waterhouse (1622)
4. ↑ Helen Rountree, Pocahontas People, The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990).
5. ↑ Rountree, Helen, Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough, Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown, University of Virginia Press: 2005.
6. ↑ Rountree, 2005, p 35.
7. ↑ Wikipedia cites Boddie, John Bennett, Colonial Surry. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1974. Web., March 12, 2013.

See also:

• Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown, Helen C. Rountree ISBN 9780813925967
• Powhatan’s Challenge and Opechancanough’s Action
• Applebaum, Robert and John Wood Sweet, eds. Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Making of the North Atlantic World. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.
• Gleach, Frederic W. Powhatan’s World and Colonial Virginia: A Conflict of Cultures. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.
• Opchanacanough, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (Online: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.).
• Jefferson, Thomas, and William Peden. Notes on the state of Virginia. (Chapel Hill, Virginia: University of North Carolina Press, 1955):
  

"In 1622, when Raleigh Crashaw was with Japazaw, the Sachem or chief of the Patomacs, Opechancanough, who had great power and influence, being the second man in the nation, and next in succession to Opichapan, and who was a bitter but secret enemy to the English, and wanted to engage his nation in a war with, sent two baskets of beads to the Patomac chief, and desired him to kill the Englishman who was with him. Japazaw replied that the English were his friends, and Opichapan his brother, and that therefore there should be no blood shed between them by his means."

* Wood, Norman Barton. Lives of famous Indian chiefs, from Cofachiqui, the Indian princess, and Powhatan, down to and including Chief Joseph and Geronimo: also to answer, from the latest research, of the query, Whence came the Indian?, together with a number of thrilling interesting Indian stories and anecdotes from history. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985, p. 46: "It was Ope-chan-ca-nough, then sachem of the Pamwnkies, who captured the indomitable Captain Smith while the later was engaged in exploring the Chickahominy river."

• Willis, Carrie Hunter. Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia. (Richmond: Dietz Press, 1979), 1937. Excerpt: "Early historians give us some accounts of the various Indians in Virginia. Opechancanough, a warrior chief from the East, went to war with Sherando, a member of the Iroquois tribe. Opechancanough in crossing the mountains on a foraging expedition was once attacked by Sherando who felt his tribe should not have to share its hunting grounds with anyone else and resented the invasion. A fierce battle took place, with no one victor.
• Nicketti's profile and Opechancanough's profile (Geni.com), with much commentary on both.