Cockocoske Pamunkey (abt. 1634 - bef. 1686)

Born about 1634 in Tsenacommacah

Wife of Totopotomoi Pamunkey — married 1646 (to 1656) in Accomack, Virginia

Died before 1 Jul 1686 before about age 52 in Virginia [uncertain]

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Biography

Cockacoeske (also spelled Cockacoeskie) was most likely born in what is now known as Virginia in the 1630's into the family of Powhatan. Her husband Totopotomoi, also a relative of Powhatan, became Weroance of the Pamunkey tribe after the death of Opechancanough and the fracturing of the larger Powhatan Confederacy.^[1]

After the death of Totopotomoi at the Battle of Bloody Run in 1656 while he was fighting alongside the English against the Rickohockan tribe^[2], Cockacoeske became Werowansqua of the Pamunkey Tribe in her own right, being recognized by the Virginia Colonial Government as "Queen of the Pamunkey".

Bacon's Rebellion and Treaty of 1677

During the unrest known as Bacon's Rebellion, Cockacoeske was asked by the Colonial Government to supply warriors to fight against other tribes and, despite this, was attacked by Bacon and his followers. Many members of the Pamunkey tribe fled to the nearby Dragon Run Swamp, a tributary of the Piankatank River.^[3][4]

After the death of Nathaniel Bacon and the end of hostilities, Cockacoeske, as Queen of the Pamunkey, was the first signatory of the Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677 along with her son, Captain John West. This treaty secured for the Native American tribes their homeland territories and other rights while recognizing the supremacy of the English Crown.^[5]

Death of Cockacoeske

Cockacoeske died a short time before July 1, 1686, on which date the Pamunkey's interpreter, George Smith, informed the Virginia Governor that the Pamunkey queen “was lately dead and that ye Pamunkey Indians did desire that ye late Queen’s niece . . . upon [whom] ye right of Government of that Indian nation doe devolve, might succeed.”^[6]

Children

• Cockacoeske has only one known documented child, the son named as John West who also signed the Treaty of 1677. This son is believed to have been fathered by Colonel John West circa 1657.
• The woman who succeeded her known as "Queen Betty" her was her niece, or another close female relative, but not her daughter.

Research Notes

• Previous versions of this profile linked a number of additional children for whom there is no source:
  • Susannah Unknown
  • Unknown Totopotomoi
  • Jane West Footman
  • Thomas West

Sources

1. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. British Academy., Oxford University Press. (Online ed.). Oxford. ISBN 9780198614128. OCLC 56568095
2. ↑ Department of Historic Resources, "Battle of Bloody Run", Historical Marker Number SA-71
3. ↑ Alfred Cave, Lethal Encounters, pp. 147-56.
4. ↑ Ethan A. Schmidt. “Cockacoeske, Weroansqua of the Pamunkeys, and Indian Resistance in Seventeenth-Century Virginia.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 3, 2012, pp. 288–317.
5. ↑ Transcript of The Treaty of Middle Plantation of 1677 on PowhatanMuseum.com
6. ↑ H. R.McIlwaine, compiler. "Executive Journals of the Councils of Colonial Virginia, Vol. 1", p.79

• See Also:
• Cockacoeske on Encyclopedia Virginia
• Cockacoeske on Wikipedia.org
• Cockacoeske on Find A Grave: Memorial #136257380, accessed 7 March 2021
• Virginia Women in History (2004)
• Beasley, Nancy Wright. The Pamunkey Legacy
• McCartney, Martha W. The Treaty of Middle Plantation: Epilogue to Bacon's Rebellion