Nansemond

The Nansemond were a chiefdom on both banks of the Nansemond River in Virginia and a member of the Powhatan Confederacy. They fished, gathered oysters and farmed along the river. In 1609 English settlers raided Dumpling Island, destroying the chiefs' burial places and sacred buildings. During the 1630s colonists encroached on Nansemond lands, and the community was gradually displaced.