Origins. The first evidence of humans in West Virginia dates back to the nomadic Paleo-Indians in 11,000 BCE. From 7000 to 1000 BCE, archaic Native American cultures developed in the Northern Panhandle, the Eastern Panhandle, and the Kanawha River Valley.
What Prehistoric people lived in wv?
The earliest people in the Kanawha Valley are called Paleo-Indians. Paleo means old and the Paleo-Indians were the oldest inhabitants we know of in the Kanawha Valley. We know Paleo-Indians live here because archeologists have found their hunting tools called Clovis points in the mountains and along the river bottoms.
What natives lived in wv?
The names of the West Virginia tribes included the the Cherokee, Iroquois, Manahoac, Meherrin, Monacan, Nottaway, Occaneechi, Saponi and Shawnee.
Did Native Americans live in WV?
Some experts estimate that about 11,000 Native American descendents live in West Virginia. One of those is Wayne Appleton, the member of the Appalachian American Indian Association. Appleton, also known today as Chief Grey Owl, has Cherokee roots on his father’s side and Mohawk on his mother’s side.
What is West Virginia’s oldest country?
Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties (Virginia) and is the oldest county in the state of West Virginia. The county lies in both West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions.
Who were the Kanawha Indians?
The Kanawha Valley prehistoric people were an ancestor group for today’s modern American Indian. The Kanawha Valley’s paleo-Amerindians came to North America from Siberia over 12,500 years ago.
Where was the first settlement in West Virginia?
Morgan Morgan, a Welsh immigrant, however, has commonly been credited with making the first settlement in the state near Bunker Hill, Berkeley County, about 1731. It is now known that Morgan arrived about 1731 and that settlers were already in present West Virginia.
Did Cherokee Indians live in West Virginia?
American Indians in West Virginia
There are still Shawnee and Cherokee descendants in West Virginia, but the majority of Shawnee and Cherokee people live in states other than West Virginia today. If you click on the link for each tribe above, you can find more information about them.
What is a melungeon person?
Melungeons (/məˈlʌndʒənz/ mə-LUN-jənz) are an ethnic group of people from the Southeastern United States who descend from European settlers, Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, and sub-Saharan Africans brought to America as slaves and indentured servants.
What happened to the Mingo tribe?
In 1869, after the American Civil War, the US government pressed for Indian removal of these tribes from Kansas to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The three tribes moved to present-day Ottawa County, Oklahoma. In 1881, a band of Cayuga from Canada joined the Seneca in Indian Territory.
What does Kanawha mean and where does it come from?
One source states that Kanawha is a Shawnee word meaning “new water,” while another claims it is a Catawba word meaning “friendly brother.”
Is West Virginia rich or poor?
West Virginia is the second-poorest U.S. state, with a $48,850 median household income and a poverty rate of 17.54%. West Virginia’s educational attainment levels are on the low side, with the lowest percentage of adults with a Bachelor’s degree or higher, and has the second-lowest life expectancy of 74.8.
What’s West Virginia famous for?
West Virginia is often considered one of the more scenic states in the nation, and several of the most beloved sights in the Mountain State center around its natural beauty. But West Virginia is also known for its Civil War history, grand resorts and architectural feats, so set out and explore.
What is West Virginia’s nickname?
West Virginia is called the Mountain State because it’s the only state completely within the Appalachian Mountain region, and its average elevation is higher than any other state east of the Mississippi River!
Which Indian tribes lived in the Appalachian Mountains?
Native Americans first began to gather in the Appalachian Mountains some 16,000 years ago. Cherokee Indians were the main Native American group of the Southern Appalachian and Blue Ridge regions, but there were also Iroquois, Powhatan, and Shawnee people.
What is the oldest town in West Virginia?
Shepherdstown
Shepherdstown is the oldest town in West Virginia. The first settlement was recorded in 1730. Thomas Shepherd obtained a land grant in 1734 and was soon followed by other settlers. The town was originally named Mecklenburg in 1762, but then later changed to Shepherdstown in honor of its founder.
Who founded West Virginia?
In 1671, General Abraham Wood, at the direction of Royal Governor William Berkeley of the Virginia Colony, sent the party of Thomas Batts and Robert Fallum into the West Virginia area. During this expedition the pair followed the New River and discovered Kanawha Falls.
Was WV a Confederate state?
The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War (see History of West Virginia), in which it became the only modern state to have declared its independence from the Confederacy.
Where were the Cherokee located in West Virginia?
Numbering around 20,000, they lived comfortably in the southern Appalachian Mountains, drawing on the wildlife and food resources of the diverse forest surrounding their villages and the rich soils they cultivated in sheltered mountain coves and river bottoms.
What happened to the Shawnee?
They were active in the Northwest Indian War of the 1790s until they and other tribes were defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Shawnee were then forced to surrender most of their lands in Ohio by signing the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.
How do you tell if you are Melungeon?
Melungeon traits include:
- dark hair and skin with light-colored eyes.
- stark contrasts in skin and hair color within a single family.
- American Indian features.
- a particular type of bump or ridge at the back of the head (usually just above the neck) known at the Melungeon bump.
