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7/7/2025

The Chiskiack Indians

3 Comments

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The Chiskiack Indians, who were living on the lower side of the York River when Virginia’s first European colonists arrived, were under the sway of the Native emperor Powhatan. During the mid-to-late 1630s, they withdrew to the Middle Peninsula, when settlers began moving into their homeland on the York River. In 1649 Ossakican, leader of the Chiskiack or “North Indians,” was allocated 5,000 acres as a preserve or reservation. That land, which had been surveyed by 1662, extended along the lower side of the Piankatank River as far as Harper Creek and ran inland for a mile. The Chiskiacks’ old and new towns were mentioned in several early land patents for acreage in what is now in Mathews County.  During the 1640s, Wadinger Creek was known as Tankes or Tanx (Little) Chiskiack Creek. 

By 1655 the Chiskiack’s leaders had disposed of more than half of their assigned land. This prompted the Council of State to assign the rest of it to church officials for the “glebes of  Gloucester,” contingent upon the natives abandoning it. In October 1669 when Virginia officials compiled a census of the colony’s native population, they noted that there were only 15 Chiskiack Indian warriors, who were  living in Gloucester County. References to the Chiskiack cease after 1677,  suggesting that they may have disbursed or been assimilated into other native groups.
​By Martha McCartney, Passage from Mathews County: Lost Landscapes, Untold Stories

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3 Comments
Anthony (Sky Hawk) White
9/2/2025 06:01:59 pm

Good Afternoon,
My name is Anthony White, and I serve as the Historian for the Kiskiack Tribe. I recently read your article, and I found it to be an excellent contribution. I would very much like the opportunity to meet with you, or someone you recommend, to discuss the article further and to exchange additional information about the history of the Kiskiack Tribe.
Please let me know a time that would be convenient for you. I look forward to connecting.
With respect and gratitude,
Anthony Sky Hawk White
Historian, Kiskiack Tribe

Reply
iqos heets link
11/4/2025 02:27:50 am

Very informative post! I learned some useful insights here. Thanks for sharing such valuable information.

Reply
Anthony "Sky Hawk" White
11/4/2025 05:26:48 pm

Good afternoon,
The above post did not come from myself. I only made the comment. I have not had a response from the Historical Society to exchange. As the Historian for the Kiskiack Tribe (Kiskiack spelled with a K is the correct spelling). If you would like to know more about the Kiskiack Tribe feel free to send me a email request, I will provide a full history of our Kiskiack Tribe.

Anthony Sky Hawk White

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  • Home
  • About MCHS
    • Blog
    • Additional Resources
  • Explore History
    • Research >
      • Digital Archives
      • Library Catalogue
    • Visit >
      • Tompkins Cottage Museum
      • Thomas James Store >
        • Thomas James Store Brochure
    • Features >
      • History of Mathews County, Virginia
      • Mathews County Architectural Reconnaissance Survey Report - May 2014
      • Historic Homes & Properties
      • Fort Nonsense Historical Park
      • Mathews Oral History Project
      • Mathews County's First Registered Black Voters
      • New Point Comfort Lighthouse
      • Sally Louisa Tompkins
  • Shop
    • Publications
    • Ornaments
  • Events
  • Contact