Manahoac Indian Tribe

Manahoac (Algonquian: 'they are very merry.' Tooker). A confederacy or group of small tribes or bands possibly Siouan, in north Virginia, in 1608, occupying the country from the falls of the rivers to the mountains and from the Potomac to North Anna river. They were at war with the Powhatan and Iroquois, and in alliance with the Monacan, but spoke a language different from any of their neighbors.  Among their tribes Smith mentions the Manahoac, Tanxnitania, Shackaconia, Ontponea, Tegninateo, Whonkenti, Stegaraki, and Hassinunga, and says there were others.  Jefferson confounded them with the Tuscarora.  Mahaskahod is the only one of their villages of which the name has been preserved.  Others may have borne the names of the tribes of the confederacy.  The Mahocks mentioned by Lederer in 1669 seem to be identical to them.
     See Mooney, Siouan Tribes of the East, 18, 1894.

Manahoac. A tribe or band of the Manahoac group.  According to Jefferson they lived on Rappahannock river in Stafford and Spottsylvania Counties, Va.

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Index of Tribes or Nations

Source: Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906

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