Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/525

, it was stated in an appeal of the Burgesses to Lord Howard that when the region of country on the Blackwater was assigned to the tribes residing in that part of Virginia, the number of individuals composing them was very large, but that the tribes were now extinct. The nearest Indians were the Wyanokes and Nansemunds, who would have been pleased to see the colonists establish themselves on their lands, since this would have constituted a barrier against the attacks of their enemies from the South. Howard refused to yield to the wishes of the Burgesses because in conflict with the existing agreement between the Indians and the colonial government. In 1688, a few years later, the tribes residing in Pamunkey Neck and on the south side of Blackwater River, offered a petition to the Assembly, in which they urged that all the lands in their vicinity they were unable to use should be granted to the English, not only as a means of protection to the petitioners, but also as a relief to them in their indigent condition. The reservations with one exception finally disappeared. The Indian habits of life, inherited from remote ancestors, could not be changed even by contact with the civilization of the English. Every year saw a further abridgment in the extent of the soil which was still in their possession. The aborigines have now dwindled to a few half-breeds, who own only a few rods in that great area of country which was once the seat of the powerful confederacy of Powhatan, and the exclusive property of their forefathers.