Piscataway Crossing Regional Park

The Monacan Confederacy was the largest Native American group in Virginia prior to the arrival of white Europeans, occupying the central part of the state from the Potomac River to the north and south into North Carolina. Captain John Smith encountered a Mannahoac man, Amoroleck, in 1608 on his journey upriver into Virginia and noted their presence on his 1612 map. Native Americans occupied the region as early as 10,000 years ago and archeological studies of Piscataway Crossing Regional Park have found evidence of human existence on the land there as early as 8,500 years ago. The land which is now Piscataway Regional Park was likely occupied by Monacan and Algonquian people at different times in history.

Tribes of the Monacan Confederacy in the area which became Loudoun County included the Manahoac and Monacan people. Like many in the Piedmont area they were hunters — stalking deer, elk and buffalo — and gatherers picking the seasonal berries and nuts of the region. To attract prey to the woodland areas in which they hunted, they burned forested areas to convert them to meadows which were more attractive to grazing mammals.

The strength of the Monacan Confederacy kept the other tribal nations of the region in check — the Iroquois to the north and south and the Algonquian tribes headed by Powhatan to the east. The culture and influence of the Monacan Confederacy was also reflected in the widespread use of the Eastern Siouan (Tutelo) language.

Eventually though, hostilities from the other native nations drove many of the tribes of the Monacan Confederacy west through the mountains and by 1680 only a third of their population existed in Virginia.