Under Chief Powhatan's rule, males of the empire were trained to be hunters and warriors. They followed Powhatan's orders with precision. During early encounters with the English, they sized up the colony's defenses and ambushed the colony by surprise with arrows, wounding several colonists and killing one. They also took iron tools right from under the colonists' noses!
But by the summer of 1607, the Powhatan's men started bringing corn and other provisions to trade with the colonists. Surely, if not for this trade relationship, the colonists would have all starved to death. Greatly outnumbered by the Powhatans, the colonists certainly could have been defeated!
Captain John Smith understood that the colonists would need to trade a little with several tribes instead of amassing all foods from one tribe — "least they should perceive my too great want" — so he was put in charge of race relations and ventured out on trade trips to the various Indian villiages.
Tit-for-Tat Escalates into War
Chief Powhatan had enemies — the Monacans to the west and the Susquehannocks to the north — and Smith promised to give him weapons, but just one piece at a time — to conquer his foes.
Unhappy with this trade tactic, Powhatan sent his men to take English spades, shovels and swords. Smith then retaliated by capturing them and holding them for ransom. In return, Powhatan captured some colonists and held them for ransom.
Once Smith left Jamestown, brutal warfare ensued from both sides. It wasn't until the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe that relations improved.
Opechancanough as Chief
A Powhatan chief named Opechancanough — a brother of Chief Powhatan — was skeptical of the English and eager to be rid of them, never once believing that they just came to his land for gold . . .
After Powhatan's death, Opechancanough became Chief of the Powhatan Empire and led two major attempts to force the English to abandon Virginia and return to England.
