Descriptions of Powhatan Temples
*Constructed like ordinary houses, but larger with divisions to create seperate rooms (Percy, George 1612, "A Trew Relacyon" pp.259-282)
*Ordinary people could not enter & even cast offerings of copper or shell-beads into the water when canoeing past (Smith, John 1612, Map of Virginia, p.169-170)
*Kept cleaner than ordinary houses (Percy, George 1612, "A Trew Relacyon" pp.259-282)
*Also used as royal storehouses (Percy, George 1612, "A Trew Relacyon" pp.259-282)
*Ossuary temples housed the mummified remains of chiefs & a puppet of Okeus, and manned by seven priests (Smith, John 1612, Map of Virginia, p.169-170)
*Temples were 20 feet wide x 100 feet long, witha door at the East end (Strachey, William 1612, "A Historie of Travell into Virginia Britannia" p. 88-89)
*In the first room, there was a fire, then a hallway whose pillars were hung with black busts (head & shoulders) of East-facing figures (Strachey, William 1612, "A
Historie of Travell into Virginia Britannia" p. 88-89)
*At the Western end of the temple stood:
-a platform with the remians of chiefs
-a puppet of Okeus (made of black skins, stuffed with moss, an" ill-favored" expression, chains of pearls/copper, and the illusion of smoking a pipe)
-taxidermized animals (fox, wolf, raven) with glass bead eyes
*At Orapax temple, totem posts were posted outside the four corners (resembling "evillfavouredly" dragon/wolf, bear, cougar, & man) (Smith, John 1612,
Map of Virginia, p.173-174)
*ALTAR STONE: Uttamussak Temple (mouth of the Pamunky River) had a "solid Chrystal, between Three and Four Foot Cube," set in front of the
temple. Described as, "the most sacred of its kind," it was, "so clear that the Grain of a Man's Skin might be seen through it." Beverly, Robert (1705, reprint
1947) "The History and Present State of Virginia" p.127
*Names: Temple = Quioccosan (Kwee-oh-Koh-Sahn), Priest/Minor deity= Quiokos
REFERENCES
Rountree, Helen. The Powhatan Indians of Virginia.U. of Oklahoma Press. 1989. pp. 133-136.
-Percy, George 1612, "A Trew Relacyon" pp.259-282
-Smith, John 1612, Map of Virginia, p.173-174
-Strachey, William 1612, "A Historie of Travell into Virginia Britannia" p. 88-89
*Ordinary people could not enter & even cast offerings of copper or shell-beads into the water when canoeing past (Smith, John 1612, Map of Virginia, p.169-170)
*Kept cleaner than ordinary houses (Percy, George 1612, "A Trew Relacyon" pp.259-282)
*Also used as royal storehouses (Percy, George 1612, "A Trew Relacyon" pp.259-282)
*Ossuary temples housed the mummified remains of chiefs & a puppet of Okeus, and manned by seven priests (Smith, John 1612, Map of Virginia, p.169-170)
*Temples were 20 feet wide x 100 feet long, witha door at the East end (Strachey, William 1612, "A Historie of Travell into Virginia Britannia" p. 88-89)
*In the first room, there was a fire, then a hallway whose pillars were hung with black busts (head & shoulders) of East-facing figures (Strachey, William 1612, "A
Historie of Travell into Virginia Britannia" p. 88-89)
*At the Western end of the temple stood:
-a platform with the remians of chiefs
-a puppet of Okeus (made of black skins, stuffed with moss, an" ill-favored" expression, chains of pearls/copper, and the illusion of smoking a pipe)
-taxidermized animals (fox, wolf, raven) with glass bead eyes
*At Orapax temple, totem posts were posted outside the four corners (resembling "evillfavouredly" dragon/wolf, bear, cougar, & man) (Smith, John 1612,
Map of Virginia, p.173-174)
*ALTAR STONE: Uttamussak Temple (mouth of the Pamunky River) had a "solid Chrystal, between Three and Four Foot Cube," set in front of the
temple. Described as, "the most sacred of its kind," it was, "so clear that the Grain of a Man's Skin might be seen through it." Beverly, Robert (1705, reprint
1947) "The History and Present State of Virginia" p.127
*Names: Temple = Quioccosan (Kwee-oh-Koh-Sahn), Priest/Minor deity= Quiokos
REFERENCES
Rountree, Helen. The Powhatan Indians of Virginia.U. of Oklahoma Press. 1989. pp. 133-136.
-Percy, George 1612, "A Trew Relacyon" pp.259-282
-Smith, John 1612, Map of Virginia, p.173-174
-Strachey, William 1612, "A Historie of Travell into Virginia Britannia" p. 88-89