Wowinchapuncke was the chief of the Paspahegh Indians when the English established Jamestown in the tribe’s territory in 1607. He consistently resisted the English intrusion, earning both respect and hostility from Jamestown leaders. Captured and imprisoned at Jamestown, he escaped, and the English retaliated by killing several Paspahegh men. After the English destroyed a Paspahegh town in August 1610 and executed Wowinchapuncke’s wife and children, he continued to harass the English until he was killed in a skirmish near Jamestown in February 1611. In 1991, the archaeological remains of a large Paspahegh community near here were excavated.
