Tsenacommacah

Tsenacommacah (pronounced in English; "densely inhabited land"; also written Tscenocomoco, Tsenacomoco, Tenakomakah, Attanoughkomouck, and Attan-Akamik) is the name given by the Powhatan people to their native homeland, the area encompassing all of Tidewater Virginia and parts of the Eastern Shore. More precisely, its boundaries spanned by from near the south side of the mouth of the James River all the way north to the south end of the Potomac River and from the Eastern Shore west to about the Fall Line of the rivers. The term Tsenacommacah comes from the Powhatan language, and means “densely inhabited land.” History Origins and contact The Powhatan were part of a powerful Chiefdom of Virginia Indian tribes, also known as the Powhatan Confederacy, that spoke an Algonquian language.