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The Moneton were a historical Native American tribe from West Virginia. In the late 17th century, they lived in the Kanawha Valley near the Kanawha and New Rivers.[2]

Name

Their name translates to “Big Water” people.[1]

Territory

New River, a tributary of the
Kanawha River, in West Virginia

The Moneton lived in southern West Vi nia, along the Kanawha River.[1] Their settlements were near the Manahoac and Tutelo nations.[3]

History

Locations of Shatteras, Monetons, Mohetans, and Conestoga (Susquehannocks) archeological sites in West Virginia. (Brashler 1987; Kent 2001)[full citation needed][better source needed]

The Moneton may have been a Fort Ancient culture,[4] an Indigenous culture that thrived from 1000 to 1750 CE in the Ohio River Valley. They might have been related to the Shawnee, an Algonquian-speaking people.[4]

The first written mention of the Moneton was made by English settler Thomas Batts in 1671.[1]

In 1674, English colonist Abraham Wood sent his servant Gabriel Arthur from Fort Henry near Appomattox, Virginia to visit local tribes to expand the fur trade. Wood visited them and described their capital as “a great town,”[1] That is the last contemporary mention of them.[1]

They were likely forced to merged into other nations in the Piedmont region of Virginia due to colonialism.[1]

Language

The Moneton language is argued to be Siouan language thus likely related to the Manahoac, Monacan, and Ofo languages.[1]

Associated Tribe

The Whitetop Nation

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Swanton, John Reed (1952). The Indian Tribes of North America. U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-87474-092-9. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  2. ^ Demallie, p. 287
  3. ^ John R. Swanton, Indian Tribes of North America, p. 61.
  4. ^ a b Rice and Brown, West Virginia, p. 9.

References

  • Demallie, Raymond J. “Tutelo and Neighboring Groups.” Sturtevant, William C., general ed. Raymond D. Fogelson, volume ed. Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast. Volume 14. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004. ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
  • Rice, Otis K.; Brown, Stephen W. (2010). West Virginia: A History. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 9, 13. ISBN 9780813127330.
  • Swanton, John Reed (1952). The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-87474-092-9. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)