First People: The Early Indians of Virginia

by Keith Egloff (Editor), Deborah Woodward (Editor)

Incorporating recent events in the Native American community as well as additional information gleaned from publications and public resources, this newly redesigned and updated second edition of First People brings back to the fore this concise and highly readable narrative. Full of stories that represent the full diversity of Virginia’s Indians, past and present, this popular book remains the essential introduction to the history of Virginia Indians from the earlier times to the present day.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduces the native peoples of Virginia through archeological information, artifacts, and culture. The book contains photographs of areas and artifacts, drawings, and insets which depict the lives of the people in a story format. The information is nicely told and the insets portray how the information, along with descendants of these people, help us understand this important history. The section on protecting Indian sites is especially useful

The book has a Forward, an Acknowledgements section, a Welcome, an Introduction, eight sections (some with subdivision) which go through the history, a section on Indian Tribes in Virginia Today, and a section on Protection of Native American Archeological Sites, a Glossary, a list of Public Resources, a section of Additional Resources, and an Index.

The book is a good introduction and overview focused on the Native Peoples present in Virginia. The book could be easily used as an introduction for young people in school or scout projects. The resources are helpful for further exploration. Highly recommended.

[G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so I am a 33 year old woman who read this book. The various reviews I've read for it basically indicated it's kids who are reading this for book reports. Whatever! I picked this book up because I realized I knew very little about the Native American cultures in Virginia. It's like our history is told starting with Jamestown and the story of Native Americans is woven into that in terms of their relation to Europeans. This book does a good job of providing basic information on the first people to inhabit this land and their subsequent development of tribes and technology. It's a thin, very basic book... more of a glorified pamphlet... but it gives you a starting point.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great as a primer to the Native American Indian tribes of Virginia. At less than a hundred pages it unfortunately isn’t able to give much more than can be found on Wikipedia pages, but it is a valuable in putting in one place a view of the histories and current affairs of indigenous peoples within the boundaries of what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia.

[Michael Crombie]

A quick overview of Virginia Indian history. It is rich with fascinating details and pictures about the state's ancient history and then brings us back to the modern-day to remind us many of these tribes still exist. The recommendations for supporting archeology towards the end are encouraging.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to get through this since I needed to take notes on it. But outside of that, it's a very good overview of the Indian tribes in Virginia.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have appreciated more detail, but it was well written for a general audience including younger readers.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent resource for middle and high school students. It is(mostly) up to-date with indigenous theory working in essential themes such as trade networks (demonstrating that indigenous peoples did not live in isolation), emphasizing native land use practices (thus defeating the idea that Indians did not work or improve the land, multiplicity of cultures and religions, cultural survivance through to modern times. There is a helpful glossary and a list Virginia resources for additional information.

That said, the text still at times clearly privileges scientific interpretation over native understandings. My most grave concern was somewhat mitigated by the last chapter which discusses how native sites and burials have been destroyed by both the curious and pothunters seeking to make money through stealing grave goods. I was pleased with this inclusion, but this is a theme that could be better woven into the text, there are several places where it mentions destruction of mounds and burials through floods and farming, it mentions that Thomas Jefferson and other investigated these sites, but keeps very opaque the true destructive nature of these explorations. Also hinted at, but explicitly missing is any mention of NAGPRA. These are flaws that an astute teacher could remedy through well-thought out discussion questions.

[Weisser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent source of information on the first people to inhabit Virginia.