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INGINA was the first chief known to the English settlers of Virginia.
The voyagers, Amidas and Barlow, sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, in the
summer of 1584, landed upon the island of Wokoken, adjacent to Virginia.
They saw several of the natives, and made them presents. Wingina was at
this time confined in his cabin, from wounds received in battle, and did
not see the English. He had not much faith in their good intentions, and
would not trust them far.
Soon after the return of Amidas and Barlow to England, Sir Richard
Grenville intruded upon the territories of Wingina. It was he who
committed the first outrage upon the natives, which excited their
constant and deadly hostility. He made one short excursion into the
country, during which, to revenge the loss of a silver cup, which had
been stolen by an Indian, he burned a town. Grenville left one hundred
and eight men to found a settlement on the island of Roanoke, and
appointed Ralph Lane, governor. The English made several excursions into
the country, in hopes of discovering mines of precious metal, of which
the Indians, to delude them, spoke, and encouraged them to seek.
Wingina bore the insults and provocations of the intruders, until the
death of the old chief, Ensenore, his father. Under pretence of honoring
his funeral, he assembled eighteen hundred of his warriors, with
the intent, as the English say, of destroying them. The English were
informed of the deadly design, by Skiko, the son of the chief Menatonon;
and Governor Lane resolved to anticipate it. Upon a given signal, his
men attacked the natives on the island where Wingina lived, having
secured the canoes to prevent their escape. But five or six of the
Indians were killed, and the rest escaped to the woods, where Lane knew
it would be dangerous to follow them.
This attack was the signal for the commencement of hostilities. The
English were few in number, but their skill and bravery in war was
well known to the red men, and they dreaded them, as if they had been
superior in number. Lane aimed at securing the person of Wingina, and
thus striking terror into his people; and accordingly watched every
opportunity to gain information of his whereabouts. At length he
ascertained that the chief had not been able to escape from the island,
and that with a number of his chiefs and warriors, he was lurking in the
forests of the island which was his capital. The English captain taking
with him about one half of his men, placed them in ambush near the spot
which Wingina frequented daily. It was the burial place of his father,
and the chief, with a few companions, came there to give himself to
weeping and mournful reflection.
The English had little consideration for the place or the purpose of
the chief’s visit. When they saw he was fairly within their power, they
rushed from their concealment, and before the chief and his warriors
could recover from their surprise and attempt to escape, shot them down.
Lane then returned to the remainder of his men. The bodies of Wingina
and his braves were found by his people, attracted to the spot by the
report of the fire-arms; and for a time, it seemed as if the desire of
revenge would induce them to follow the English and attack them. But the
wiser portion of them, knowing the advantage which the English possessed
in the use of fire-arms, restrained them. But Lane was not suffered to
remain quiet in the enjoyment of his triumph. Conspiracies were detected
in various quarters, and finally, the Indians compelled the whole
English party to return to Europe. We cannot wonder at the rooted enmity
to the whites which the Indians afterwards displayed. Not content with
invading and taking possession of the country, the early visitors from
England burned the towns and murdered the natives upon the slightest
provocation. Early impressions are most lasting, and what could the
English expect after giving the red men such an idea of their character?
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