Native Americans in Virginia, four centuries ago
Though our knowledge of the lifestyle of the first Virginians is primarily based on archeology, it's a safe bet that the Native Americans did not live in a constant state of peace and harmony, with communal sharing of resources and peaceful interactions for sharing fuel, fuel, and shelter.
When humans first settled Virginia, the primary consideration of where to live was the availability of food. In the course of 10,000+ years of settlement, the different bands of hunter-gatherers must have experienced numerous disputes over which groups would harvest in what areas. Through competition and cooperation, different tribes established separate identities. One social or religious distinction can be seen clearly in the archeological evidence - the mound building culture of the Southwest and the Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge did not extend into Tidewater.
By the time of European arrival, Native Americans in Virginia had split into three main linguistic groups. The Algonquian-speeaking tribes were in Tidewater. The Siouan tribes were located west of the Fall Line. The Nottoways and Meherrins in Southeast Virginia spoke Iroquoian languages, as did the Tutelo/Totero near modern-day Roanoke and the Cherokee in southwestern Virginia.
The short time for human evolution in North America was not enough to establish physically-distinct species, as occurred in Africa/Asia/Europe as humans migrated out of Africa at different times. Still, the separate languages are an excellent clue that Virginia was not a homogenous community when the strangers from England sailed in from the east.
Powhatan had initially inherited control of only about a half-dozen tribes near the Fall Line of the James and Pamunkey Rivers; he conquered 25 or so other Algonquian groups to establish his paramount status. By 1607, Powhatan's area of control was large, but still limited to areas east of the Fall Line. His rivals, the Monacans and the Manahoacs, lived upstream beyond the Fall Line in the James River and Rappahannock River watersheds.
By the time Christopher Newport led the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery to Jamestown Island, Powhatan dominated much of Tidewater Virginia. He controlled even the Eastern Shore, a long canoe ride across the Chesapeake Bay, while the nearby Piedmont in the west remained the edge of his control. Powhatan raided across the Fall Line, but never settled the area upstream of the Falls Line. Why did Powhatan establish control over other Algonquian tribes east of the Fall Line, rather than reach a simple alliance with them and focus on defeating the rivals with a different language upstream?
If the English had not arrived, perhaps Powhatan might have expanded his area of control to the west. He was consolidating power over fellow Algonquian-speaking tribes in 1607, and his suppression of the Chesapeakes was very recent when the English arrived.
One reason Powhatan may have started with establishing control east of the Fall Line: the other tribes in Tidewater could access the protein-rich waters of the Chesapeake Bay estuary, with oysters, crabs, and fish in abundance during certain seasons of the year. Based on the potential to generate food, the lands in Tidewater were more valuable than the lands above the Fall Line.
Those Siouan-speaking tribes in the Piedmont were not completely isolated from the Chesapeake's food resources. They had access to anadromous fish and eels that were able to swim above the falls to spawn throughout the James River, York, and Rappahannock tributaries. The mature forests on the Piedmont also provided extensive nut crops (including chestnuts), and the flocks of passenger pigeons and other birds were a food resource based on the forests of the Piedmont.
The early English explorations among the Manahoacs failed to establish a regular pattern of trade with any tribes above the Fall Line. Why didn't the English trade with the Manahoacs?
In addition to the opposition of Powhatan, the logistics of shipping food from the Piedmont to the English at Jamstown were too cumbersome. There were no roads from the rapids in the rivers to the west, just footpaths. To follow those, the English were dependent upon Native American guides. Meat and corn are bulky and heavy, and the English lacked horses or mules to serve as pack animals. (As late as 1700, most crops were still planted the Native American way, using a digging stick to "drill" a hole for placing seeds in the soil rather than plowing entire fields with a horse, mule, or ox.)
