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He recorded information about Indigenous settlements and political relationships throughout Tidewater Virginia. He discussed houses, towns, food, agriculture, leadership, ceremonies and language. For example, he described Indigenous towns as commonly situated near rivers or freshwater springs and frequently positioned where inhabitants could observe activity along the waterways. He described houses constructed with bent saplings and mats, preserving an English observer's..

Stand beside a Virginia river today and look across the water. Now remove the bridges. Remove the roads. Remove the houses. Remove the names printed on the map. Imagine a person standing there thousands of years ago. Perhaps that person carries a stone point. Perhaps a child walks nearby. Perhaps they are watching the river, deciding whether to remain another day or continue their journey. We will probably never know their names. But we know they were here.

Imagine standing along a Virginia river thousands of years ago. There are no roads behind you.No church bells ring in the distance. No plantation houses stand along the shoreline. There are no county lines, courthouses, fences, or European place-names. Instead, you hear water moving against the riverbank. Birds call from the trees. Smoke rises gently from a fire.

Perhaps you grew up hearing that your family had Native American ancestry, but no one could tell you exactly who the ancestor was. Maybe an elder mentioned a Nation or community, but the details were never written down. Perhaps you inherited an old photograph of someone whose name has been forgotten.

The rising and setting of the sun, the changing seasons, the movement of animals, the flowering of plants, and the changing appearance of the moon all provided information. The moon was especially important because its repeating cycle offered a visible way of recognizing the passage of time.

Seven Generations thinking asks us to consider how our actions today may affect people who will live many generations into the future.Behind you are your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and generations of ancestors whose lives eventually made your life possible.We inherited a world shaped by those who came before us. And we are helping shape the world that others will inherit.

Today, visitors to Hampton, Virginia, may know the area as part of the birthplace of English America. Yet long before English settlers arrived, the shores of the Chesapeake Bay were home to a thriving Indigenous community known as Kikotan.

She represents the many Kikotan women whose labor, knowledge, and devotion held families together and ensured that cultural traditions endured through generations. The story of the Kikotan Nation is not only the story of chiefs and leaders. It is also the story of mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and wives whose quiet strength shaped the future of their people.

History books tell the story of English settlers arriving on unfamiliar shores and establishing the first permanent English colony in North America. Yet this version of history leaves out thousands of years of human experience that existed long before the arrival of Europeans.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a child living 150 years from now. That child may carry your family name. They may share your bloodline. They may walk the same lands your ancestors once called home.

Kikotan were not just a small part of something larger—they were a people with their own identity, their own traditions, and their own sacred relationship with the land. To understand the Kikotan, you must first understand how they lived—not just physically, but spiritually.