The Patawomeck are Algonquian-speaking American Indian nation that traditionally resided in present-day Stafford and King George county, Virginia near the south bank of the Pptomac River. Although the Patawomeck paid tribute to the the chief of the Tsenacomoco, or Powhatan paramount confederacy, the Patawomeck did not participate in the attack against the Virginia colonists along with their tribal neighbors in 1622 in what became known as the second Anglo-Powhatan War. The Tscenacomoco had always been a buffer between the Patawomeck and the colonists, but after the Third Anglo-Powhatan War in 1646 the Tsenacomoco's power declined and more colonists began to enroach on Patawomeck lands. In 1662 the colonial government took the Patawomeck chief prisoner and though he was released he was killed by colonists the following year. By 1666 the Virginian government called for the tribe's total destruction and the Patawomeck disappeared as a cohesive group from written records by 1669. Still, the Patawomeck people maintained their cultural identity, farming and fishing in the region as they had done for generations.

Today, the Patawomeck people recognized by the State of Virginia as the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia.

For more information and links to resources, please see our editorial statement on American Indian terminology.