This 1677 treaty formally defined the rights and obligations of Virginia's tributary tribes after Bacon's Rebellion, shaping colonial-Indigenous relations for decades.
Key Facts
- Date Signed
- May 28, 1677
- Number of Articles
- 21
- Signatory Tribes
- Nottoway, Appomattoc, Wayonaoake, Nansemond, Nanzatico, Monacan, Saponi, Meherrin
- Tribal Status Designated
- Tributary tribes
- Notable Recipient
- Queen Cockacoeske of Pamunkey — red velvet cap with silver frontlet
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Bacon's Rebellion (1676–1677) destabilized relations between English colonists and Native American tribes in Virginia, resulting in widespread conflict and raising urgent questions about how the English Crown would manage Indigenous peoples within the colony going forward.
On May 28, 1677, representatives of the English Crown and several Virginia Native American tribes signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation. The twenty-one-article agreement designated the signing tribes as 'tributary tribes' and was ratified through the ceremonial exchange of gifts and badges of authority to tribal chiefs.
The treaty guaranteed tributary tribes control over traditional homelands, hunting and fishing rights, and the right to keep and bear arms in exchange for loyalty to the English Crown, establishing a formal legal framework that defined Indigenous political status in colonial Virginia for years afterward.
Political Outcome
Signing tribes designated as 'tributary tribes,' guaranteeing land, hunting, fishing, and arms rights in exchange for loyalty to the English Crown.
Post-Bacon's Rebellion instability with undefined status for Virginia Native American tribes
Formalized tributary relationship granting tribes specific rights under English Crown authority