Manners and Politeness in Early Virginia Indian Society – Encyclopedia Virginia
The Powhatan Indians were governed by customs that regulated their behavior and defined good manners versus bad. These customs must have been widely understood and were likely fairly strict. Despite the lack of written laws or a police force, the Indians “seldom or never brawl,” according to Edward Maria Wingfield, the first president of the Virginia Council. In his History and Present State of Virginia (1705), Robert Beverley Jr. wrote, “They are very severe in punishing ill breeding, of which every Weroance [chief] is undisputed Judge, who never fails to lay a rigorous penalty upon i...
Source: encyclopediavirginia.org