The Kiskiak were some of the first native people to interact with Jamestown colonists, marking the start of a very important period in history called the Contact Period. Studying Kiskiak can help us understand the relationships between Native Americans and English colonists and the relationships between different native groups as they navigated this uneasy period of change. It can also help us understand what pre-contact and contact period native societies were like.
Native American people are an important part of Virginia history. In fact, most of Virginia’s human history is native history, and the archaeological evidence at Kiskiak is an excellent example of this. So much of what we know about Kiskiak comes from archaeology. Without archaeology, we wouldn’t know what the Kiskiak ate, where their living structures were, or what tools they used. This information is powerful and fascinating, helping us develop a better understanding of our sometimes tumultuous, but shared, history.