Virginia History Series
Historical Hall of Fame: Helen C. Rountree (b.1944) is a researcher and writer on the culture of Virginia Indians.
"A native of Virginia, Dr. Helen Rountree is widely acknowledged as the leading researcher and writer on Virginia Indians and
one of the leading researchers on East Coast tribes. Dr. Rountree began researching Powhatan Indians of Virginia, both modern and
historical, in 1969.
Dr. Rountree earned an A.B. in Sociology & Anthropology from the College of William and Mary, a M.A.
in Anthropology from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Rountree
joined the faculty of Old Dominion University as an Instructor in 1968 and retired as a full Professor in 1999. She was honored with
the 1995 Outstanding Faculty Award from the Virginia State Council on Higher Education
Dr. Rountree has produced seven academic
books for adults:
oThe Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture
o Pocahontas’s People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia
Through Four Centuries
o (edited) Powhatan Foreign Relations, 1500-1722
0 (senior author on) Eastern Shore Indians of Virginia
and MD o (senior author on) Before and After Jamestown: Virginia’s Powhatans and Their Predecessors
o Pocahontas, Powhatan,
and Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown
o (senior author on) John Smith’s Chesapeake Voyages, 1607-1609
A popularized
book on Woodland Indian culture:
o Life in an Eastern Woodland Indian Village (2007)
And one book for children:
o Young Pocahontas
in the Indian World (1995)" *
* Biography from the Virginia Museum of Natural History
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