The towne of Pomeiock

This watercolor by the English artist John White shows the fortified Indian town of Pomeiooc in the Outer Banks region of present-day North Carolina. White visited the town in July 1585. The Indians who resided there were closely related in language and culture to the Indians of Tidewater Virginia; thus, Whites painting, and others he made at the time, are an important source of historical and ethnographic information about both groups. Inside the palisaded town were round houses of the same type Powhatans used, as well as longhouses with the sides open, revealing benches for sleeping. The houses are covered some wth matts, and some wth barcks of trees, according to Whites inscription at the bottom of the drawing. Residents gather around the fire at the center of the town. A few Indians can be seen carrying a bow, another an axe; a dog is seen in the upper left.