Peracuta (also spelled ''Perecuta'' or ''Perecute'') (birth year unknown) was a 17th-century leader of the

Appomattoc The Appomattoc (also spelled Appamatuck, Apamatic, and numerous other variants) were a historic tribe of Virginia Indians speaking an Algonquian language, and residing along the lower Appomattox River, in the area of what is now Petersburg, Co ...

tribe in what is now the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. During his reign, he worked with the English

colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

in an attempt to recapture the former power of past

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...

s and maintain peaceful unity among the tribe under his leadership.

Life and rule

Peracuta was a respected warrier within the Appomattoc tribe. By the 1660s, Peracuta had become the new

weroance Weroance ( e:ɹoanzor e:ɹoansor [we:ɹoəns">e:ɹoans">e:ɹoanzor [we:ɹoansor [we:ɹoəns is an Algonquian word meaning leader or commander among the Powhatan">Algonquian languages">Algonquian word meaning leader or commander among the Powha ...

of the tribe. In September 1671, Peracuta was the guide for settlers and explorers Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam on their "Batts and Fallam Expedition" within the borders of present-day West Virginia. They were acting under a commission granted to Abraham Wood "for finding out the ebbing and flowing of the water behind the mountains, in order to the discovery of the South Sea" and authorized by the

Virginia House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

. The expedition is credited with discovering Woods River, now called the New River.'America and West Indies: October 1671', Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, Volume 7: 1669-1674 (1889), pp. 263-271. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=70214&strquery=batts Date accessed: 11 January 2009. Before leaving and returning home, the party formally declared the river to be a part of the realm of Charles II. Batts and Fallam branded a series of trees with marking irons representing Governor William Berkeley and the sponsor of the expedition, Abraham Wood. They also branded a tree in honor of their trusted guide, Peracuta. In 1675, the tribe requested that Peracuta be granted permission to plant and clear any land that was note occupied by British Colonists. During this period, the request was granted and Peracuta was formally recognized as "King of the Appomattoc" by the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

and Governor Berkeley. Peracuta's time in leadership was met with severe hardship and persecution for Native peoples. The Appomattoc village was destroyed as a result of

Bacon's Rebellion Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion by Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley, after Berkeley refused Bacon's request to drive Native American India ...

in 1676, and in the same year, the practice of slavery of Indians was re-introduced in Virginia colony, caused much suffering to the Appomattoc peoples. While Peracuta was present at the ceremony for the signing of the

Treaty of 1677 The Treaty of 1677 (also known as the Treaty Between Virginia And The Indians 1677 or Treaty of Middle Plantation) was signed in Virginia on May 28, 1677, between the English Crown and representatives from Native American tribes in Virginia, in ...

(also known as the "Treaty Between Virginia and the Indians" or "Treaty of Middle Plantation"), he was originally not allowed to sign it because some of the members of the Appomattoc tribe were accused of murder at the time. Peracuta was permitted by the

British Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

to sign the 1680 annexure of the Treaty of 1677.

Death

Records indicate that Peracuta died and was succeeded by a new weroance by April 1691.Helen C. Rountree, ''Pocahontas's People'', p. 109

References

{{Reflist 1691 deaths People of the Powhatan Confederacy Year of birth unknown Tribal chiefs 17th-century Native American leaders