| |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| extinct as a tribe | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| West Virginia | |
| Languages | |
| Moneton language | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| likely Manahoac and Monacan[1] |
The Moneton were a historical Native American tribe from West Virginia. In the late 17th century, they lived in the Kanawha Valley near the Kanawha and New Rivers.[2]
Their name translates to "Big Water" people.[1] In the 1670s, Abraham Wood wrote their name "Moneton" and as another variant, "Monyton."[citation needed]
The Moneton lived in southern West Virginia, along the Kanawha River.[1] Their settlements were near the Manahoac, Moneton, and Tutelo, Siouan language–speaking tribes of Virginia.[3]
The Moneton may have been a Fort Ancient culture,[4] an Indigenous culture that thrived from 1000 to 1750 CE in the Ohio River Valley. They might have been related to the Shawnee, an Algonquian-speaking people.[4]
The first written mention of the Moneton was made by English settler Thomas Batts in 1671.[1]
In 1674, English colonist Abraham Wood sent his servant Gabriel Arthur from Fort HenryinWheeling, West Virginia to visit local tribes to expand the fur trade.[5] Arthur visited them and described their capital as "a great town,"[1] which might be Saint AlbansorBuffalo, West Virginia.[5] That is the last contemporary mention of them.[1]
They likely merged into other Siouan-speaking tribes in the Piedmont region of Virginia.[1]
| Moneton | |
|---|---|
| Native to | United States |
| Region | West Virginia |
| Extinct | likely late 17th century |
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tta (asTutelo) |
| Glottolog | None |
The Moneton language was a Siouan language and likely related to Manahoac, Monacan, and Ofo languages.[1]
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Italics indicate extinct languages | |||||||||||||||||||||
