The Powhatan are a branch of the Algonquin speaking Indians that populated the northeastern part of the United States at the time of colonization. Powhatan is an Algonquin word meaning "at the falls", describing the original lands of these people (ENAT, 198-200). At their peak, the Powhatan were members of a huge union of various bands, "The Powhatan Confederacy" based in what today would be the state of Virginia. The Powhatan are the signatories of the oldest treaty written in America by England dating back to 1646.