politically, the area was dominated by the virginia peninsula-based powhatan confederacy. although the chesepians belonged to the same eastern-algonquian speaking linguistic group as members of the powhatan confederacy across hampton roads, the archaeological evidence suggests that the original chesepians belonged to another group, the carolina algonquian. powhatan, whose real name was wahunsunacock, was the most powerful chieftain in the chesapeake bay area, dominating more than 30 algonquin-speaking tribes. the chesepians did not belong to powhatan's alliance, but instead defied him.