Native American tribes in Virginia are the indigenous tribes located in what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia. United States. All of the Commonwealth of Virginia used to be Virginia Indian territory; the area was estimated to have been occupied by indigenous peoples for more than 12,000 years. Their population has been estimated to have been about 50,000 at the time of European colonization. The various peoples belonged to three major language families: roughly, Algonquian along the coast, Iroquoian in the southern Tidewater region, and Siouan above the fall line. About 30 Algonquian tribes were allied in the powerful Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom along the coast, which was estimated to include 15,000 people at the time of English colonization.