After Powhatan 's death , the chiefdom passed to his brother Opitchapan . His succession was brief and the chiefdom passed to '' Opechancanough '' . It was Opecancanough who planned a coordinated attack on the English settlements , beginning on March 22 , 1622 . He wanted to punish English encroachments on Indian lands and hoped to run the colonists off entirely . His warriors killed about 350-400 settlers ( up to one-third of the estimated total population of about 1,200 ) , during the attack . The colonists called it the Indian massacre of 1622 . Jamestown was spared because Chanco , an Indian boy living with the English , warned the English about the impending attack . The English retaliated . Conflicts between the peoples continued for the next 10 years , until a tenuous peace was reached
Indian massacre of 1622
Indian massacre of 1622
Native American tribes in Virginia