“You are exactly right! The Monacan tribes that would have been inhabiting this region of Virginia, did not speak Algonquian but rather a Siouan language. The Algonquian language was used by tribes under the Powhatan Federation, who were rivals of the Monacans and lived further east, below the Fall Line at Richmond.
When the colonists arrived here in 1607, their initial and most frequent contact was with the Powhatan tribes, thus more documentation of their culture and language has been preserved. In fact, the name “Tuckahoe” is actually Algonquian, referring to a particular kind of plant that grows in swampy areas. Contact with the Monacan tribes was much more limited though John Smith did make mention of some of their settlements in his early writings and on maps. One settlement, Mowhemcho, was located close to Tuckahoe on the opposite side of the river. By the time the Huguenots settled that area around 1700, it was being called “Monacantown” or “Manakintown” though it does not appear that it was an active Monacan settlement by that point.”