A cheife Herowans wyfe of Pomeoc

An Indian mother, carrying a water gourd, and her child, carrying what appears to be an English doll, pose in this watercolor by John White, the English artist who in 1585 accompanied a failed colonizing expedition to Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina. The mother's right hand is slung through a bead necklace made of copper, shells, pearls, or bone, likely a sign of her high status. The doll appears to be of a more expensive variety than what was commonly traded by the English colonists.

White's inscription reads, "A cheife Herowans wyfe of Pomeoc. / and her daughter of the age of .8. or. / 10. yeares."

Pomeiooc (as scholars now spell it) was a palisaded town in the Outer Banks whose weroance, or chief, was Piemacum. The English colonists, including probably White, visited the town in July 1585.