When the English first established the Virginia Colony, the Powhatan tribes had a combined population of about 15,000. Relations between the two peoples were not always friendly. After Captain John Smith was captured in the winter of 1607 and met with Chief Powhatan, relations were fairly good.The Powhatans sealed relationships such as trading agreements and alliances via the kinship between groups involved. The kinship was only formed through a connection to a female member of the group. Powhatan sent food to the English, and was instrumental in helping the newcomers survive the early years. By the time Smith left Virginia in the fall of 1609, due to a gunpowder accident, relations between the two peoples had begun to sour. In the absence of Smith, Native affairs fell to the leadership of Captain George Percy. The English and Powhatan's men led attacks on one another in near succession under Percy's time as negotiator. With both sides raiding in attempts to sabotage supplies and steal resources, English and Powhatan relations quickly fell apart. Their competition for land and resources led to the First Anglo-Powhatan War.