A guest post by Jefe:
For at least 11,000 years, people have inhabited the Chesapeake Bay Region along the Atlantic coast of North America, now the part of the US known as Washington, DC and the states of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.
In about 200 CE, an abrupt change in tools and pottery occurred, just before proto-Algonquians began to migrate to the region from further north up the coast.
By 1600, just before the English arrived, over 50,000 people lived in the region. They are categorized into three linguistic groups: Algonquian, Iroquoian and Siouxan:
Algonquians:
Three Algonquian chiefdoms dominated the region:
- The Tsenacomoco (Powhatan) Confederacy. By far the largest and most powerful, they comprised over 30 tribes who lived in eastern Virginia between the Potomac and James Rivers. Of the 11 tribes recognized by the state goverrnment of Virginia, eight derive from this confederacy:
- Chickahominy
- Eastern Chickahominy
- Mattaponi
- Upper Mattaponi
- Nansemond
- Pamunkey
- Pattawomeck
- Rappahannock
Of these, only one was recognized by the US government as of July 2015: the Pamunkey, the tribe of Pocohantas (that recognition is currently on hold in November 2015). Only two have retained reservation land since the 1600s: the Pamunkey and the Mattaponi
- The Piscataway Chiefdom. On the northern banks of the Potomac (present-day DC and Maryland), their largest town, Moyaone, was founded near the mouth of Piscataway Creek (Accokeek, Prince George’s County). Two groups of descendants are recognized by the State of Maryland.
- The Nanticoke Chiefdom. Concentrated along the Nanticoke River in the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, they are currently recognized by the State of Delaware.
Both the Piscataway and the Nanticoke formed trade and military alliances with the Powhatan and kept friendly relations with the related Lenape further north, but regarded the non-Algonquian tribes as enemies or “despised other”.
Iroquoians:
Iroquoian groups (known by their Algonquian ethnonyms) included
- Susquehannock in the Susquehanna River valleys of Maryland, Pennsylvania and upstate New York (beyond them lived the Iroquois themselves); and
- Massawomeck, from the upper reaches of the Potomac in West Virginia, western Maryland and Pennsylvania into Ohio; affiliated with the Erie,
Both made frequent incursions into the Chesapeake region, traveling in birch bark canoes, lighter and swifter than Algonquian dugout canoes. The Susquehannock began making settlements from the mouth of the Susquehanna south along the Chesapeake Bay, splitting the Piscataway apart from the Lenape.
Anthropologists believe that shortened growing seasons during the “Little Ice Age” (1300s-1600s) caused recurrent crop failures, drawing Iroquoians south to invade the Chesapeake region, which enjoyed a longer, more reliable growing season, as well as bountiful seafood.
Virginia recognizes the Iroquoian tribes of the Cheroenhaka and Nottoway.
Siouxans:
Siouxan tribes dominated western Virginia, upriver from the Powhatan. They included the state-recognized Monacan on the upper James River and the extinct Manahoac on the upper Rappahannock. They spoke languages related to the Sioux of the Great Plains.
In 1608, John Smith, an English sea captain, explored the Chesapeake and its tributaries, giving accounts of these tribes.
By the 1650s, the English had pushed north into the land of the Doeg (Tauxenent), Pattawomeck and Rappahannock and declared war on them in 1666. The Susquehannock were drawn into the war, leading to Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. The surviving Doeg were later absorbed into the Piscataway.
See also:
- Welcome to Native American Heritage Month 2015
- National Museum of the American Indian – has an exhibit on the history of the people of the Chesapeake Bay region
- American Indians – Legal Recognition
- Prince George’s County
- Bacon’s Rebellion
- Pocahontas
- Notes towards a Native American history of George Washington – Washington’s Mount Vernon estate is located on territory originally occupied by the Doeg, and lies directly across the Potomac from the Piscataway town of Moyaone.
- related native peoples
- External:
- Powhatan Museum
- We Have a Story to Tell: Native Peoples of the Chesapeake – from the National Museum of the American Indian
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Neat!
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[…] Sourced through Scoop.it from: abagond.wordpress.com […]
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Thanks Jefe for taking the time to do this post.
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Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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Wow, 11,000 years before the White man came upon the good ol’ US of A. I always wonder how life would be if things were left untainted and left to flourish as is. *sigh* Quite informative.
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[…] https://abagond.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/the-native-peoples-of-the-chesapeake-bay-region/ […]
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I’m a descendant of Powhatan Pumunkey natives. Thank you for writing this piece.
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Please apologize for my tardiness in updating about this.
The Pamunkey won their court challenge and remain a Federally recognized tribe.
Pamunkey challenge denied, tribe now federally recognized
http://www.dailypress.com/news/va-tr-pamunkey-challenge-denied-tribe-now-federally-recognized-20160202-story.html
Virginia’s Pamunkey withstand challenge to tribe’s federal recognition
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginias-pamunkey-withstand-challenge-to-tribes-federal-recognition/2016/02/01/43563890-c924-11e5-a7b2-5a2f824b02c9_story.html
I wonder if that would help pave the way for any other tribes in the Chesapeake Bay region in their application for Federal recognition.
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A group of Native Hawaiians have been sailing a canoe circumnavigating around the world, leaving Hawaii and travelled west through the Indian Ocean, around Africa, to Brazil, through the Caribbean and up the East Coast of the USA. Their theme is to visit the indigenous populations in each place.
Last week they went to Washington, DC, but not without doing an activity hosted by the Piscataway tribe south of DC along the Potomac River in Prince George’s County, MD., directly across the river from Mount Vernon (which is visible in the video).
Hokule’a marks arrival in Maryland with private ceremony hosted by region’s indigenous peoples
(https://youtu.be/cNHIFo8TyHk)
After leaving DC, they went around Cape May, NJ and are now in New York City – an interesting end to Asian Pacific American Heritage month.
After New York, they will continue up the coast to Nova Scotia, then back to the Panama Canal. You can follow their route here:
(http://www.hokulea.com/track-the-voyage/)
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Following the federal recognition of the Pamunkey in July 2015, the two current senators from Virginia have re-introduced a bill to recognize 6 more tribes in their state, including the Rappahannock, the tribe that Mildred Loving was connected to. Hopefully, this will repair some of the damage done by Walter Plecker in the 20th century.
Now that Virginia is progressing forward with this, let’s see if there is any prospect for the tribes on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.
cross-posted here:
Article:
Kaine and Warner push for federal recognition for 6 Virginia tribes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/kaine-and-warner-push-for-federal-recognition-for-6-virginia-tribes/2017/03/20/cf7cb8ba-0d9f-11e7-ab07-07d9f521f6b5_story.html
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Another tribe in the Chesapeake Bay Region has just achieved state recognition in Maryland yesterday. The Accohannock tribe originated in the southern half of the Delmarva Peninsula (modern day Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia), or just south of the Nanticoke homelands.
The neighboring Pocomoke tribe does not have state or federal recognition.
Maryland gives Indian status to Accohannock Tribe
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/a-native-american-tribe-on-the-eastern-shore-receives-maryland-indian-status/2017/12/19/43197002-e4ef-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html)
Their Living History Museum and reconstructed Indian village can be found in Marion Station, MD, in Somerset county near Crisfield.
Accohannock tribe receives Maryland Indian Status
(http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2017/12/19/accohannock-tribe-maryland-indian-status/965609001/)
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Senate sends bill recognizing six Virginia Indian tribes to President Trump’s desk
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/senate-sends-bill-recognizing-six-virginia-indian-tribes-to-president-trumps-desk/2018/01/11/80c56260-f6f3-11e7-b34a-b85626af34ef_story.html
This is largely due to Walter Plecker.
After a 19-year battle, it has passed through Congress and the Senate and the bill is now on the President’s desk.
As far as I know, the first bill to add additional tribes to the list of Federally Recognized Tribes to hit Trump’s desk, and they are all in Virginia. In his prior life, he had rallied against special “privileges” enjoyed by Federally Recognized Tribes.
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Trump signed the bill to recognize the additional six tribes in Virginia.
Truly shocked.
Now, the Maryland tribes need to step up their efforts.
Trump signs bill giving federal recognition to Virginia Indian tribes
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/trump-signs-bill-giving-federal-recognition-to-virginia-indian-tribes/article_0596872c-040c-540d-a5e6-2e3dbdbb0001.html
In June 2017, Troy Adkins (left) and cousin Preston Adkins (center right) of the Chickahominy tribe and other Native American dancers from Virginia performed during the groundbreaking celebration for the Virginia Indian Tribute on Capitol Square.
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General location of some of the sub-tribes of the Piscataway and the Powhatan chiefdoms (the area from Anacostia in Washington, DC to Southern Maryland and Tidewater Virginia).
https://scontent.fhkg3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/32376691_10215967777696197_1855517354675404800_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=AeH7Vdsc8RkFTw_15sKQWhmAirfjN270buu_4_ths4bUIIgwbhOARPFgcPFpG9j8BNXkk_W8HWMnl-5fmteu_6XNbu5Xrzu4fBeU2gJoKFJYFA&oh=e7141532f7e1b7ba4b26a991e1848055&oe=5B8C98C5
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