Piscataway-Conoy Tribe of Maryland

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The Piscataway Conoy Tribe of Maryland is a Native American tribe recognized by the state of Maryland. They are a part of the Piscataway people.

Contents

History

Prior to European contact, the Piscataway Conoy Tribe was a part of a confederacy of tribes occupying the areas between the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River watershed. [1] [ self-published source? ] The tribe's traditional territory included present-day Charles, Prince George's, St. Mary's, and Baltimore counties, as well as the foothills of the Appalachians. [2] The Piscataway-Conoy were some of the first Native Americans to make contact with European settlers. Colonial expansion led to a 1666 treaty between tribal leadership and Lord Baltimore, resulting in the establishment of a reservation called Piscataway Manor. [3] [ self-published source? ] During this time many Piscataway people converted to Catholicism. [4] To escape persecution by settler society, some of the Piscataway migrated to settlements along the Susquehanna River into Virginia and Pennsylvania, [5] where the Iroquois gave them the name 'Conoy'. [3] In 1974 Turkey Tayac, Piscataway Indian leader, incorporated a non-profit organization called the "Piscataway-Conoy Indians." [6]

Revitalization: 20th-21st century

In 1995, the Piscataway Conoy Tribe began petitioning for formal state recognition of their tribe. The Piscataway Conoy tribe, along with the Piscataway Indian Nation, were recognized by the Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley on January 9, 2012. [7] The Executive Order granted Maryland Indian status but did not affect rights to land or gaming rights. [8] As part of the negotiation for state recognition, the Piscataway Conoy tribe renounced any plans to open casinos. [9] In 2021, St. Mary's College of Maryland launched an initiative to acknowledge the land on which the College sits as the ancestral home of the Yacocomico and Piscataway Peoples. [10] In November 2021, the University of Maryland announced the name of its new dining hall would be Yahentamitsi in honor of the state’s Piscataway Conoy Tribe. [11]

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The Piscataway Indian Nation, also called Piscatawa, is a state-recognized tribe in Maryland that is descended from the historic Piscataway people. At the time of European encounter, the Piscataway was one of the most populous and powerful Native polities of the Chesapeake Bay region, with a territory on the north side of the Potomac River. By the early seventeenth century, the Piscataway had come to exercise hegemony over other Algonquian-speaking Native American groups on the north bank of the river. The Piscataway nation declined dramatically before the nineteenth century, under the influence of colonization, infectious disease, and intertribal and colonial warfare.

Piscataway may refer to:

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Around 1622, the Piscataway tribe, which led the Conoy Federation, built a town they soon called Kittamaqundi on Piscataway Creek near the modern day town of Piscataway, Prince George's County, Maryland. When English first visited the town, in 1634, they learned it was named after the relatively new Tayac (Emperor) Kittamaquund, who had assumed power the previous year after killing his brother Wannas.

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The 1666 Articles of Peace and Amity was a treaty signed on 20 April 1666 between the English colony of Maryland and 12 Eastern Algonquian-speaking indigenous nations, including the Piscataway, Anacostanck, Doegs, Mikikiwomans, Manasquesend, Mattawoman, Chingwawateick, Hangemaick, Portobackes, Sacayo, Panyayo, and Choptico. The treaty established the right of Native peoples to remain on their lands and preserved their inviolable right to continue fishing, crabbing, hunting, and fowling. The treaty also stated that "If an Indian kill an Englishman he shall dye for itt"; however execution is only prescribed for English colonists if an "English man shall kill any Indian that shall come vnpaynted". The treaty forbade Native peoples from entering any colonial settlements while being "painted", stating that "the English cannot easily distinguish one Indian from another." If a Native person and a colonist met accidentally in the forest, the "Indian shall be bound immediately to throwe downe his Armes vpon call, and in case any Indian soe meeting an English man shall refuse to throwe downe his armes vpon Call he shall be deemed as an Enemy."

References

  1. ↑ "Culture". Piscataway Conoy Tribe. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  2. ↑ "Piscataway-Conoy: Rejuvenating ancestral ties to southern parks". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  3. 1 2 "History". Piscataway Conoy Tribe. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  4. ↑ "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  5. ↑ "An Indigenous tribe conserves its ancestral landscapes". Chesapeake Bay Program. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  6. ↑ "Piscataway Conoy tribe loses bid for state recognition". Indian Country Today. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  7. ↑ "Culture". Piscataway Conoy Tribe. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  8. ↑ "Executive Order - Recognition of the Maryland Indian Status of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe". Casetext. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  9. ↑ "O'Malley formally recognizes Piscataway tribe". Capital Gazette. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  10. ↑ "St. Mary's College of Maryland Initiates Land Acknowledgment and Pledge". The Southern Maryland Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  11. ↑ "University of Maryland names hall to honor the Piscataway". WTOP News. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
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