The Piscataway Confederacy was a group of Native American tribes that lived in the Chesapeake Bay area. The tribes included the Nacotchtank (Anacostia), Moyaone/Piscatawa, Pamacocack (Pomonkey), Nousha Mock (Nanjemoy), Potopaco (Portobacco), Secomocomoco (Chaptico), Yeocomico, Pawtuxunt, Acquintanacksuck, and Mattapanient.
History
The Algonquin language has been spoken in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Northern Virginia for over 16,000 years. During the Late Woodland Period (AD 900-1600), the Piscataway people began to cultivate crops such as corn, beans, squash, and potatoes. This led to a decline in foraging and an increase in agriculture. People also moved closer to river fronts, forming larger communities. With these larger communities came the development of confederacies and government systems. Popcorn is the oldest food on the planet. The Inca, Aztec, and Mayans cultivated crops that traveled a long way to reach them. Tubers and cattails came from the marsh.
Society
Piscataway society was made of up several different groups with different roles. Women were farmers, carpenters, fishers, potters, weavers, and heads of household. Men were hunters, warriors, doctors, and leaders. Children helped with everyday tasks such as obtaining fuel. During the summer, children were naked until the age of 10. In the winter, they wore deerskin moccasins and bear grease to keep warm.
The hierarchy of Piscataway society was as follows:
- People
- Clan Mothers
- Elders Council
- Medicine Man and Two-Spirit
- War Captain (Quipu)
Diet
The diet of the Piscataway people changed with the seasons. In mid-spring, they ate deer, wild turkey, raccoon, squirrel, fish, and box turtle. In mid-summer, they ate wild cherries, elderberries, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes. In late summer, they ate green corn, squash, beans, wild rice, and potatoes. During the Harvest Celebration, they ate crabs, oysters, clams, nuts, and small dogs. In winter/early spring, they ate low calorie fish, marsh tubers, waterfowl, and deer.
English Settlement
In 1607, when the English arrived, more than 15,000 Native Americans lived in the Chesapeake Bay area. The English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, from 1607 to 1670 had a devastating impact on the environment. The English settlers cleared forests, planted cash crops like tobacco, and introduced invasive species like livestock and malaria-carrying mosquitoes. These changes led to soil erosion, deforestation, and the spread of disease. The Jamestown settlement was an example of ecological imperialism, in which a foreign power disrupts the environment of a new land for its own benefit.
The Chesapeake Region Today
The Chesapeake region was a diverse and multicultural place, with people speaking Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan languages. People from different towns and cultures traded and communicated with each other through a network of long-distance trails. Today, the people of the Chesapeake region are integrated into American society while retaining and relearning their traditional culture. However, some people believe that the Chesapeake region is not the same as it was thousands of years ago, and that the people are not the same either.
The total population of Native Americans in the US is 5.4 million, or 2% of the total population. 70% of these families live off reservations and in cities, integrated into mainstream American culture.
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