Piscataway Conoy Tribe

We are a Maryland State Recognized Tribe as of 2012. We are one of three Maryland State Recognized Tribes-Piscataway Indian Nation, Piscataway Conoy Tribe™ and the Accohannock Tribe.

Our Goal

Our primary goal is to our community. Our tribal citizens and their needs have been ignored dating back to that of the first settlers and continuing through our first tribal counsel after Maryland State Recognition. ​

Modern connections
Since gaining recognition, the Piscataway have flourished, celebrating their culture with traditional events such as the Seed Gathering in early spring, the Feast from the Waters in early summer and a Green Corn Festival in late summer. This November, the tribe will partner with the Maryland Park Service during the Greeting of the Geese event at Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary.

In fact, the Piscataway have a close relationship with the Maryland Park Service in the form of a long-term agreement that allows the use of Merkle and Chapel Point State Park, both of which have deep cultural significance to the tribe. The Piscataway use the park facilities for ceremonies, cultural education and interpretive programs, and as a venue to forge cultural connections with other Marylanders by offering classes and guided kayak trips along the waters that have sustained their people for centuries.

Today, the Piscataway number in the thousands, with more being identified via genealogical records. The restoration of their culture and history is a tremendous point of pride for tribal members who, for so long, were marginalized and forgotten in their own ancestral home.

What’s more, that pride is shared by the people of Maryland, as their past is a part of our shared culture and history.

A brief history of the Piscataway
Before the arrival of English colonists, the Piscataway were one of the dominant indigenous confederacies within the Chesapeake Bay region. Made up of an alliance of several small bands, the Piscataway lived in settlements throughout the peninsula of southern Maryland, between the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay and northward to the Patapsco, including what is now the District of Columbia.

The first historical recordings of the Piscataway begin in 1608 when Captain John Smith sailed up the Potomac River and encountered the Piscataway people inhabiting settlements such as Nacochtank, which is now considered Anacostia in the District of Columbia. In 1634, the Ark and Dove, which carried Maryland’s first English colonists, arrived at the Yaocomoco settlement, now known as St. Mary’s City. The Piscataway people welcomed these colonists, but as English populations grew, settlers began to encroach on the Piscataway’s lands.

The colonists created treaties with the Piscataway, which promised peace and equal treatment in exchange for their submission to European control. As a part of the treaty agreements, Piscataway lands were parceled into reservations. The Piscataway inhabited these reservations with the agreement that disturbances from English encroachments would no longer occur. Unfortunately, the colonists did not honor these treaties and the infringements on their lands continued.

In the name of self-preservation, some Piscataway bands splintered off from the alliance in search of new and more isolated land. The largest Piscataway group migrated to settlements along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, where they became known as the Piscataway Conoy Tribe.

Through activism and perseverance, the Piscataway Conoy people reasserted their political and cultural presence in the Chesapeake Bay region, with many members returning to their ancestral land, particularly in southern Maryland. In 2012, the Piscataway Indian Nation and Piscataway Conoy Tribe became the first native people in Maryland to receive state recognition.

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]

Historically, we were a Confederacy of Tribes under the premier authority of the Tayac or Emperor. Our
Confederacy extended between the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay to the watershed of the Potomac River
in the area now known as Virginia, and all land from the southern tip of St Mary's County, MD, north to include
Baltimore, Montgomery and Anne Arundel Counties MD to include Washington DC.
Our first European contact was in 1608 with John Smith and William Claiborne and first contact with the colonist
occurred in 1634 upon the arrival of the Ark and Dove which carried passengers, Leonard Calvert and a Jesuit
priest, Father Andrew White. It was Mr. Calvert who began colonizing our ancestral homelands and Father White
who converted the tribe to Catholicism.
Conflict began to grow in the 1660's when the English began encroaching upon our villages; this colonial
expansion led to the first established treaty in 1666 between Lord Baltimore, and out Tribal Leadership. The treaty
called for the establishment of a reservation, resulting in Piscataway Manor in 1669. Several other treaties and
reservations were established throughout the years; however, they would all eventually be broken by
encroachment of the settlers and lead to our ancestors losing their homelands.
Out of frustration and anger, to escape from further encroachment, some tribal members chose to migrate into
Northern Virginia and then even further north into Pennsylvania. It was in Pennsylvania where the Piscataway
people then became known as the Conoy, a name given by the Iroquois. Although, not all of the Piscataway
Conoy Confederacy chose to migrate, many of our ancestors chose to continue to reside within the remote areas
of our traditional homeland. Our Ancestors who remained in Maryland were placed under the authority of local
mediators. Those who remained established communities throughout Calvert, Prince Georges and Charles
Counties. Maintaining separation from the settlers and internally retaining the cultural values, traditions and
legacy. Throughout the 19th and 20th century endogamous marriage patterns demonstrated the continuation of
well-defined, tight knit Piscataway communities. By the end of the 1800's the Piscataway people began exerting
their identity as Native Americans again and demanded separate schools for Piscataway children. The first
school was Swann School located in Lothair in Charles County that operated up to 1928 and second in Prince
George County that operated up to 1920. It was through those experiences and other segregation policies within
the Catholic Church that strengthened our people to unite and maintain our distinct heritage.
The Piscataway people were farmers, many who owned large tracts of land. They also were employed as tenant
farmers, farm foremen, field laborers, guides, fishermen and domestic servants. The men were revered for their
expert hunting and fishing skills and the money they earned bought land and expanded their community and
property holding. The Piscataway people rarely took part in public life, staying separate from the mainstream of
society with little visibility to the world.
Numerous studies have been conducted concerning the Piscataway people. In the 1960's, researchers concluded that the core surnames within the Piscataway community were of Indian ancestry derived from the ancient Piscataway Confederacy. Today the Piscataway Conoy people live throughout Southern Maryland in
modern day communities once occupied by our ancestors: LaPlata, Bel Alton, Pomfret, Indian Head, Accokeek
Oxon Hill, Cedarville, Clinton, Brandywine, Rosaryville, Upper Marlboro, Mitchellville, Glen Arden, Forestville,
Port Tobacco, Camp Springs, Temple Hills, Fort Washington, Davidsonville and Croom.
The Piscataway people incorporated the Piscataway Conoy Indians Inc., a non-profit organization, on March 31,
1974. In 1976, our Piscataway elders led the way to lobby the Maryland government to pass the legislation to
form The Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs. This legislation also led to the initiation of the process to assist
native communities in the state State Recognition status. In 1995, our Tribal leadership submitted a petition for
formal State Recognition status to Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs. After the persistence and hard work of many of our elders and supporters, on January 9th, 2012, Governor Martin
O'Malley granted by Executive Order, "State Recognition to the Piscataway Conoy Tribe". Thus reestablishing the
historic government-to-government relationship that had been dormant in Maryland since the 1700's.