American Indians of Maryland

Paper Summary:

The main North American tribe most usually associated with the State of Maryland is the Nanticoke, an Algonkian people that lived and still lives in small numbers on both sides of Chesapeake Bay and on the north bank of the Potomac River. This paper looks at the culture of this tribe and a few other smaller tribes. It discusses how they were forced to integrate with the Europeans and how this affected their way of life and, ultimately, their survival.

From the Paper:

"By the years of the American Revolution, the Nanticoke and their related Indian Nations began to experience a rapid decrease in their ability to maintain even trade relations with the Europeans, not to mention the growing numbers of settlers that often forced the native Indians from their homelands within the great woodlands of Maryland. The Nanticokes eventually migrated up the Susquehanna River and resettled in what is now the southern boundaries of the Ohio River Valley. The last Nanticoke immigrants intermingled with the Iroquois Nation and all of their individual cultural identity was lost forever. Today, the remnants of the Nanticoke live along the Indian River in the state of Delaware and the last native speaker of the Nanticoke language died in 1856 which signaled the end of the Nanticoke culture in Maryland."

More papers on American Indians of Maryland:

• Essay # 43724 : "American Indians with Disabilities"
• Analytical Essay # 130845 : "The Fate of the American Indians"
• Essay # 51932 : "Morbidity and Mortality in American Indians"

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