What you should know about our region’s Native tribes

By Pamela Gorsuch on October 11, 2024

Long before the Maryland State Normal School (which eventually became Towson University) moved to its present location, the same land was home to Native and Indigenous populations who used it for farming, trading and seasonal settlements. TU’s land acknowledgement specifically mentions three tribes for whom the campus grounds are part of their ancient homeland: the Susquehannock, Nanticoke and Piscataway. Read on to learn more about these tribes and the peoples deeply connected to the land on which we now reside.

The Piscataway and Susquehannock nations once numbered in the thousands.

Experts believe Indigenous peoples have inhabited the Chesapeake Bay region for more than 10,000 years, with populations reaching into the millions nationwide. Before European contact, the Piscataway and Susquehannock tribal nations had more than 5,000 members each. They crafted intricately decorated pottery and established complex trail networks for fishing, hunting and trade. Some of those trails developed into main thoroughfares we use today, including two especially close to TU’s campus: York and Joppa roads.

“Most major roads in America originated as Native trails,” says Akim Reinhardt, a history professor in TU’s College of Liberal Arts. “Native people moved items across the continent through trade networks that occurred on those paths. When settlers came, they followed the same paths and eventually they became paved roads and highways.”  

They had some of the first recorded contact with the British.

The Nanticoke, Susquehannock and Piscataway nations lived in villages where they farmed and to which they returned after hunting and fishing along local waterways. In 1608 British explorer John Smith encountered several tribes along the Chesapeake Bay, including the Nanticoke and Susquehannock. The encounters are among the first recorded contacts between Brits and Native Americans in this region. Afterward, Smith noted the Susquehannock had hatchets and brass ornaments through previous trade with the French. His records describe the Nanticoke as “the best merchants of all.”

Maryland was once home to reservations.

Throughout the 1600s, colonial expansion led to conflict between settlers and Native Americans. Raids and battles were commonplace, often resulting in short-lived peace treaties. A 1666 treaty between Piscataway tribal leadership and Lord Baltimore established a reservation called Piscataway Manor in modern-day Charles County. A subsequent treaty with the Maryland Colony set aside approximately 3,000 acres for Native American reservations. Ultimately both were unsuccessful, with settlers continuing to encroach on the land and treaties constraining Natives’ ability to travel for seasonal hunting. A smallpox epidemic and continued conflicts with settlers and other Natives forced many tribes to relinquish their land for safer ground. Some integrated into allied tribes while others migrated north and west or assimilated into colonial society. There are currently no federally recognized Native American lands in Maryland.

“It’s been particularly difficult for eastern tribes to get federal recognition because they were often conquered or marginalized before the U.S. was even a country,” Reinhardt says. “That means there were no formal U.S. relations with the tribes, which makes gaining recognition a long, difficult and expensive process.”

There are more than 100,000 Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples in Maryland.

More than 120,000 Marylanders indicated Native American or Indigenous ancestry in the 2020 census. The Piscataway Tribe is particularly active, with two main descendant groups (the Piscataway-Conoy and the Piscataway Indian Nation and Tayac Territory) receiving state recognition in 2012. Both the Piscataway and Nanticoke tribes have museums and cultural centers with artifacts and exhibits on tribal life, culture and history. The Piscataway Indian Museum and Cultural Center is located in Waldorf, Maryland, while the Nanticoke Indian Museum is in Millsboro, Delaware.

The largest Native presence in Baltimore, however, comes from the Lumbee. Originally from North Carolina, members migrated to the area in search of better-paying jobs during the post-World War II industrial boom. Here, they established a tight-knit community with a population estimated to be as high as 7,000 in the late 1970s. At the time, it was believed to be the largest community of tribal members in an American urban area. Although subsequent generations spread into the county and surrounding region, the upper Fells Point area that was once their cultural epicenter is still home to the Baltimore American Indian Center. The center will host its 48^th annual Pow-Wow at the Maryland State Fairgrounds on Sat., Nov. 16.

“Many people don’t realize there are Natives in Maryland at all,” says Student Success Librarian Emily Minner, a member of the Lumbee Tribe. “I want to make sure people know we’re still here.”

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Indigenous Peoples' Day is celebrated annually on the second Monday in October. TU celebrates Native and Indigenous people, histories and experiences on this day and beyond. Connect with stories from community members and learn about the events and resources available to Native students, faculty and staff.