| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Extinct as a tribe, merged with the Piscataway | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Washington, D.C. | |
| Languages | |
| Piscataway (historical) | |
| Religion | |
| Native American religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Piscataway |
The Nacotchtank were an indigenous Algonquian people who lived in the area of what is now Washington, D.C., during the 17th century. The Nacotchtank village was within the modern borders of the District of Columbia along the intersection of the Potomac and the Anacostia river.[1]
The name Nacotchtank, which exists in several historical variants including Nacostine, Anacostine, Anaquashtank, Nacothtant, Nachatanke, is derived from the word "anaquashatanik", which means "a town of traders."[2] The Nacotchtank were a trading people as they were established on fertile land with the nearby rivers.[3] In his 1608 expedition, English explorer John Smith noted the prosperous Nacotchtank and their great supply of various resources.[4]
The Nacotchtank spoke a language within the Algonquian subfamily, a language group whose variants are spoken among many tribes living along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.[5] Specifically, the Nacotchtank spoke the Piscataway dialect as they were closely associated with the larger Piscataway Chiefdom of Southern Maryland, whose Tayac or grand chief ruled over a loose confederacy of area tribes.[6]
The Nacotchtank paid tribute to the Piscataway chief who resided to the south in the nearby village of Moyaone (present-day Accokeek).[7] Various pieces of art and other cultural artifacts such as hair combs, pendants, and pottery, and dog bones have been found in excavations throughout Washington, D.C., on Nacotchtank territory.[2]
After the neighboring Province of Maryland began encroaching on Nacotchtank territory in pursuit of land for tobacco plantations, the Nacotchtank were forcibly removed.[7] The Nacotchtank were last recorded in the late 1600s as taking refuge on nearby Theodore Roosevelt Island located in the Potomac River.[3] Over time, the small population that was left behind after battle and disease was absorbed by Maryland’s Piscataway tribe.[3] Current recognition of the tribe takes the form of the latinized version of the name Nacotchtank, Anacostine.[8]
- ^ "Native Peoples of Washington, DC (U.S. National Park Service)". National Park Service. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ a b Hedgpeth, Dana. "A Native American tribe once called D.C. home. It's had no living members for centuries". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ a b c Navarro, Meghan A. "Early Indian Life on Analostan Island | National Postal Museum". Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ Mooney, James (1889). "Indian Tribes of the District of Columbia". American Anthropologist. The Aborigines of the District of Columbia and the Lower Potomac - A Symposium, under the Direction of the Vice President of Section D. 2 (3): 259. ISSN 0002-7294. JSTOR 658373. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ Mithun, Marianne (2001-06-07). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-521-29875-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Herman, Doug (2018-07-04). "American Indians of Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake". American Association of Geographers. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ a b "Before the White House". The White House Historical Association. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
- ^ Burr, Charles R. (1920). "A Brief History of Anacostia, Its Name, Origin and Progress". Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 23: 168. ISSN 0897-9049. JSTOR 40067143. Retrieved 2020-10-11 – via JSTOR.
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