Pocomoke people
Indigenous people in Maryland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pocomoke people were a Native American nation whose territory encompassed the rivers Pocomoke, Great Annemessex, Little Annemessex, and Manokin, the bays of Monie and Chincoteague, and the sounds of Pocomoke and Tangier.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| extinct as a tribe | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Maryland | |
| Languages | |
| Eastern Algonquian | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nanticoke, Assateague |
History
Many died during the 17th and 18th centuries due to European epidemics, massacres by Virginia colonists, and forced displacement from their traditional territory by numerous land grants and patents to settlers. Beginning in about 1742, some Pocomoke families moved northward by way of the Susquehanna River and settled in present-day Pennsylvania and Canada, while others cohabited with the Assateague, Nanticoke, and the Choptanks near the Indian River.
Subtribes
Several related nations were considered subgroups of the Pocomoke:
- Acquintica, also spelled Aquintankec, Aquinteca
- Annamessex, Annamessick
- Gingoteque, Chingotegue, Gingateege, Gingo Teague, Yingoteague
- Manokin, Mannanokin, Monoakin
- Morumsco
- Nasswatex, Nuswattax
- Quandanquan.[1]
Heritage group
The Pocomoke Indian Nation, which is not recognized as a tribe, claims to descend from the Pocomoke people. It is an unrecognized tribe that incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2014.[2] No petition has been submitted to date for requesting formal recognition from the United States or the State of Maryland.