First People of the Potomac

When Europeans first arrived on the shores of North America, they found a continent inhabited by perhaps tens of millions of people who had arrived more than 10,000 years earlier and, through many generations, had created complex societies, formed viable political systems, built monumental structures in the Mississippi River valley, and farmed the land along the Potomac River. The Piscataway people have lived in southern Maryland for close to a thousand years. Their language and heritage were related to those of over one hundred other tribes spread across the country, indicating an adaptable and productive culture. They farmed this land, growing corn, beans and squash, and they fished in the plentiful waters nearby. The Piscataway welcomed the English settlers as military allies. However, with the English settlers came new diseases and social upheaval. Attacks by northern tribes—the Susquehannocks and Iroqouis—further reduced the Piscataway from 5,000 people in a confederation of 11 tribes to less than 500 in just one generation. Today, the Piscataway people continue to practice many of the traditions and customs of their ancestors who lived here.

Fort Belvoir, Maryland · United States