The Tockwogh and the Bay

The Tockwogh, American Indians of the Sassafras region, lived from the rich plants and animals of the Chesapeake by netting rockfish and other finfish, gathering shellfish and crabs at low tide, hunting deer and small game, collecting wild nuts in the fall, and farming corn, squash, and other crops. They built a village within a palisade, a tall stockade wall of sturdy branches, and the settlement included longhouse homes, storehouses, gathering places, and garden plots. They traveled by water in dugout canoes made from large tree trunks by burning the surface and scraping away the charred wood with oyster shells until the trunk was hollowed and the bottom flattened to help stabilize the canoe. Tockwogh men hunted, fished, and defended the tribe, while women tended gardens, wove baskets, made clothing, and raised the children.

Maryland · United States