The Pocomoke people were a historic
Native American tribe
In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, tribal nation, or similar concept is any extant or historical clan, tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Native Americans in the Unit ...
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.
History
Their numbers decreased during the 17th and 18th centuries due to the effects of diseases brought from Europe, massacres by Virginia colonists, and forced displacement from their territory by numerous land grants and patents to immigrants and transports. Beginning about 1742 some Pocomoke families moved northward, by way of the
Susquehanna River and settled in present-day
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, while others cohabited with the
Assateague
Assateague Island is a long barrier island located off the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean. The northern two-thirds of the island is in Maryland while the southern third is in Virginia. The Maryland secti ...
, Nanticoke, and Choptanks near Indian River.
Subtribes
Several related groups were considered subtribes of the Pocomoke:
* Acquintica, also spelled Aquintankec, Aquinteca
*
Annamessex
The Annamessex people were a historic Native American tribe from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.Christian F. Feest, "Nanticoke and Neighboring Tribes," 241. Their homelands were part of present-day Somerset County, Maryland.
Along with the Manokin ...
, Annamessick
* Gingoteque, Chingotegue, Gingateege, Gingo Teague, Yingoteague
* Manokin, Mannanokin, Monoakin
* Morumsco
* Nasswatex, Nuswattax
* Quandanquan.
[Christian F. Feest, "Nanticoke and Neighboring Tribes," 251.]
Heritage group
The
Pocomoke Indian Nation claims to descend from the Pocomoke people. It incorporated as a
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
tax-exempt entity and is listed by the IRS as a public charity-501c3 organization. No petition has been submitted to date for requesting formal recognition from the United States or the State of Maryland.
Notes
References
*
External links
Pocomoke Indian History on the Eastern Shore by Christine Richardson
Eastern Algonquian peoples
Extinct Native American tribes
Native American tribes in Maryland
Unrecognized tribes in the United States
{{NorthAm-native-stub