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