We-Sorts (also Wesorts) is a name for a group of Native Americans in

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 ...

who are from the Piscataway tribe. It is regarded as derogatory and a

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

by some, and rarely used by the current younger generation. The Piscataway were powerful at the time of European encounter. Many individuals with the surnames Proctor, Newman, Wright, Savoy, Queen, Butler, Thompson, Swann,

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, and Harley claim that Native heritage. Many are notably of a mixed race between

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

and Native American. "Some members of the Piscataway Indian groups now consider the name Wesort derogatory." Historian Frank Sweet lists "Wesorts" as among a group of "derogatory epithets given by mainstream society, not self-labels". However, "Wesort" is listed as a self-identified "Other race" on the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

. In the early 1930s, weekend-farmer Alice Ferguson noticed that people were finding small artifacts in her fields and decided to do some digging around, according to newspaper reports. Between 1935 and 1939, she uncovered at least five mass-burial pits containing the 300-year-old remains of about 500 Piscataway people. Over the years, she gave most of the remains, the bones from about 467 individuals, to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. She called the trust to come pick up what was left—the very partial remains of 36 individuals—said Hughes. The trust has determined that the remains are of Piscataway people. Alice and Henry Ferguson wrote and the Alice Ferguson Foundation published ''The Piscataway Indians of Southern Maryland'' in 1960. State officials say that most of the about 25,000 Native Americans who live in Maryland are Piscataway.

In literature

Wayne Karlin's novel ''The Wished For Country'' (2002) represents the origins and struggles of the Wesorts as a multicultural people in the early days of Maryland's first European settlement at

St. Mary's City St. Mary's City (also known as Historic St. Mary's City) is a former colonial town that was Maryland's first European settlement and capital. It is now a large, state-run historic area, which includes a reconstruction of the original colonial se ...

. ''The Los Angeles Times'' reviewed ''The Wished-For Country'' as a contribution to the history of "the common people," calling the book "an attempt in novel form to bring to life the original Wesorts and their turbulent world."

References

External links

Article by William Harlen Gilbert, Jr., of the Library of Congress, 1946 - see Section X, Wesorts of Southern MarylandThe Cedarville Band of Piscataway IndiansPiscataway Indian Nation
* ttp://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12114a.htm Piscataway Indians ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', 1911
Thomas Ford Brown, "Ethnic Identity Movements and the Legal Process: The Piscataway Revival"
Lamar University host {{authority control Charles County, Maryland American genealogy African–Native American relations African-American history of Maryland Ethnic and religious slurs Native American tribes in Maryland Piscataway tribe

In literature

See also

References

External links