Before the United States federal government decided to solve the ‘Indian Problem’ by creating one large reservation out of the state of Oklahoma, it was common practice to think of all Native Americans as one cultural group united by the simple idea that they all lived on the new common continent when the Europeans arrived. Looking at it from the perspective of a much-removed future, this idea seems ludicrous, especially when compared with the strong diversity and cultural differences that existed among the people of Europe despite the much smaller geographical space. Just like the Europeans, though, Native American tribes found on the continent when the first explorers arrived were often very different from each other. Understanding more about an individual tribe’s traditional way of life and culture, such as the Nanticoke, helps us to understand some of the more important events that have occurred in the tribe’s history that have affected their development and even survival into the present day.
The Nanticoke Indian Tribe was an Algonquian-related tribe of people living in the Chesapeake Bay region of the North American continent at the time the area was first discovered by white people. At the time that John Smith first encountered them in 1608, the tribe already displayed cunning caution in dealing with the strange-looking people from the sea as well as demonstrated a high level of development in the area. They were firmly established on their chosen grounds and, according to Smith, had as many as 200 warriors within the group. Originally calling themselves the Kuskarawaoks, the Nanticoke’s name designated them as the people of the tidewaters. Their caution and adaptability won them greater respect than many tribes received at the hands of the white man, and they were able to broker a relative peace that made it possible for the tribe to survive in some form into the present day.
The Nanticoke Indians were considered a very successful tribe of the eastern coastal area. Prior to their meeting with John Smith, not much is known about the tribe’s history. There is some significant evidence that they are related to the Shawnee and the Delaware people and were simply willing to travel further than these other groups chose to go. According to one account, “being great trappers and fishers, they separated from Delaware after these had reached their eastern seat and wandered south in search of good fishing and trapping grounds” (Hodge, 1906). However, by the time of John Smith’s arrival, the people are said to have settled down to largely established locations, remaining near the shore during the spring, summer, and fall and then traveling inland in the winter months to hunt and trap. According to the Nanticoke Indian Association, “women and children cared for lush gardens of corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, and tobacco. They gathered nuts, berries, birds’ eggs, and edible plants in season” (2004). Men fashioned a number of implements to help them gather the riches of the waters, including fish, clams, crabs, and eels, or spent time hunting for squirrels, turkey, deer, bear, ducks, and rabbits, among other things.
In keeping with their spiritual beliefs, they tended to use as many of the animals they killed as possible. “The Nanticoke believed in a variety of spirits. They knew many things in nature, such as water, earth, lightning, fire, stone, animals, and trees, possessed a unique spirit” (“Spirituality”, 2001). The spiritual life of the people was very important and required sacrifices and special ceremonies to honor the gods of good fortune and to appease those of less friendly temperament. They had a number of gods that they looked to in order to explain the confusing elements of environmental processes and built dedicated wigwams designed purely for the worship of these gods. All members of the Nanticoke society participated in some element of religious observation, although there was some gender division regarding which ceremonies individuals might be expected to join.
Daily living for the people was probably not much different from indigenous people of third world countries today. The Nanticoke people lived in family dwellings called wigwams which were dome-shaped structures created by driving small trees into the ground and bringing the top ends together overhead. This framework would then be covered with tree bark, hides, or woven reeds to create a relatively solid home with a fire pit in the center for cooking. Larger structures called longhouses were created for communal meetings, and special wigwams were made in which religious ceremonies would be held. “Sweat lodges were made for physical and spiritual cleansing, but in warmer months, baths were taken in the clear rivers. Villages were sometimes surrounded by log fences for protection from enemy tribes” (Nanticoke Indian Association, 2004). The people dressed in long clothes made of animal skin and fur as a means of keeping warm until they met with Europeans and began trading for cotton products in order to make cooler summer clothing.
One of the greatest events to affect the tribe was its first encounter with Europeans. According to documents left behind by John Smith, when he and his crew sailed into the Kuskarawaok River (now the Nanticoke River), the local Indians climbed into the trees along the river’s edge in order to get a better view of the strange thing floating in the water. First attempts at contact were met with arrows, and Smith was forced to anchor mid-stream the first night. “The next morning, the Nanticoke appeared on the shore with baskets of food. Still cautious, Captain Smith had his men fire muskets over the heads of the Nanticoke. The Indians escaped. Not until then did the English see warriors lying in the reeds for an ambush” (Nanticoke Indian Association, 2004). However, Smith and the tribe were eventually able to work out terms of peace and began trading goods. “Smith described the Nanticoke as ‘the best merchants of all.’ Several Nanticoke agreed to serve as guides for Smith to continue his exploration” (The Native Americans, 2009). This first meeting between Smith and the tribe helped to establish race relations between the two people in which the Nanticoke were not treated with quite the same level of disdain as that expressed in the Europeans’ dealings with other tribes in the area. Although the Nanticoke had their fair share of broken treaties, stolen land, and unfair deals, they were regarded as more of a force to be reckoned with and a potential trade partner when some of the other tribes were seen as little more than another slave class.
Currently, the Nanticoke Indians have been widely scattered across the eastern states and into Canada and westward. It is reported that the last Nanticoke-speaking Indian died near the end of the 1800s, taking with her much of the sound and the spirit of her once-proud people. However, those who still trace their ancestry to this tribe and others closely related continue to gather for regular spiritual and tribal events such as a yearly pow-wow or travels up and down the Nanticoke River, retracing the steps their ancestors took first as fierce explorers pushing forward when others chose to settle, later as brave leaders guiding the strange white men through their lands and finally as refugees from one of the longest and saddest extermination attempts ever carried forward by a governing body as the white government sought to ‘reclaim’ lands now dedicated as reservations. The Nanticoke Tribe may never again be what it was, but their memories and the memories others have of them proved beyond doubt that here was a people to be proud of: here was a civilization of depth and complexity, there was land already established for use by people and here is a people with the heart and connection to keep these memories alive.