At last night’s meeting, the City proclaimed October 9th as the Indigenous People’s Day.

With this proclamation, College Park has joined a number of other cities recognizing the importance and contribution of “the first occupants of the land later known as the Americas”.

City’s proclamation includes:

  • In the 1600s, European explorers coming to the “new world” encountered a great diversity of people living in the area that later would be named Maryland
  • Most of this land was claimed by Algonquin tribes, although both Iroquois and Sioux maintained a presence; and
  • Of the Algonquin subtribes living in Maryland, the four most prominent were the Choptank, the Delaware, the Matapeake, and the Nanticoke
  • The Iroquois presence in Maryland was comprised mainly of three tribes: the Massawomeck in western Maryland; the Susquehannock in the northern counties; and the Tuscarora, who emigrated from the Carolinas through Maryland in the 1700s
  • During the mid-1700s, three Sioux tribes emigrated through Maryland, however a small number of bands remained – the Saponi and the Tutelo
  • On January 9, 2012, the Governor of Maryland officially recognized two tribes of Piscataway heritage: the Piscataway-Conoy Tribe, and the Piscataway Indian Nation. They are the first tribes recognized by Maryland
  • Over the years the importance of our indigenous people has been diluted, lost or overlooked.