Chesapeake Connections:

History of the Bay --- Native Americans

How do Maryland Indians interact with the Chesapeake Bay?

Chesapeake Bay Description

The Chesapeake Bay is a huge area. It is 200 miles long and from four to 40 miles wide. At the channel, it is 12 miles wide. The total coastline equals 3,190 miles. Because it is so big and offers so much variety, it provided nearly everything the Native Americans in the area needed.

Chesapeake Bay Tribes

There were a number of tribes that depended upon the Chesapeake Bay including:

The Importance of the Chesapeake to Native Americans

These tribes interacted with the Chesapeake in three primary ways. First, they used it to get food such as fish, crabs, clams, and oysters. They also used it for transportation. The Bay is so big that the Native Americans could go from the Potomac to the York River by canoe. The tribes also got water from it. The huge watershed provided plenty of fresh water for the Native Americans to drink.

Interaction with Colonists

Living on the Chesapeake Bay also meant that the Native Americans interacted with European colonists who came to settle on the east coast of North America. When the colonists first arrived, the Native Americans hated them. Later the Kecoughton tribe treated them kindly.
Many of the Native Americans showed the colonists the food of the region. Examples of these foods include the sturgeon, crab and oyster. The Native Americans also traded with the colonists. They traded beaver skins, pearls (both black and white, harvested from Chesapeake oysters), copper and iron.
Unfortunately, one of the bad things that happened because of the interaction between the two groups was that diseases from Europe killed a lot of Native Americans.

Famous Native Americans from the Chesapeake Bay Area

The Chesapeake region also was the home of many famous Native Americans. I have two examples: Powhatan and Pocahontas. Powhatan was the father of Pocahontas. He inherited an area of land in the tidewater country and he built it into a loosely governed empire. He was eventually named "Emperor of Virginia" by King James of England.
"Pocahontas" was a nickname for Powhatan's daughter. Her real name was Matoska. Pocahontas means "playful one'. She is a heroine to Euro-Americans, mainly because of the legend of John Smith. It was said that she saved his life by throwing her arms around his head when her father was about to kill him. This is not really true. In fact, Pocahontas hated John Smith. After she became famous in England, John Smith made up the legend to impress people.
In 1612, Pocahontas was taken prisoner by the English. In exchange for her freedom, she married John Rolfe. This marriage helped cement peace between Jamestown and Powhatan. In 1614, Pocahontas was baptized a Christian and was known as Rebecca Rolfe. In 1615 she had her first child, Thomas. In 1616 she traveled to England for a year long tour and became well known there. On the journey back to the Chesapeake Bay, she died of small pox. She was 21. The date of her death was March 21, 1617.

Shelter on the Chesapeake Bay

The Native Americans had many types of shelter, one of which is a long house. At each end it had a door. The long house had a frame made of elm poles covered by elm bark. Elm trees were abundant in the Chesapeake Bay area. The Indians slept on shelves on the walls. The long house had two levels. The lower one was for sleeping and eating, while the upper was for storage. Curtains made from animal skins acted as dividers between rooms.

Foods from the Chesapeake Bay Region

The Native Americans had many ways to collect food. There was plenty of food because of all the things the Chesapeake had to offer. To get enough food, the Native Americans gathered, hunted, fished and grew food. Among the items they gathered were oysters, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, gooseberries, chestnuts, walnuts, buckeyes, and acorns. There was plenty of game to hunt, including deer, bear, geese, turkeys, beavers, otters, and turtles. The beaver's skin was very valuable. It was used for clothing and for trading. In addition to hunting, the Indian tribes fished for sturgeon, shad, herring, and other fish. They also grew corn, beans and tokawhoughe which is an Indian variety of potato. The tribes used these roots to eat and to beat into meal.

Clothing of the Chesapeake Indians

The Native Americans wore a variety of clothes as well. In the summer, the children wore almost nothing because of the heat and humidity of the Tidewater area. Parents wore an apron type covering. In the winter, when it was cold, they wore cloaks, leggings, and moccasins made from the bark of the many trees in the Chesapeake region or deer hide. The Native Americans decorated their clothing with beads. They also carried purses around. They kept knives, tobacco, pipes and stones in their purses which were also made from deerskin. Both the Algonquins and Iroquois wore jewelry. Necklaces were made from shells and had special ornaments on them, such as an eagle claw. Many people wore bracelets too. The necklaces and bracelets were strung on animal hair.
The leaders wore special clothing, such as copper around their necks, cloaks all year round and turkey feathers in their hair. These items were symbols of their importance to the tribe.

Conclusion

The Chesapeake Bay was the primary source of life for Native Americans. It provided food, a way of transportation and a source of water. Because of the large watershed, the area was fertile and supported a wide variety of life they could use for food, shelter and clothing.

Because the Europeans first set foot in the Bay area, the Native Americans of this area were among the first to have contact with white men. This ended up being both good and bad.

This is how the Native Americans interacted with the Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Connections

 

This site is created and maintained by Holly Geddes.
Last updated on March 21, 2003

Bay Studies Coordinator: Jay Foster