The Pocomoke people were a historic Native American tribe 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 and Canada, while others cohabited with the Assateague, Nanticoke, and Choptanks near Indian River.

Subtribes

Several related groups were considered subtribes of the Pocomoke:

• Acquintica, also spelled Aquintankec, Aquinteca
• Annamessex, Annamessick
• Gingoteque, Chingotegue, Gingateege, Gingo Teague, Yingoteague
• Manokin, Mannanokin, Monoakin
• Morumsco
• Nasswatex, Nuswattax
• Quandanquan.^[1]

Heritage group

The Pocomoke Indian Nation, which is not recognized as a tribe, claims to descend from the Pocomoke people. It is an unrecognized tribe that incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2014.^[2] No petition has been submitted to date for requesting formal recognition from the United States or the State of Maryland.

Notes

References

• Feest, Christian F. (1978). Trigger, Bruce G. (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians: Northeast, Vol. 15. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 240–48.

External links

• Pocomoke Indian History on the Eastern Shore
• Delmarva Settlers. The Indians of the Lower Eastern Shore, by Christine Richardson