Choptank people

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Choptank
Total population
Extinct as a tribe
Regions with significant populations
Native American religion
Related ethnic groups
Nanticoke, Lenape

The Choptank (or Ababco[2]) were an Algonquian-speaking Native American people that historically lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on the Delmarva Peninsula. They occupied an area along the lower Choptank River basin,[3] which included parts of present-day Talbot, Dorchester and Caroline counties.[4] They spoke Nanticoke, an Eastern Algonquian language closely related to Delaware.[5][6] The Choptank were the only Indians on the Eastern Shore to be granted a reservation in fee simple by the English colonial government.[7] The Choptank were a subdivision of the Nanticoke.[8]

History

The name Choptank is thought to be from the Nanticoke word tshapetank: a stream that separates,[9] or place of big current.[10]

The Algonquian-speaking Choptank were independent, but they were related in culture and language to the Nanticoke, the larger paramount chiefdom immediately to their south, which was dominant on the Eastern Shore.[11]

The only Indian reservation which the English established in fee simple on the Eastern Shore was the Choptank Indian Reservation in 1669.[12] The territory included what later became the city of Cambridge,[13] the county seat of Dorchester County. The last town in Dorchester County occupied by the Choptank was Locust Neck Indian Town, which they left about 1790.[14]

The U.S. Navy tugboat Choptank was named after the tribe. It served from 1918 until 1946.[15] The towns of Choptank, Maryland, and Choptank Mills, Delaware,[16] are named after the river. Fictional members of the tribe are characters in the early chapters of James Michener's 1978 novel, Chesapeake.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-7864-5169-2
    .
  2. ^ Also Ababeve or Abapco.[1]
  3. ^ "Choptank River Basin" Archived 2011-04-20 at the Wayback Machine, Dept of Natural Resources, Maryland, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  4. ^ Wayne E. Clark, "Indians in Maryland, an Overview", Maryland Online Encyclopedia, 2004-2005, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  5. ^ Nanticoke Language, Native Languages of the Americas, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  6. ^ Nanticoke Tribe, Native Languages of the Americas, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  7. ^ Wayne E. Clark, "Indians in Maryland, an Overview", Maryland Online Encyclopedia', 2004-2005, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  8. ^ Swanton, John Reed. The Indian Tribes of North America. pp. 59–60.
  9. ^ Terry Plowman, "Native Americans of Delmarva" Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Delmarva Millennium, Vol. 1, 1999, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  10. ^ Choptank River Basin Archived 2011-04-20 at the Wayback Machine, Dept of Natural Resources, Maryland, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  11. ^ Wayne E. Clark, "Indians in Maryland, an Overview", Maryland Online Encyclopedia, 2004-2005, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  12. ^ Wayne E. Clark, "Indians in Maryland, an Overview", Maryland Online Encyclopedia, 2004-2005, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  13. ^ Cambridge Historical Marker
  14. ^ "Lower Choptank River Historic Site" Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine, Choptank and Tuckahoe River Guide, accessed 18 Mar 2010
  15. ^ "Choptank" - Naval History
  16. ^ Placenames - Choptank Mills, Kent County, Delaware, U.S.A. Archived 2009-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
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