Native American Heritage Day 2023 - The Hidden Native Artifacts Found at the White House

For Native American Heritage Day 2023, this video tells the story of the Native artifacts found on the grounds of the White House and what we need to do to get them displayed publically.

https://youtu.be/oFEJ9SoR2eM 

New working link for "Manahatta to Manhattan"

Friend of the DCNHP, Tony Scialli, brought to my attention that the play "Manahatta" opened today in NYC. Perhaps more about that in the future, after Tony sees the play in December, but this note got me to look at the story I tell in Native History of Washington, DC:(p.120) (see text below). 

When I checked the online link for the pdf of "Manahatta to Manhattan," I found it had been changed. The new working link is: ManahattaFINAL.indd (ospi.k12.wa.us)

Here's how the strange story is told in the book -

"In 2018, I came across a publication of the NMAI, which has a museum

in New York City as well as Washington. The article that I found online was

“Manahatta to Manhattan,” an excellent retelling of the Native American

people of the Lenape tribe who once lived in Manhattan. In a letter I

wrote to Kevin Grover on October 15, 2018, I cited that document on the

Manahatta and pointed out that it contrasts sharply with the absence of a

similar story about the Native tribe of Washington, DC.142 Oddly, when I

later went back to look for the Manahatta document, I found it was no longer

available on the website of the NMAI. It can still be viewed online from a

website in Washington State."

Indigenous People's Day Oct 9, 2023

 To mark Indigenous People's Day 2023, here's the Land Acknowledgment for DC that was put together in 2019 with input from Chief Jesse James Swann of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe:

We acknowledge that this is the traditional land of the Anacostan People of the Piscataway Tribe.

"Native American History of Washington, DC" Book Release, Sept. 4, 2023!

 This book is the cullmination of what started with my earliest efforts to get a Native Village Marker for Capitol Hill!

Hopefully, telling the whole story of my collection of details on the Garfield Park/Carroll Estate site, and the many others around the city, will significantly increase awareness of the many missing stories in the Native history of DC!

Statement by Matriarch Julie Tayac Yates to Accompany Plaques Marking the Restoration of Piscataway Fishing Rights in Washington, DC

Following the ceremony that was held on Oct. 15, 2022, DOEE produced a set of ceremonial plaques to memorialize issuing the first licenses to restore native fishing rights in the waters of the District of Columbia. DOEE collaborated with Matriarch Julie Tayac Yates of the Piscataway Indian Nation and Chief Jesse James Swann, Jr. of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe to design their respective ceremonial plaques as a gift from DOEE to commemorate the historic occasion. 

Chief Swann issued a statement to accompany the Piscataway Conoy Tribe plaque that can be read at this link:  https://www.throughpiscatawayeyes.org/

Matriarch Tayac Yates issued a statement to accompany the Piscataway Indian Nation plaque that is posted here:

Under this mulberry tree on April 10, 1666, Leonard Calvert made a treaty with the Indians of the Village. 
 
Today, past and present, we are recognized with our traditions, and identities, we continue to
preserve our historical heritage. 
 
In memory of Chief Turkey Tayac  
27th Hereditary Sagamore, Piscataway Indian Nation 
1895-1978
 
Memewatt,
Matriarch Julie Tayac Yates
Dr. Gabrielle Tayac 

Note: Matriarch Tayac Yates' statement references the second image of the "Old Mulberry" tree on this page.

The DC Native History Project is proud to be among the groups receiving copies of the ceremonial plaques and both of the posted statements!  

In the 1666 Treaty, "Anacostanck" Was Used As the Tribe Name, Nacotchtank Was Not Mentioned.

 This previous post from Feb 2022 discusses how the prominent error made on Captain John Smith's 1612 map still confuses many modern investigators about the name of the tribe of Native Americans who once lived in and around Washington, DC. 

The map makers misheard the words used for the name of the tribe and wrote the name of "Nacotchtanck" on the 1612 map. The name for the tribe was derived from the Native words for "a town of traders." As was pointed out about 20 years later, by Father Andrew White, the Jesuit who studied the Piscataway language for his preaching, the word for trading was "anaquash" and town was "tanik," so Anaquashtanik was what the mapmakers recorded as "Nacotchtanck."

 Native names, like many foreign names, went through a lot of changes as they were used by English settlers. But as evidence of how quickly the tribe name moved away from the Nacotchtanck form, the name used for the tribe in the Peace and Amity treaty of 1666 was "Anacostanck." (In a previous version of this post, a reading of the name as "Anacostaub" was included. Searching the transciption given in the Maryland Achives link that follows, it seems that the apparent "ub" ending is an old script for "ck.")

 Here's a link for the full text of the treaty. The name "Nacotchtank" or it's derivations isn't in the treaty.

Currently, Wikipedia still has an entry for "Nacotchtank." Their entry on the 1666 treaty says the name of the tribe was "Anacostanck," which is an active link to their Nacotchtank entry. Despite previous attempts, getting the cabal that controls the content of the entry to change the discussion of the name and several other confusions in the text, little or no progress has been made. Maybe pointing out the absence of Nacotchtank in this 17th century legal document will move an editor to correct the explanation of the Anacostan tribe's name.

You Are On Native Land t-shirt

 My old friend, Doug Hartnett, was kind enough to give me this excellent "YAONL" t-shirt:

It can be ordered from this Native American website: 

https://urbannativeera.com/collections/new/%27you-are-on-native-land%27,

but if you're like Doug (and me), you might want one with larger text. 

There are several other online sites that also sell the shirt, many with the larger text, shown here.

Preach on!