Page 168 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

TABLE 8
Artifacts recovered from shovel tests, 18PR346.
to Zekiah at first for protection, this was initially portrayed as being a temporary relief, but it ulti- mately lasted for 15 years. By then the English had taken up the Piscataway lands on Piscataway Creek. Ultimately, the Piscataway would leave Maryland because of this and English encroach- ment around Zekiah Fort.
Pressure by the Susquehannock and other “northern Indians” led the Piscataway to request in 1680 to “remove either to Mattawoman, Chop- tico, or Zachaiah.” Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore, agreed to the request and desired that the Piscataway relocate to the Zekiah. The Coun- cil further stated “the Zachaia is the most proper place for the said Indians at present to remove themselves their wives and Children until such time as his Lspp can come to some treaty with the Senniquos and Susquehannohs.”70 Shortly there- after on June 29, 1680, the Council received word that a major assault was being planned against the Piscataway by war parties of northern Indi- ans. The Piscataway themselves were concerned that the assault might come before they were even finished constructing their new fort.71
The hasty retreat from Piscataway Creek to the Zekiah Swamp brought the Piscataway hardship. This is made evident by the Piscataway request in January of 1681 for corn. When the Piscataway left their homes in the summer of 1680, they had likely abandoned their corn fields, and because of the threat of assault “they dare not venture out of their ffort to plant their Corne for their sustenance.”72 The fear by the Piscataway was very real, as the Mattawoman “had been late- ly Surprised and cut off [killed] by the Susque- hannohs.”73 The Piscataway and Mattawoman blamed the English for their dire situation, at- tributing their troubles with the Susquehannock on the Piscataway’s allegiance with the English, especially during the English siege of the Susque- hannock fort on Piscataway Creek in 1675...one of the events associated with the snowballing of tensions that led to the genocide known as Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia.
Given the news of the attack on the Mat- tawoman and their own treaty obligations to respond and help protect, the Council suggest- ed that the Choptico, Nanjemoy, and remnant Mattawoman join the Piscataway at Zekiah Fort, which was considered “the most proper place and secure way for to Defend themselves from the Enemie, and where they may be most capable of receiving aid and assistance from the English.”74
Artifact type
Count
Tool 17 Debitage, native stone 664 Shatter, native stone 227
Core
Debitage, European flint 1 Total Lithics 917 Accokeek 15 Popes Creek 18 Mockley 41
Townsend
Yeocomico 7 Moyaone 23 Potomac Creek 26 Sullivan Cove 2 Other/UID Native Ceramics 127
8
Total Native Ceramics
142
401
Iron nail, UID square 4 Iron nail, wrought 1 Fire-cracked Rock 10 Brick 3 Animal Bone 13
Shell
Charcoal 81 Other/Modern 18 TOTAL ARTIFACTS 1453
were among the tribes listed for the purpose of creating the reservation. Regardless, the removal of the Mattapanian was a precursor for how the English were to ultimately disassociate Native people from their lands such as the Choptico in later years.
Zekiah Fort
The relocation of the Piscataway and the estab- lishment of Zekiah Fort has been described in two ways. The first way is that the Piscataway moved to Zekiah Fort because it was a place of refuge from raids by the Susquehannock. The other is that they were removed to the Zekiah Swamp to clear up the lands at Piscataway Manor on the south side of Piscataway Creek. As in most cases, the reality is a bit more complicated. While the first part is true, that the Piscataway removed
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