Page 180 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

ship to the Proprieter; That after their return they brought down all their Brothers from Potow- meck to Conojoholo, on the East side Sasquehannah, and built a town there. That the Indians of the six Nations [the Iroquois] told ‘em there was Land enough, they might chuse their place of Settlement any where about Sasquehannah. That accordingly they thought fit to re- move higher up Sasquehannah to the Conoy Town, where they now live; And on their first settling, the Indians of the six Nations came down & made their ffire, and all the great Men declared the fire of their Kindling in token of their approbation of their settling there; But that now the Lands all around them being settled by white People, their hunting is spoiled And they have been long advised by the six Nations to leave the place and go higher up the River and settle ei- ther at the Mouth of Conodogwin- net, Chiniotta [ Juniata], or up at Shamokin. That now they are come to a Resolution to remove up to Shamokin...”22
The Conoy did settle at what was then known as Shamokin (about 13 miles west of the modern town of Shamokin, PA) sometime between the writing of the May, 1743 letter and July of the fol- lowing year.23 In addition to Old Sack’s complaints about spoiled hunting, the records from July of 1744 suggest that poor treatment by their white neighbors was also to blame.
Their stay at Shamokin was short- lived. Sometime prior to July 1st, 1749 the Conoy had relocated to an island near the mouth of the Juniata River. On that date, a Council was held in Philadelphia between some Seneca representatives and the colonial council regarding a num- ber of matters. During the council, the Seneca mentioned that the Conoy now, “Live among other Nations at Juniata.”24 In addition, a Philadelphia Deed book makes mention of this island settlement in a notation dated August 24, 1762.25
And finally, the Juniata settlement is mentioned in the minutes of a Council held in Philadelphia on September 27th, 1766. The records from the council state, “We remember the Nanticokes and Co- noys had a Council Fire formerly at the Mouth of the Juniata; that they after- wards were admitted to the great Coun- cil at Onondaga, & that they now have a Council Fire burning at Chenango... .” As the record suggests, by this period the Piscataway were increasingly integrated with other “refugee” tribes. By 1754 they are considered (at least to outsiders) to have “merged” with the Nanticoke. Ciss- na believes this had more to do with how they were viewed by their Iroquois spon- sors than how the Conoy viewed them- selves.26 From the minutes of a meeting held at Easton, October 8th,1758, the list of attendees includes, “Nanticokes and Conoys, now one Nation. —Robert White, alias Wolahocremy, Pashaamokas, alias Charles, with Sixteen Men, Twenty Women and Eighteen Children. Kandt, alias Last Night [Tayac], with Nine Men, Ten Women and One Child.”27
Their departure from Pennsylva- nia probably occurred sometime before May of 1754 when Conrad Weiser sent a letter to the Governor stating that the Nanticokes had gone upriver to settle at Otsiningo.28 Otsiningo on the Chenan- go River near Binghamton, NY was con- sidered by the Six Nations Peoples to be the “southern door” to their longhouse. It became a gathering place for refugee Indian peoples who were fleeing the ever-expanding English colonies. But it would not last. The refugee commu- nity at Otsiningo scattered during the turmoil of the American Revolution. General John Sullivan led a destructive campaign through Iroquois territory in 1779, burning Native American crops and villages as his army moved north- ward. Many of the evacuees fled north to the loyalists at Fort Niagara, with several Indian villages springing up around the fort seemingly overnight. A census was taken of the refugee Indian peoples by one Colonel Bolton on December 30th, 1778. This census recorded 120 Nan-
ticoke and 30 Conoy, the Conoy hav- ing recently left the fort.29 Some of the Conoy fled north into Canada while others headed west into the “Old North- west Territory.”30 Eventually those that headed west became a part of the West- ern Indian Confederacy that resisted American expansion into lands north of the Ohio River.
The last historically documented settlement of the Piscataway was situat- ed about 50 miles southwest of Toledo, Ohio amidst a series of villages known as “The Glaize.” There the various member tribes of the Western Indian Confedera- cy gathered while Indian leaders negoti- ated with American forces under Gen- eral Anthony Wayne who were situated near Detroit.31 The Conoy, along with many other indigenous groups signed two letters during the summer of 1793 demanding that the Americans hon- or British agreements setting the Ohio as the boundary of Indian lands. The Conoy, assembled with the other tribes at the foot of the rapids of the Mau- mee River, signed both letters with the symbol of a turkey. The Battle of Fallen Timbers would follow a few months later, in which the Confederacy was decisively defeated and Indian lands north of the Ohio were lost.
Though the historical documenta- tion of the Piscataway/Conoy peoples ends in 1793, their story certainly does not end there. Throughout the period of their migration recounted here, there were those who chose not to leave, or to fall off the trail along the way and return to southern Maryland. In the early 20th century, their descendants, led by Phillip Proctor (Turkey Tayac) began to assert their Native American identity more publicly. Eventually this resulted in a campaign for ‘official’ recog- nition of the Piscataway by the State of Maryland. That campaign came to a successful conclusion on January 9th, 2012 when Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed an executive order declaring that two Piscataway groups be recognized formally as tribes by the State of Maryland.
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