Before John Smith arrived and even before the glaciers melted to create the Chesapeake Bay, Indigenous Peoples had called the land that is now Maryland home. Indigenous sites in Maryland have been dated as early as 12,000 years ago by archaeologists. Many Indigenous People lived along the then Susquehanna River, using the resources provided by the land. As the Susquehanna’s channel widened and the Chesapeake Bay began to form about 10,000 years ago, a majority of these settlements were inundated by water. The people who lived there moved, often following food resources such as oysters and fish. “The Chesapeake Bay has long been a vital resource for people including Native Americans, especially as the Bay began to form,” said Julia A. King, professor of Anthropology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. “It provides all sorts of seafood. The rising waters created marshlands that sort of acted as a refrigerator by providing animals and plant species that people could use. A lot of native settlements were located near riverine environments and marsh.” Thanks to state and federal grants, a growing relationship with today’s Piscataway descendants, and a strong partnership with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, King has been working with her […]
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