Susquehannock
Encyclopedia
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
and its tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
from the southern part of what is now New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, through Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, to the mouth of the Susquehanna in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
. Evidence of their habitation has also been found in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
.
The people were called:
- Andastes by the FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(adapted from the Huron name Andastoerrhonon, meaning "people of the blackened ridge pole); - Minquas by the DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and SwedesSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, adapted from the AlgonquianAlgonquian languagesThe Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
Lenape/DelawareLenapeThe Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
ethnonymEthnonymAn ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms or endonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for...
for their traditional enemy, which meant "treacherous"; - Susquehannock by the English of MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(adapted from Sasquesahanough, the name told to Captain John Smith by his PowhatanPowhatan languagePowhatan or Virginia Algonquian is an extinct language belonging to the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian languages. It was spoken by the Powhatan people of tidewater Virginia. It became extinct around the 1790s after speakers switched to English. The sole documentary evidence for this...
-speaking interpreter, translating to "people at the falls" or "muddy water people," due to the Susquehanna River nearby. ; and - Conestogas by the English of PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(adapted from Kanastoge ("place of the immersed pole"), the name of a Susquehanna village in Pennsylvania).
There is no record of the Susquehannock autonym, i.e. what they called themselves.
History
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
) Five Nations
Five Nations
Five Nations can refer to:* The original five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, a union of Native Americans* The Five Nations Championship in rugby union, now the Rugby Union Six Nations Championship...
. Europeans seldom visited this inland region during the early colonial period. It is likely that the Susquehannock had occupied the same land for several hundred years.
Archeologists have found evidence of the people on the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
and its tributaries, artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
which they have classified as the "late Susquehannock sequence". Materials have been found in Pennsylvania, and Maryland's Allegany County
Allegany County, Maryland
Allegany County is a county located in the northwestern part of the US state of Maryland. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 75,087. Its county seat is Cumberland...
at the Barton (18AG3) and Llewellyn (18AG26) sites. West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
's Grant
Grant County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,299 people, 4,591 households, and 3,273 families residing in the county. The population density was 24 people per square mile . There were 6,105 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
, Hampshire
Hampshire County, West Virginia
Hampshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,964. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town . Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties ...
and Hardy counties region (Brashler 1987) possess archaeological sites having Susquehannock ceramics. A Contact Period (1550~1630) Susquehanna site, 46Hy89, is located in the Eastern Panhandle at Moorefield, West Virginia
Moorefield, West Virginia
Moorefield is a town in Hardy County, West Virginia, USA. Moorefield is the county seat of Hardy County. It was originally chartered in 1777 and named for Conrad Moore, who owned the land upon which the town was laid out...
.
When Captain John Smith of Jamestown
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
met them in 1608, they had a formidable village in the lower river valley near present-day Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
. Captain Smith wrote of the Susquehannock, "They can make neere 600 able and mighty men, and are pallisadoed in their Townes to defend them from the Massawomekes their mortall enimies." He was astonished to find the Susquehannock were brokering trade with French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
goods. He estimated the population of their village to be 2,000, although he never visited it.
The French explorer Samuel Champlain noted the Susquehannock in his Voyages of Samuel Champlain; in 1615, he called one of their 20 villages, Carantouan. It was located on the upper Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
near present-day New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state. It rallied more than 800 warriors with two other villages, Champlain reported. Modern estimates of their population, including the whole territory in 1600, range as high as 7,000 people.
Subtribes were little known; they included the Akhrakouaeronon
Akhrakouaeronon
The Akhrakouaeronon or Atrakouaehronon were a subtribe of the Susquehannock. They lived in present-day Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. Their principal village was Atrakwaye....
. The French name Andaste, from Andastoerrhonon, may refer to another subtribe. Possible related tribes include the Scahentoarrhonon
Scahentoarrhonon
The Scahentoarrhonon or Scahentowanenrhonon were a little-known indigenous people of North America originally from the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, which they called Scahentowanen .-History:...
, Onojutta-Haga
Onojutta-Haga
The Onojutta-Haga or Juniata people were natives of areas adjacent to the Juniata River and its tributaries in the southern part of what is now Pennsylvania.-History:...
and the Tehotitachsae
Tehotitachsae
The Tehotitachsae were an indigenous people of North America originally from Bradford County, Pennsylvania.Their principal village, Gohontoto, was on the site of the present Borough of Wyalusing.-History:...
.
During the early colonialization of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
, the Susquehannock traded furs with the Dutch. As early as 1623, they were struggling to get past the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(later known as the Delaware) along the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
to trade with the Dutch at New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
. In 1634, The Susquehannock defeated the Delaware, who may have become tributaries. In 1638, Swedish settlers established New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
in the Delaware Valley
Delaware Valley
The Delaware Valley is a term used to refer to the valley where the Delaware River flows, along with the surrounding communities. This includes the metropolitan area centered on the city of Philadelphia. Such educational institutions as Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township...
, at a location enabling them to intercept the Susquehannock fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
with the Dutch.
In 1642, the English Province of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
declared war on the Susquehannock. With the help of the Swedes, the Susquehannock defeated the English in 1644. The Susquehannock were in an inactive state of war with Maryland until 1652. As a result, they traded almost exclusively with New Sweden. In 1652 they concluded a peace treaty with Maryland. In return for arms and safety on their southern flank, they ceded to Maryland large territories on both shores of the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
.
During the Beaver Wars
Beaver Wars
The Beaver Wars, also sometimes called the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars, commonly refers to a series of conflicts fought in the mid-17th century in eastern North America...
of the 1650s, for a period the Susquehannocks formed an alliance with the Province of Maryland, receiving rifles and other European weapons to fight off the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
Confederacy. They were successful in doing so and a brief peace followed.
In 1658, the Susquehannock used their influence with the Esopus
Esopus tribe
The Esopus tribe was a tribe of Lenape Native Americans who were native to Upstate New York.The tribe fought a series of conflicts against settlers from the New Netherland Colony from September 1659 to September 1663, known as the Esopus Wars...
to end the Esopus Wars
Esopus Wars
The Esopus Wars were two localized conflicts between Dutch settlers and the Esopus tribe of Lenape Indians during the latter half of the 17th century in what is now Ulster County, New York. Like many other wars during the colonial period, at bottom they were the result of competition between...
, because that conflict interfered with the important trade with the Dutch. From 1658 to 1662, the Susquehannock were at war with the powerful Iroquois confederacy to the north, which was trying to dominate the fur trade. By 1661, Maryland's treaty of peace was expanded to a full alliance between the Maryland colonists and the Susquehannock against the Iroquois. Besides goods and arms, fifty Englishmen were assigned to the Susquehannock to guard their fort.
In 1663, a large Iroquois invasion force was defeated at the home fort of the Susquehannock. In April 1663, the Susquehannock village on the upper Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
was also attacked by Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga (JR: 48:7-79, NYCD 12:431).
In 1669-70, John Lederer
John Lederer
John Lederer was a 17th-century German physician and an explorer of the Appalachian Mountains. He and the members of his party became the first Europeans to crest the Blue Ridge Mountains and the first to see the Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains beyond...
's guide was a Susquehanna on his journey to the south west Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
(Mooney 1894:32). Paula W. Wallace writes, "In 1669 Iroquois Indians warned the French that if they tried to descend the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
they would be in danger from the "Andastes." (Susquesahanocks: Wallace 1961:13).
In 1672, the Susquehannock defeated an Iroquois war party. The Iroquois appealed to the French for support because the Iroquois could not "defend themselves if the others came to attack them in their villages". Some old histories indicate that the Iroquois defeated the Susquehannock, but no record of a defeat has been found.
In 1675 the Susquehannock suffered a major defeat when they again waged war with the Iroquois Confederacy. English colonists invited the Susquehannock to resettle in Maryland, where they relocated because of pressure from the Iroquois. They became embroiled in Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion was an uprising in 1676 in the Virginia Colony in North America, led by a 29-year-old planter, Nathaniel Bacon.About a thousand Virginians rose because they resented Virginia Governor William Berkeley's friendly policies towards the Native Americans...
the following year. After some Doeg
Doeg (tribe)
The Doeg were a Native American tribe who lived in northern Virginia. They spoke an Algonquian language and may have been a branch of the Nanticoke tribe, historically based on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The Nanticoke considered the Algonquian Lenape as "grandfathers"...
Indians killed some Virginians, Virginians crossed into Maryland and killed Susquehannock in retaliation. Virginia militia in alliance with Maryland militia surrounded the Susquehannock village on the Potomac. The Susquehannock held out for six weeks.
Virginia's governor was overthrown by Nathaniel Bacon, who promised to exterminate the Susquehannock. Instead he attacked some friendly Occaneechee.
Governor Edmund Andros
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in North America. Andros was known most notably for his governorship of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. He also governed at various times the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and...
of the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
told the Susquehannock they would be welcome in New York and that he would protect them from Maryland and Virginia. The Mohawk Nation
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
invited them to move to New York as guests of the Iroquois. Some moved to their homeland on the Susquehanna River, some fled to the Iroquois for shelter, and others moved to the upper Delaware River under the protection of New York.
In 1677, however, New York ordered the Susquehannock to be expelled from the Delaware Valley. After adopting the majority of the Susquehannock, the Iroquois acquired a right to most of the Susquehanna River, but they never claimed below the falls. Southwesterly, the remnant Susquehanna and Meherrin
Meherrin
The Meherrin Nation is one of eight state-recognized Nations of Native Americans in North Carolina. They reside in rural northeastern North Carolina, near the river of the same name on the Virginia-North Carolina border. They received formal state recognition in 1986. The Meherrin have an...
, and allied Nottoway
Nottoway
- Geographic Regions :* Nottoway River, a river in Virginia* Nottoway County, a county of Virginia* Nottoway, Virginia, an unincorporated community- Namesakes :* USS Nottoway, renamed , a harbour tug of the United States Navy between 1898–1946....
or Mangoac, the Iroquoian stock of the Virginias called themselves Chiroenhaka according to James Mooney. There is of late archaeological evidence of Susquehannock movement into and habitation such as the Mouth of the Seneca
Seneca Rocks
Seneca Rocks is a large crag and local landmark in Pendleton County in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, USA. It is easily visible and accessible along West Virginia Route 28 near U.S. Route 33 in the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest...
(46Pd1) and Pancake
Pancake, West Virginia
Pancake is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Pancake is located on Pancake Road , once connecting to South Branch River Road across the South Branch Potomac River. Pancake was once a stop along the South Branch Valley Railroad and is named for the...
Island (46Hm73) villages according to Bryan Ward, 2009, West Virginia Division of Culture and History.
Over the next hundred years, the Susquehannock population was devastated by the ravages of new Eurasian infectious diseases, which were endemic among the Europeans, and warfare. The remaining Susquehannock, numbering only a few hundred, settled in a new village in Lancaster County called Conestoga Town. They lived under the protection of the provincial government of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth, but their population declined steadily. In 1763, a census counted only twenty-two people in Conestoga Town. That year the Paxton Boys
Paxton Boys
The Paxton Boys were a vigilante group who murdered 20 Susquehannock in events collectively called the Conestoga Massacre. Scots-Irish frontiersmen from central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River formed a vigilante group to retaliate against local American Indians in the aftermath of the...
, in response to Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's War, Pontiac's Conspiracy, or Pontiac's Rebellion was a war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the...
on the western frontier, attacked the village.
The Paxton Boys slaughtered six people at Conestoga. The remaining Indians were taken to a Lancaster workhouse for protection by the Commonwealth. The governor found the acts unacceptable and discouraged any further violence. Two weeks later, the Paxton Boys
Paxton Boys
The Paxton Boys were a vigilante group who murdered 20 Susquehannock in events collectively called the Conestoga Massacre. Scots-Irish frontiersmen from central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River formed a vigilante group to retaliate against local American Indians in the aftermath of the...
killed the remaining 14 people at the workhouse. Clb5273 (talk) 23:50, 16 October 2011 (UTC)
The Susquehannock appear to have been a confederacy of at least five tribes with more than 20 villages, the names of which unfortunately have been lost.
Language
The Susquehannocks were an Iroquoian-speaking people. Little of the Susquehannock language has been preserved. Almost the only source is a Vocabula Mahakuassica compiled by the Swedish missionaryMissionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
Johannes Campanius during the 1640s. Campanius's vocabulary contains only about 100 words, but it is sufficient to show that Susquehannock was a northern Iroquoian language, closely related to those of the Five Nations
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
. Huron or Wyandot, was the language of the Susquehannock people, which is part of the Iroquoian language family
Footnotes
Huron or Wyandot, was the language of the Susquehannock people, which is part of the Iroquoian language family.External links
- "Where are the Susquehannock?" at The Susquehannock Fire Ring
- "Susquehannock History" by Lee Sultzman
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Conestoga
- http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/susquehannock/index.htm