Turkey Tayac
Encyclopedia
Turkey Tayac, legally Philip Sheridan Proctor (1895–1978), Piscataway
Indian leader and herbal doctor; he was notable in Native American
activism
for tribal and cultural revival in the twentieth century. He had some knowledge of the Piscataway language and was consulted by the Algonquian
linguist, Ives Goddard
, as well as Julian Granberry.
and also worked for the Internal Revenue Service
.
The history of slavery and the post-Reconstruction environment had led to 19th-century legislation across the South
creating racial segregation and more rigid binary classifications of society into "white" and "black" - the latter essentially meaning all other. With states' enforcement of the "one-drop rule
" (carried to extremes in Virginia), anyone with discernible African ancestry was classified as "negro
," "mulatto
," or "black
," thereby discounting any other ancestry. Although a few families identified as Piscataway Indians into the early 1900s, prevailing racist attitudes tended to classify mixed-race people as black. Throughout most of the nineteenth century, the US census had no provision for classification of Indians. Census takers might classify them as free people of color
, or mulatto
, or black
. The loss of information about Native American individuals added to the perception that the tribes and people had faded away.
Maryland dissolved the Native American
reservations it had assigned in the eighteenth century. State and federal census records classified the Piscataway and any mixed-race people as "free negro" or "mulatto
", adding to the breakdown of identity. While the Piscataway were enumerated as "mulatto
s" in state and federal census records, Catholic
parish records and ethnographic reports continued to identify certain families as Indian.
In the 20th century, social scientists studied the "We-sorts
" (also known as Wesorts) to see if there were remnants of Native American culture. They were so distinct as a group that they sat together in the local Catholic Church, between the whites and the blacks, in a time of public segregation. Recognizing their unique heritage and the fact that some communities had married within to maintain cultural identity, sociologists called such groups "tri-racial isolates", identifying numerous such communities across the South.
in France as a part of the Rainbow Division, originally made up of National Guard units to mobilize quickly. He was nearly killed by mustard gas.
In 1911, in an article on the Piscataway tribe, the Catholic Encyclopedia
noted that the few contemporary people who claimed to be Piscataway were "negro mongrels". This was an indication of how prominently the society used race to define identity; under racial segregation and application of the "one-drop rule
", the states defined being of African descent as overriding other ancestry in the binary system.
Turkey Tayac was a notable figure in the early and mid-twentieth century cultural revitalization movements among remnant Southeastern Native American
communities, including the Lumbee
, Nanticoke
, and Powhatan
Indians of the Atlantic coastal plain. Their efforts were curtailed by the Great Depression
and World War II
.
Under the federal Indian Reorganization Act
, persons wanting to register as one of the Native American tribes had to prove a certain amount of descent, related to individuals on the Dawes Rolls
- a requirement known as blood quantum. (Since then, many recognized tribes have established their blood quantum and other requirements for membership. They frequently relate to proving direct descent from individuals identified as Indian in certain official records.)
Turkey Tayac started using a new name as he organized a movement for Native American
peoples that privileged self-ascriptive forms of identification. In one of their projects in the 1960s, the Piscataway issued identification cards to Native American
s, rather than have tribes apply to and rely on state and federal bureaucracies to issue them on their behalf.
, part of his dedication to seeking social justice
. Turkey Tayac was a Roman Catholic throughout his life, and was active in the Catholic Veterans of America.
Turkey Tayac was interviewed by ethnographers, including T. Dale Stewart, John Harrington
, Frank G. Speck, William H. Gilbert, and Lucille St. Hoyme -- who studied evidence for Native American
survival in regions where it was thought that Native Americans
had long since vanished.
Turkey Tayac was particularly concerned with Moyaone, also called the Accokeek Creek Site
. The archeological site shows indigenous human habitation from about 1300 CE to 1630 CE, including the time of the historic Piscataway. It was designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1966 and is located within Piscataway Park
, part of the National Park system administered by the National Park Service
. Some of the land had been purchased in 1928 by Henry and Alice Ferguson from Philip Proctor's mother and her second husband, after his father had died.
After Alice died in 1951, Ferguson established the Alice Ferguson Foundation to protect the environment. In the 1960s, the Foundation made plans to donate much of the property to the National Park Service for protection. It is across the Potomac River from Mt. Vernon. Other property, known as the Hard Bargain Farm, is run by the Ferguson Foundation.
Tayac supported the formation in the 1960s of Piscataway National Park. The rise of the American Indian Movement
in the 1970s increased interest in Turkey Tayac's attempts to reorganize the tribe. Along with his son Billy Redwing Tayac and Avery Lewis, a Pima
supporter, in 1974 Turkey Tayac incorporated a non-profit organization, the "Piscataway-Conoy Indians."
Eventually, the Piscataway-Conoy Indians, Inc. opened the Piscataway Indian Center. They wanted to use it as a place to revitalize American Indian identity for people of Piscataway heritage, and for others of Native American
descent in the region.
In 1978, Turkey Tayac was diagnosed with leukemia
. His family worked with Congressional and Senate representatives to gain permission for Proctor to be buried at the park. Senator Paul Sarbanes
attached an amendment to unrelated legislation to achieve this. It was opposed by the Alice Ferguson Foundation, which had donated land for the park. In 1979, Turkey Tayac was buried in the ossuary
site at Moyaone.
Since 1978, the Piscataway have divided into three organized groups, strong enough to take different directions. None has yet been recognized officially by the state or federal government.
Piscataway (tribe)
The Piscataway are a subtribe of the Conoy Native American tribe of Maryland. At one time, they were one of the most populous and powerful Native polities of the Chesapeake Bay region. They spoke Algonquian Piscataway, a dialect of Nanticoke...
Indian leader and herbal doctor; he was notable in Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
for tribal and cultural revival in the twentieth century. He had some knowledge of the Piscataway language and was consulted by the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The 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...
linguist, Ives Goddard
Ives Goddard
Robert Hale Ives Goddard, III is curator emeritus in the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. He is widely considered the leading expert on the Algonquian languages and the larger Algic language family.-Early life and education:Ives...
, as well as Julian Granberry.
Career
Spanning a many-decade career, Proctor was a Native American activist who had served during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and also worked for the Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
.
Background
A combination of factors had influenced the descendants of the Piscataway and other tribes in the Southeast. The tribe had been decimated by the early eighteenth century by infectious disease, and warfare with other tribes and the colonists. They had lost their land through colonial encroachment. Their last mention in historical records was at a 1793 conference in Detroit. Remnant Piscataway in Maryland merged with other tribes; others intermarried with both white and black neighbors and assimilated to various degrees.The history of slavery and the post-Reconstruction environment had led to 19th-century legislation across the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
creating racial segregation and more rigid binary classifications of society into "white" and "black" - the latter essentially meaning all other. With states' enforcement of the "one-drop rule
One-drop rule
The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States for the social classification as black of individuals with any African ancestry; meaning any person with "one drop of black blood" was considered black...
" (carried to extremes in Virginia), anyone with discernible African ancestry was classified as "negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
," "mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
," or "black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
," thereby discounting any other ancestry. Although a few families identified as Piscataway Indians into the early 1900s, prevailing racist attitudes tended to classify mixed-race people as black. Throughout most of the nineteenth century, the US census had no provision for classification of Indians. Census takers might classify them as free people of color
Free people of color
A free person of color in the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, is a person of full or partial African descent who was not enslaved...
, or mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
, or black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
. The loss of information about Native American individuals added to the perception that the tribes and people had faded away.
Maryland dissolved the Native American
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...
reservations it had assigned in the eighteenth century. State and federal census records classified the Piscataway and any mixed-race people as "free negro" or "mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
", adding to the breakdown of identity. While the Piscataway were enumerated as "mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
s" in state and federal census records, Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
parish records and ethnographic reports continued to identify certain families as Indian.
In the 20th century, social scientists studied the "We-sorts
We-Sorts
We-Sorts is a name for a group of Native Americans in Maryland who are from the Piscataway tribe. Piscataways have always claimed to be Native American people. The Piscataway were powerful at the time of European encounter...
" (also known as Wesorts) to see if there were remnants of Native American culture. They were so distinct as a group that they sat together in the local Catholic Church, between the whites and the blacks, in a time of public segregation. Recognizing their unique heritage and the fact that some communities had married within to maintain cultural identity, sociologists called such groups "tri-racial isolates", identifying numerous such communities across the South.
Rise to leadership
Turkey Tayac fought in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in France as a part of the Rainbow Division, originally made up of National Guard units to mobilize quickly. He was nearly killed by mustard gas.
In 1911, in an article on the Piscataway tribe, the Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
noted that the few contemporary people who claimed to be Piscataway were "negro mongrels". This was an indication of how prominently the society used race to define identity; under racial segregation and application of the "one-drop rule
One-drop rule
The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States for the social classification as black of individuals with any African ancestry; meaning any person with "one drop of black blood" was considered black...
", the states defined being of African descent as overriding other ancestry in the binary system.
Turkey Tayac was a notable figure in the early and mid-twentieth century cultural revitalization movements among remnant Southeastern Native American
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...
communities, including the Lumbee
Lumbee
The Lumbee belong to a state recognized Native American tribe in North Carolina. The Lumbee are concentrated in Robeson County and named for the primary waterway traversing the county...
, Nanticoke
Nanticoke Indian Tribe
The Nanticoke people are an indigenous American Algonquian people, whose traditional homelands are in Chesapeake Bay and Delaware. Today they live in the northeast United States, especially Delaware; in Canada; and in Oklahoma.-History:...
, and Powhatan
Powhatan
The Powhatan is the name of a Virginia Indian confederation of tribes. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 of these native Powhatan people in eastern Virginia when the English settled Jamestown in 1607...
Indians of the Atlantic coastal plain. Their efforts were curtailed by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Under the federal Indian Reorganization Act
Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 the Indian New Deal, was U.S. federal legislation that secured certain rights to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives...
, persons wanting to register as one of the Native American tribes had to prove a certain amount of descent, related to individuals on the Dawes Rolls
Dawes Rolls
The Dawes Rolls were created by the Dawes Commission. The Commission, authorized by United States Congress in 1893, was required to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes to convince them to agree to an allotment plan and dissolution of the reservation system...
- a requirement known as blood quantum. (Since then, many recognized tribes have established their blood quantum and other requirements for membership. They frequently relate to proving direct descent from individuals identified as Indian in certain official records.)
Turkey Tayac started using a new name as he organized a movement for Native American
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...
peoples that privileged self-ascriptive forms of identification. In one of their projects in the 1960s, the Piscataway issued identification cards to Native American
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...
s, rather than have tribes apply to and rely on state and federal bureaucracies to issue them on their behalf.
Cultural reclamation
Along with his tribal responsibilities, Turkey Tayac was also an active participant in the Bonus ArmyBonus Army
The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand immediate cash-payment redemption of their service certificates...
, part of his dedication to seeking social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
. Turkey Tayac was a Roman Catholic throughout his life, and was active in the Catholic Veterans of America.
Turkey Tayac was interviewed by ethnographers, including T. Dale Stewart, John Harrington
John Peabody Harrington
John Peabody Harrington was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the native peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of which has remained unpublished: the shelf space in the Library of Congress dedicated to his work...
, Frank G. Speck, William H. Gilbert, and Lucille St. Hoyme -- who studied evidence for Native American
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...
survival in regions where it was thought that Native Americans
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...
had long since vanished.
Turkey Tayac was particularly concerned with Moyaone, also called the Accokeek Creek Site
Accokeek Creek Site
Accokeek Creek Site, also known as Moyaone, is an archaeological site in Prince George's County, Maryland.According to the National Park Service, "Occupied intermittently from about 2000 BC, this site, on a low sandy Potomac River terrace opposite Mount Vernon, is remarkable for its variety and...
. The archeological site shows indigenous human habitation from about 1300 CE to 1630 CE, including the time of the historic Piscataway. It was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1966 and is located within Piscataway Park
Piscataway Park
Piscataway Park, located southwest of downtown Washington, D.C., near Accokeek, Maryland, protects Marshall Hall and the National Colonial Farm. The park is located across the Potomac River from George Washington's Mount Vernon estate....
, part of the National Park system administered by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. Some of the land had been purchased in 1928 by Henry and Alice Ferguson from Philip Proctor's mother and her second husband, after his father had died.
After Alice died in 1951, Ferguson established the Alice Ferguson Foundation to protect the environment. In the 1960s, the Foundation made plans to donate much of the property to the National Park Service for protection. It is across the Potomac River from Mt. Vernon. Other property, known as the Hard Bargain Farm, is run by the Ferguson Foundation.
Tayac supported the formation in the 1960s of Piscataway National Park. The rise of the American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
in the 1970s increased interest in Turkey Tayac's attempts to reorganize the tribe. Along with his son Billy Redwing Tayac and Avery Lewis, a Pima
Pima
The Pima are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, "Akimel O'odham", means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham and the Hia C-ed O'odham...
supporter, in 1974 Turkey Tayac incorporated a non-profit organization, the "Piscataway-Conoy Indians."
Eventually, the Piscataway-Conoy Indians, Inc. opened the Piscataway Indian Center. They wanted to use it as a place to revitalize American Indian identity for people of Piscataway heritage, and for others of Native American
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...
descent in the region.
In 1978, Turkey Tayac was diagnosed with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
. His family worked with Congressional and Senate representatives to gain permission for Proctor to be buried at the park. Senator Paul Sarbanes
Paul Sarbanes
Paul Spyros Sarbanes , a Democrat, is a former United States Senator who represented the state of Maryland. Sarbanes was the longest-serving senator in Maryland history, having served from 1977 until 2007. He did not seek re-election in 2006, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Ben Cardin...
attached an amendment to unrelated legislation to achieve this. It was opposed by the Alice Ferguson Foundation, which had donated land for the park. In 1979, Turkey Tayac was buried in the ossuary
Ossuary
An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...
site at Moyaone.
Since 1978, the Piscataway have divided into three organized groups, strong enough to take different directions. None has yet been recognized officially by the state or federal government.
External links
- Piscataway Indian Nation home page
- "Piscataway", Catholic Encyclopedia