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- The Nacotchtank were an indigenous Algonquian people who lived in the area of what is now Washington, D.C. during the 17th century. The Nacotchtank village was within the modern borders of the District of Columbia along the intersection of the Potomac and the Anacostia river. The name Nacotchtank, which exists in several historical variants including Nacostine, Anacostine, Anaquashtank, Nacothtant, Nachatanke, is derived from the word "anaquashatanik", which means "a town of traders." The Nacotchtank were a trading people as they were established on fertile land with the nearby rivers. In his 1608 expedition, English explorer John Smith noted the prosperous Nacotchtank and their great supply of various resources. The Nacotchtank spoke a language within the Algonquian subfamily, a language group whose variants are spoken among many tribes living along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Specifically, the Nacotchtank spoke the Piscataway dialect as they were closely associated with the larger Piscataway Chiefdom of Southern Maryland, whose Tayac or grand chief ruled over a loose confederacy of area tribes. The Nacotchtank paid tribute to the Piscataway chief who resided to the south in the nearby village of Moyaone (present-day Accokeek). Various pieces of art and other cultural artifacts such as hair combs, pendants, and pottery, and dog bones have been found in excavations throughout Washington D.C. on Nacotchtank territory. After the neighboring Province of Maryland began encroaching on Nacotchtank territory in pursuit of land for tobacco plantations, the Nacotchtank were forcibly removed. The Nacotchtank were last recorded in the late 1600s as taking refuge on nearby Theodore Roosevelt Island located in the Potomac River. Over time, the small population that was left behind after battle and disease was absorbed by Maryland’s Piscataway tribe. Current recognition of the tribe takes the form of the latinized version of the name Nacotchtank, Anacostine. (en)
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