FAQ:
Q: Can I join the tribe?
No, our tribe is a family. We are all related by Matriarchal bloodline.
We are not a club or an organization just like your family.
Q: Are the Piscataway Federally recognized?
No. We are state recognized. we do not wish to fight a foreign government for the rights to our land or indemnity. We know who we are.
Q: Do Piscataway people pay taxes?
Yes, Piscataway tribal members pay taxes to local and derail government. (Though we shouldn’t have to.)
Q: Who can say the word “Indian”? What word do I use instead? Native American? American Indian? First Nations? Indigenous?
The best to do is ask individuals what they prefer to be called. But Indian and Native American are not correct terms. We do not come from India and are older than America itself. First Nations, indigenous, or being called by your Nation/nationality is more accurate and appropriate.
Q: Do you live in a tipi?
No, Piscataway people lived in rosins homes today known as “Wigwams” or Long houses. Now, we each live through out our homeland in modern homes.
Q. Can we register as a member of the Tribe?
Unfortunately, we do not have the staff or resources to assist you in researching and obtaining the appropriate documents needed for enrollment. No enrollment at this time.
Q. My teacher has assigned us to research the Cherokee Indians, can you help us with some information?
It is not the place of one tribe to interpret the history of another tribe. You should always contact the tribe you’d like information about directly.
Q. I was told my great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian Princess.
The Western Hemisphere Indigenous people did not have or were ruled by kings and/or Queens, therefore there were no princesses or princes.
Q. What kind of activities are sponsored at the cultural center?
Most all programs and or activities sponsored at the cultural center focus on the history and culture of the Chesapeake region. We offer children and adult programs.
Q. Is the cultural center and/or museum open to the public?
Under normal conditions the cultural center is open for educational programs for adults and children. You can check the Piscataway webpage for possible programs for 2021.
Q: Do members of the Piscataway Tribe live on a reservation?
While several reservations were set aside for Maryland’s Indigenous people, the Piscataway people refused to use them and took refuge deep in the forest and swamps.
Q. Did the Piscataway have an agreement (Treaty) with the state?
Yes, there were several treaties written and the Treaties are still binding, although the State does not honor them.
Q. What is recognition?
In 1634 When Europeans began to come to the new world, they were mostly entrepreneurs, and businessmen. The sole initiative was to gain access to the very valuable resources of the “New World”. In the case of Maryland, that resource was tobacco. Although these men traded for other resources, furs, seeds of a variety of foods. However these men came with the funding provided by the king or Queen who ruled over them. In Maryland the businessmen were Dutch, German, and French.
The largest population came from England. Therefore, most trade and conflicts were with the Crown of England.
At this time there were no states nor had the name “America” been applied to the “new”, but very old world.
It was not until the year 1776 when the European war of independence was fought and perceived to have been won did these businessmen call the new world “America”.
However, by this time most Eastern Indigenous people had long been pushed aside with mostly everything we valued and once owned now in the hands of foreigners. It remained a struggle to maintain a presence in our homeland.
This newly created Government was constantly being visited by Indigenous peoples demanding their rights to their land, their treaties, their resources, culture and way of life- which was now being denied because this new government claims there are no Indigenous people ( as Jackson was responsible for removing all Indians East of the Mississippi. if you want to discuss your rights to the land and it’s resources you must first prove your birth