Ozinie
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Extinct as a tribe | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Maryland | |
| Languages | |
| Eastern Algonquian | |
| Religion | |
| Native American religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nanticoke |
The Ozinie, also known as the Wicomiss,[1] were a group of Native Americans living near modern-day Rock Hall, in Kent County, Maryland.[2] They were hunter-gatherers and fished.[1]
Territory
[edit]They lived in a village near Chester River that flowed in the Chesapeake Bay.[1] They used Eastern Neck Island for shellfishing.[1]
Population
[edit]They had an estimated population of 255 people.[2]
Language
[edit]The Ozinie spoke an Algonquian language and were related to the Nanticoke,[3] another Algonquian-speaking tribe,
17th-century history
[edit]Captain John Smith encountered the Ozinie in 1608.[3] By 1631, William Claiborne, a British colonist in Virginia, maintained a lucrative fur trade with the local tribes. The Ozinies and the Nanticokes fought against the English colonists who encroached upon their lands.[4] By the mid-17th century, the Ozinie, Matapeakes, and Mononposons disappeared from the historical record.[1] The Ozinie assimilated with the neighboring Nanticokes by the 1660s.[3][2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e William B. Cronin, The Disappearing Islands of the Chesapeake, p. 41.
- ^ a b c "Maryland at a Glance: Native Americans". Maryland Manual On-Line. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ William B. Cronin, The Disappearing Islands of the Chesapeake, p. 42.
References
[edit]- Cronin, William B. (2005). The Disappearing Islands of the Chesapeake. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801874352.