Hyattsville Renames Forested Area After Nacotchtank Indians

TThe city of Hyattsville renamed a forested area near Driskell Park after the Native Americans who originally lived there.

The land was formerly known as Magruder Woods, named after the landowner who also donated Magruder Park, which was later renamed for artist David Driskell.

During the discussion around renaming the park due to a racist restriction in the deed, a number of Hyattsville residents had suggested Nacotchtank.

The city worked with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which owns the land, and the Piscataway Indian Nation to rename the land.

The Nacotchtank band of the Piscataway Indian nation lived along the intersection of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers for thousands of years before European contact.

They fished in the rivers; hunted bison, deer, turkey and geese; and grew the “Three Sisters” of corn, beans and squash. They also monopolized the fur trade and were at the center of a trade network with neighboring tribes.

Their name came from the Indian word “anaquashatanik,” which means “a town of traders,” and was also anglicized as “Anacostine,” the origin of the modern river name.

By the 17th century, disease and conflict had reduced the Nacotchtank to a small band living on what is now Theodore Roosevelt Island.

Pete Landeros, a spokesman for the Piscataway, said that the tribe welcomed British “with friendship” and was pleased altho the city was “returning the gesture.”

“May the friendship we begin to forge today grow strong for the mutual benefit of our future generations,” he said.

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