The Chaptico, also known as the Cecomocomoco,
were a group of
Native Americans who lived along the Southwestern shore of the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...
in what is today
St. Mary's County, Maryland
St. Mary's County, established in 1637, is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 113,777. Its county seat is Leonardtown. The name is in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. St. Mary's Count ...
. They were loosely dominated by the
Patuxent in the pre-colonial time. While little is known about their culture, the Chaptico spoke an
Algonquian language Algonquian language may refer to:
* Algonquian languages, language sub-family indigenous to North America
* Algonquin language, an Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language
{{disambiguation ...
that was possibly similar to their Patuxent neighbors, who they absorbed in the 1690s.
Sources
*''Maryland: A Colonial History'' p. 22.
*Maryland.gov
See also
*
Chaptico, Maryland
Chaptico is an unincorporated community in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. It lies on Chaptico Run, which forms a bay as it enters the Wicomico River.
History
''Chaptico'' may be Algonquian for "big-broad-river-it-is" and related ...
, a present-day community in the area
References
Eastern Algonquian peoples
Extinct Native American tribes
Native American tribes in Maryland
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