The Mattawoman (also known as Mattawomen) were a group of Native Americans living along the Western Shore of Maryland on the

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at the time of English colonization. They lived along Mattawoman Creek in present-day

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. They were also recorded in the early 17th century by

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

John Smith at

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. He called them ''Pamacocack''. One of the Algonquian language-speaking coastal tribes, the Mattawomen survived in the Chesapeake Bay area until 1735. They were under the loose domination of the paramount

chiefdom A chiefdom is a political organization of people representation (politics), represented or government, governed by a tribal chief, chief. Chiefdoms have been discussed, depending on their scope, as a stateless society, stateless, state (polity) ...

of the Piscataway, also an Algonquian-language tribe.

Relations with Maryland

The Mattawomans had a cordial relationship with the Maryland government. They were once armed, along with the Piscataways and Pamunkeys, with "matchcoats, corn, powder, and shot in return for military help.” Being distrustful of Natives, the Maryland government wanted to ensure loyalty from the Mattawomans. However, relations were not always peaceful because Maryland also took hostages then employed the help of the Mattawomans to translate during interrogations.

Notes

References

*''Maryland: A Colonial History'', p. 22 Eastern Algonquian peoples Extinct Native American tribes Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands Native American history of Maryland Piscataway Native American tribes in Maryland Chesapeake Bay {{NorthAm-native-stub