Piscataway Indian Nation
By John Steinbach
January 2005
Volume 41, Number 1
The Piscataway Indian Nation, located in Charles County near Port Tobacco,
Maryland, are valuable allies in the struggle for Justice and Peace.
Chief Billy Redwing Tayac is a strong leader in the movement for
Indigenous and Human Rights, and has spoken out regularly against
militarism and nuclear madness, and at Washington Peace Center-sponsored
events.
He is a personal friend of Leonard Peltier and a tireless advocate
for Leonard's freedom.
The Piscataways have survived over 500 years of genocide and continue
to observe their traditional ceremonies at the Mayone Burial Grounds,
located in Piscataway National Forest in southern Prince Georges County.
Chief Billy tells of how the Maryland Colonists placed a bounty
literally on the heads of of the Piscataway, paying $20 in gold for
each severed head. The heads were displayed along Indian Head Highway
to terrorize the indigenous population. When bounty hunters demanded
to be paid for scalps rather than entire heads, the Governor decreed
that Indian scalps had to be 'fresh' and still dripping with blood
and called them "Redskins," apparently the origin of the
term.
Chief Tayac refers to Thanksgiving as a 'national day of mourning'.
He points out that, "after the Pilgrims thanked their tribal
friends, they killed them and stole their land. Nevertheless, today
the day is about giving thanks for what you believe in. After dinner,
some of us go up to the Burial Grounds to give thanks to [our ancestors]
who gave us those beliefs."
While many may argue that all this is 'ancient history,' the sad
truth is that Piscataway Nation still faces oppression today.
When I first visited the Piscataway Burial Ground in the mid-1980s,
my wife, Louise Franklin-Ramirez, and I were forced to walk through
a gauntlet of several dozen Maryland State Troopers heavily armed
with automatic rifles.
When Chief Tayac's father, Chief Turkey Tayac, died in the late
1970s, his body was frozen for a year while Congress passed a special
law permitting his burial with the ancestors at Mayone.
More recently, the Tayac family has come under racist attack with
the scurrilous claim that they are "not Indians."
The Piscataway Indian Nation continues a long tradition of welcoming
indigenous people from around the world to Tayac Territory. Over the
years they have hosted numerous gatherings and delegations. Chief
Tayac and his family are known and respected internationally.
Chief Tayac's niece, Gabrielle Tayac, chose for her doctoral dissertation
the Piscataway Nation's oral history. She is now one of the senior
curators of the National Museum of the American Indian.
The Tayacs welcome all persons of good will - including non-indigenous
- to join with them in respectfully observing their traditional gatherings
and socials.
If you would like to find out more about the Piscataway Nation,
please contact the Tayac family at: (301)-932-0808 or visit their
website at:
http://www.piscatawaynation.org
