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Concept
Susquehannock
Summary
The Susquehannock, also known as the Conestoga, were an Iroquoian people who lived in the Susquehanna River watershed in what is now Pennsylvania. Their name means “people of the muddy river.”
The Susquehannock were first described by John Smith, who explored the upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay in 1608. The Susquehannock became active in the fur trade, and were the target of intermittent attacks by the Iroquois. By 1675, their population had declined sharply as a result of disease and conflict. A remnant group of Susquehannock later established a settlement on the Conestoga River in present day Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Their population, however, continued to decline, and in 1763 the last members of this community were massacred by the vigilante group known as the Paxton Boys. Some living descendants of the Susquehannock are enrolled in the Seneca–Cayuga Nation in Oklahoma, however, the Susquehannock as a people and their language are considered extinct.
The Susquehannock lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries. Their territory ranged from the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in New York, though eastern Pennsylvania west of the Pocono Mountains, and south to Chesapeake Bay. At the time of European contact, their center of population was in the lower Susquehanna River valley. Archaeological evidence also exists for a brief period of Susquehannock settlement in the upper Potomac River valley in what is now Maryland and West Virginia.
To the north of Susquehannock territory were the Iroquois who lived in the Finger Lakes region, while to the east were the Lenape in the Delaware River valley. To the south, the Susquehannock were in contact with the Piscataway in the Potomac River watershed, and with the Nanticoke who lived on the east side of the Chesapeake.
Susquehannock language
The Susquehannock were an Iroquoian speaking people. Little of their language has been preserved. The chief source is the Vocabula Mahakuassica compiled by the Swedish missionary Johannes Campanius during the 1640s.
Official source
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