Nanticoke

Member of an American Indian people who were inhabiting the mid-Atlantic region of the USA, near Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, by the 17th century. Their language, now extinct, belongs to the Algonquian family. They were known for their hunting, trapping, and fishing skills, and they also farmed. Although granted reservation land by the Maryland colony, white settlers took over their territory, and the Nanticoke dispersed into Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, and parts of Canada. Some joined the Delaware (Lenni Lenape) of New Jersey, forming the Nanticoke-Lenni Lenape. Descendants living in Delaware host an annual powwow and operate the Nanticoke Indian Museum.

The Nanticoke hunted deer with bows and arrows and spears, and fished using spears, nets, and weirs (fish traps). However, after they dispersed, many of the old cultural ways died out.