Piscataway Tribe - Revitalization: 20th Century To Present

Revitalization: 20th Century To Present

Phillip Sheridan Proctor, later known as Turkey Tayac, was born in 1895. Proctor revived the use of the title tayac, a hereditary office which he claimed had been handed down to him. Turkey Tayac was instrumental in the revival of American Indian culture among Piscataway and other Indian descendants throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. He was allied with the American Indian Movement Project for revitalization.

Chief Turkey Tayac was a prominent figure in the early and mid-twentieth century cultural revitalization movements. His leadership inspired tribes other than the Piscataway, and revival has also occurred among other Southeastern American Indian communities. These include the Lumbee, Nanticoke, and Powhatan of the Atlantic coastal plain. Assuming the traditional leadership title "tayac" during an era when American Indian identity was being regulated to some extent by blood quantum, outlined in the Indian Reorganization Act, Chief Turkey Tayac organized a movement for American Indian peoples that gave priority to their self-identification.

"There are still Indian people in southern Maryland, living without a reservation in the vicinity of US 301 between La Plata and Brandywine. They are formally organized into several groups, all bearing the Piscataway name."

After Chief Turkey Tayac died in 1978, the Piscataway split into the Piscataway Conoy Confederacy and Subtribes (PCCS), the Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians, and the Piscataway Indian Nation. These three organizations have disagreed over seeking state and federal tribal recognition, developing casinos on their land if recognition were gained, and over which groups were legitimately Piscataway.

Two organized Piscataway groups have formed:

• Piscataway Indian Nation and Tayac Territory headed by Billy Redwing Tayac, indigenous rights activist and son of the late Chief Turkey Tayac;
• Piscataway Conoy Tribe, which is split between two tribal entities:
  • Piscataway Conoy Confederacy and Sub-Tribes
  • Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians, led by Natalie Proctor.

In the 1990s, the State of Maryland appointed a panel of anthropologists, genealogists, and historians to review primary sources related to Piscataway genealogy. The panel concluded that some contemporary self-identified Piscataway descended from the historic Piscataway.

In 1996 the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs (MCIA) suggested granting state recognition to the Picataway Conoy Confederacy and Subtribes. Critics were concerned about some of the development interests that backed the Piscataway Conoy campaign, and feared gaming interests. (Since the late twentieth century, many recognized tribes have established casinos and gaming entertainment on their reservations to raise revenues.) Gov. Parris Glendening, who was opposed to gambling, denied the tribe's request.

In 2004, Governor Bob Ehrlich also denied the Piscataway Conoy's renewed attempt for state recognition, stating that they failed to prove that they were descendants of the historical Piscataway Indians, as required by state law. Throughout this effort, the Piscataway-Conoy stated they had no intent to build and operate casinos.

In December 2011, the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs stated that the Piscataway had provided adequate documentation of their history and recommended recognition. On January 9, 2012, Gov. Martin O'Malley issued executive orders recognizing all three Piscataway groups as Native American tribes. As part of the agreement that led to recognition, the tribes renounced any plans to launch gambling enterprises, and the executive orders state that the tribes do not grant any special "gambling privileges".