Nanticoke

The Nanticoke, who called themselves Nentego or tidewater people, were an Algonquian people of the Delmarva Peninsula. Their chiefdoms lined the Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers. Captain John Smith met them on his bay voyage of 1608, and the beaver trade drew them into alliance with the English.

In 1668 their emperor Unnacokasimon signed a peace treaty with Maryland, and in 1684 the colony set aside a reservation for them. As settlers pressed in, the tribe bought land at Broad Creek in 1707. In 1744 many Nanticoke obtained Iroquois permission to move to Pennsylvania.

They came under Haudenosaunee protection, sold their last Delmarva lands in 1768, and split during the American Revolution. The pro-British party moved to Fort Niagara in 1778, while another band joined the Lenape and followed their removals through Kansas to Oklahoma.