Ozinie Explained

Group:	Ozinie Wicomiss
Population:	Extinct as a tribe
Popplace:	Maryland
Rels:	Native American religion
Related:	Nanticoke

The Ozinie, also known as the Wicomiss,^[1] were a group of Native Americans living near modern-day Rock Hall, in Kent County, Maryland. They were hunter-gatherers and fished.^[1]

Territory

They lived in a village near Chester River that flowed in the Chesapeake Bay.^[1] They used Eastern Neck Island for shellfishing.^[1]

Population

They had an estimated population of 255 people.

Language

The Ozinie spoke an Algonquian language and were related to the Nanticoke, another Algonquian-speaking tribe,

17th-century history

Captain John Smith encountered the Ozinie in 1608.^[2] By 1631, William Claiborne, a British colonist in Virginia, maintained a lucrative fur trade with the local tribes. The Ozinies and the Nanticokes fought against the English colonists who encroached upon their lands.^[3] By the mid-17th century, the Ozinie, Matapeakes, and Mononposons disappeared from the historical record.^[1] The Ozinie assimilated with the neighboring Nanticokes by the 1660s.^{[2] [4]}

References

• Book: Cronin . William B. . The Disappearing Islands of the Chesapeake . 2005 . Johns Hopkins University Press . Baltimore, MD . 9780801874352 .

Notes and References

1. William B. Cronin, The Disappearing Islands of the Chesapeake, p. 41.
2. Web site: Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge . U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service . 7 April 2023.
3. William B. Cronin, The Disappearing Islands of the Chesapeake, p. 42.
4. Web site: Maryland at a Glance: Native Americans . Maryland Manual On-Line . April 6, 2023.