Choptank tribe
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (Extinct as a tribe) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Eastern Shore of Maryland | |
| Languages | |
| Nanticoke | |
| Religion | |
| Native religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nanticoke, Delaware |
The Choptank Indian Tribe (or Ababco) was an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe that historically lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on the Delmarva Peninsula. They occupied an area along the lower Choptank River basin, which included parts of present-day Talbot, Dorchester and Caroline counties. The river emptied into the Chesapeake Bay. They spoke Nanticoke, an Eastern Algonquian language closely related to Delaware.
The Choptank were the only Indians on the Eastern Shore to be granted a reservation in fee simple by the English colonial government. They retained the land until 1822, when the state of Maryland sold it, in part to pay for the state's share of the District of Columbia.
The name Choptank is thought to be from the Nanticoke language, the word tshapetank (a stream that separates) or (place of big current).
The Algonquian-speaking Choptank were independent, but they were related in culture and language to the Nanticoke, the larger paramount chiefdom immediately to their south, which was dominant on the Eastern Shore. After the arrival of English colonists, the tribes' histories took different paths. The Choptank maintained good relations with the European settlers. Eventually they were assimilated into the mainstream society through intermarriage. Like many other small tribes, they ceased to exist as a separate entity, although their descendants survive.
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