30 Facts About Susquehannock

Susquehannock people, called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern part of what is New York, through eastern and central Pennsylvania west of the Poconos and the upper Delaware River, with lands extending beyond the mouth of the Susquehanna in Maryland along the west bank of the Potomac at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay.

Campanius' vocabulary contains about 100 words and is sufficient to show that Susquehannock is a Northern Iroquoian language, closely related to those of the Iroquois Confederacy.

The language of the Susquehannock appears to have been closely related to that of the Onondaga Nation.

Susquehannock told Europeans that they originally came from a large river valley to the west.

The Susquehannock claimed to have joined with other peoples once east of the Appalachian Mountains to form their nation.

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Susquehannock had early on allied with the Swedes, who traded Dutch firearms for Susquehannock furs as early as the 1610s.

At this point in time, the Susquehannock were generally opposed to the policies of the new European managers of the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Consequently, the Susquehannock defended themselves from attack in a war declared by the Province of Maryland from 1642 to the 1650s and won it, with help from their Swedish allies.

Susquehannock authority reached a zenith in the early 1670s, after which they suffered an extremely rapid population and authority decline in the mid-1670s, - presumably from infectious diseases such as smallpox.

In 1658, the Susquehannock used their influence with the Esopus to end the Esopus Wars, because that conflict interfered with important Susquehannock-Dutch trade relations.

From 1658 to 1662, the Susquehannock were at war with the powerful Haudenosaunee Confederacy which was seeking new hunting grounds for the fur trade.

In 1663, the Susquehannock defeated a large Haudenosaunee Confederacy invasion force.

In 1672, the Susquehannock defeated another Haudenosaunee Confederacy war party.

In 1675 the Susquehannock suffered a major defeat by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Susquehannock suffered from getting caught up in Bacon's Rebellion the following year.

When five Susquehannock Chiefs came out of their village to negotiate with the colonial militias of Maryland and Virginia, the colonial militias murdered the five Susquehannock Chiefs.

The Susquehannock left their own village at night and harassed colonists in the colonies of Virginia and Maryland.

Around 1679, most of the remaining Susquehannock moved to New York, joining mostly with the Seneca and Onondaga nations, who spoke Iroquoian languages.

Some Susquehannock returned to their homeland on the southern shores of the Susquehanna River, keeping their distance from the center of Iroquois territory.

Some Susquehannock survivors merged with the Meherrin, and allied Nottoway or Mangoac, Iroquoian-speaking tribes located in what were then the colonies of Virginia and North Carolina.

Susquehannock negotiated a treaty with English colonists to enable their settlement in the Conestoga homeland.

Susquehannock society was a confederacy of up to 20 smaller tribes, who occupied scattered villages along the Susquehanna River.

Susquehannock remained independent and not part of any other confederacy into the 1670s.

The Susquehannock villages were palisaded so that enemies could not easily attack the village longhouses.

The cut of the hair of the Susquehannock man pictured shows a hairstyle similar but different from that of the Haudenosaunee.

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The length and navigability of this river via canoe would have allowed the Susquehannock to be a powerful regional force and to have strong internal trade routes between sub-tribes and clans.

Susquehannock villages were likely traditionally built on top of ridges of the Appalachian Mountains when such ridges were available.

The Susquehannock lived in settled villages and were not known to be nomadic.

The Susquehannock likely practiced sylvan agriculture like the other Native Nations of the East of Turtle Island.

All other Iroquoian peoples put great stock in dreams and the Susquehannock are likely to have thought dreams to be important too.