Description
The Choptank (or Ababco) people 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 Choptank were the only Indians on the Eastern Shore to be granted a reservation in fee simple by the English colonial government. The name Choptank is thought to be from the Nanticoke word tshapetank: a stream that separates, or place of big current. The only Indian reservation which the English established in fee simple on the Eastern Shore was the Choptank Indian Reservation in 1669. The last town in Dorchester County occupied by the Choptank was Locust Neck Indian Town, which they left about 1790.
Language
They spoke Nanticoke, an Eastern Algonquian language closely related to Delaware.
Culture
The Choptank tribe was a hunter- gathering society that lived south of the lower Choptank river basin. All of the Choptank's Language and Culture derived from the Nanticoke Indian tribe. While men hunted squirrels, deers, and bears. women planted corn, squash, and tobacco. They gathered berries, nuts, and bird. And during the Summer and winter they fished for oysters, Crabs, and fish.