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Mayis, an Indigenous Records Guide
of the Maryland State Archives

Welcome First Nations and Indigenous People
of Maryland and All Visitors

The focus of our first project phase covers the years 1632-1800. Data from the Archives of Maryland Online and Dorchester County Land Records has been updated as of October 2023. Keep an eye out for oral histories with today's Indigenous leaders and educator resources set to debut in 2024.

The Maryland State Archives facilities are situated on the traditional homelands of the Piscataway and Susquehannock Peoples who hold the land and waterways of the Chesapeake Bay region as sacred. We acknowledge that there is a difficult and traumatic history between peoples who colonized these lands and the Tribal Peoples, including those who remain here, those who were forcibly removed from here, or who have come here from other lands in diaspora. As caretakers of the written documents of the Maryland government, our agency has an obligation to be transparent about our government’s colonialism. We are working to amplify the voices of Indigenous communities in the historic record of this entire region. We actively seek opportunities for dialogue with Indigenous Peoples, to ensure that their voices are heard and that they have access to documents about their histories, and our collective histories. We are supporting the efforts of Indigenous peoples to preserve and document their histories within their own communities. We are educating ourselves about the past to enable a more equitable future.

Pocomoke Indian Nation Presenters at National Folk Festival
Photograph taken by John Brinton 
2021
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Bearclaw, artist of the Cherokee Nation from Harford County (center), presents his beaded Maryland flag to Chair Auriel A. Fenwick of the MD Commission on Indian Affairs (left) and to MD Secretary of State John P. McDonough (right) on November 28, 2008 on American Indian Heritage Day.
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Featured Items


New Documents

Data Update

Oral Histories

Educator Resources


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