Today is Maryland Day – on this day, more than 380 years ago, 150 English settlers stepped off two boats, the Dove and the Ark, and onto the uninhabited shores of St. Clement’s Island on the Potomac. The settlers planted a cross, performed mass, and gave thanks for a successful journey. But, half a mile north of St. Clement’s, thousands of people, members of different Indians tribes, already populated present-day Maryland. What did the “Maryland Day” landing mean for those who had already been living there for centuries?
With Sheilah to talk about that side of Maryland history is Helen Rountree, anthropologist and co-author of a new book, Indians of Southern Maryland.