ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. — This November, St. Mary’s College of Maryland invites the community to honor Indigenous culture through an evening of song, dance and tradition with the Piscataway Nation — Stories, Tradition and Powwow-Style Dance — on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Nancy R. and Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.
Hosted by the college’s Multicultural Programs Office, the event features Mark Tayac and the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers, offering audiences a glimpse into the living heritage of the Piscataway people — one of the first Indigenous nations to meet Capt. John Smith along the Potomac River in 1608.
Through powwow-style performances of drumming, song and storytelling, the group shares the enduring traditions of Maryland’s Native peoples while inviting reflection on their role in the region’s history and culture. A limited number of attendees will be welcomed on stage to join the dancers, an experience organizers describe as both educational and unifying. Volunteers are asked to wear soft-soled, non-scuff footwear to help protect the performance floor.
Admission is free, but ticket registration is required and now open to the public. Registration can be completed through the St. Mary’s College events page.
Location: Nancy R. and Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 47645 College Drive, St. Mary’s City, MD 20686.
Register for your free tickets here.
The Piscataway People: A Living Legacy in Southern Maryland
The Piscataway Nation represents the descendants of a historic confederacy of tribes whose ancestral lands once stretched from the southern tip of St. Mary’s County north through Charles, Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties, and across the Potomac River watershed. Led by a Tayac, or paramount chief, the confederacy played a central role in the region’s early history and diplomacy.
The Piscataway first made contact with Capt. John Smith in 1608 and later with English colonists arriving aboard the Ark and Dove in 1634. Despite centuries of displacement and encroachment, many Piscataway families remained in Southern Maryland, preserving their identity, traditions and communities through farming, fishing and close family ties.
After decades of advocacy by tribal leaders, the State of Maryland formally recognized the Piscataway Conoy Tribe in 2012, reestablishing a government-to-government relationship that acknowledges their enduring presence and cultural contributions to the region.
Credit: YouTube / Paschal Younge
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