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made up of three bands: the Cedarville Band, the Turtle Band, and the Beaver Band. In Eastern
Woodland tradition, a band is a social and cultural subgroup of a tribe, consisting of several
families. Each Piscataway band is headed by an elected leader and a Council of Elders. All three
bands today are working to preserve Maryland’s indigenous history and the integrity of the
people. We are also a matrilineal society consisting of various family clans.
Members of the Cedarville Band live mainly in mid to lower Prince George’s County and upper
Charles County in southern Maryland. In the early 1970s, the Cedarville Band was very active in
the resurgence of Piscataway culture and identity. During that time, a small, condemned structure
on the outskirts of Waldorf, Maryland was renovated and converted into the American Indian
Cultural Center (AICC), which served as the tribe's cultural and administrative headquarters. The
Center was lead by William A. Proctor, a.k.a. Billy Redwing Tayac, and J. Hugh Proctor
(Cedarville Band), who served as its Director. However, a few years after the renovation, the
AICC was destroyed by fire.
In the mid 1980s, under the leadership of J. Hugh Proctor, the Cedarville Band renovated an
abandoned NIKE military site, which once served to protect Washington, D.C. from incoming
Soviet missiles. However, long before its use by the military (and later as a state park), the area
surrounding the site was used by the Piscataway as its winter hunting grounds. Since many
Piscataway still lived on or very near this land, the tribe's elders agreed that the site was an
appropriate location to rebuild and continue with the mission and purposes of the tribe. With
Piscataway labor and money, the transformation of the main building into a new American Indian
Cultural Center has made possible various programs and activities that would not otherwise be
available to the Piscataway people and other Native Americans.
The Cedarville Band of Piscataway Indians claims about 500 members and is active in improving
and promoting the general welfare of indigenous people through self governance, educational and
economic achievement, and historic and cultural awareness. Since 1982, the Band has sponsored
an annual festival and pow-wow the first weekend in June, and, in 1995, the Piscataway Indian
Museum (located in the AICC) opened its doors to the public for the first time. The AICC hosts
year-round public and private events. Please visit our "Events" page for upcoming activities.
For information or questions about the tribe, please call us at (301) 782-2225 or send us an e-
mail at tribalties@piscatawayindians.org.
