What is "nacotchtank"

The Nacotchtank were a native Algonquian people who lived in the area of what is now Washington, D.C. during the 17th century. Their principal village (also named Nacotchtank) was situated within the modern borders of the District of Columbia, on the eastern bank of a small river that still bears an anglicised variant of their name — the Anacostia.

The Nacotchtank seem to have been associated with the larger Piscataway, whose Tayac or grand chief ruled over a loose confederacy of area tribes. Another closely related tribe was the Doeg, whose homeland was on what is now the Virginia side of the Potomac, in the area around Fairfax, Prince William, and Stafford counties. All of these groups are thought to have spoken the Piscataway (or similar) variant of the Nanticoke language.