Nacotchtanks The Nacotchtanks are a Native American Algonquian tribe who once lived on land which is now near the National Mall. <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/236">Captain John Smith noted that the village had 80 fighting men in 1608</a>. The Nacotchtanks likely spoke the Piscataway variation of the Nanticoke language. Prominent fur traders, the Nacotchtank village was a <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/246">trading center</a> for other Indian tribes on the East Coast and for European fur hunters. Disease from European settlers took a heavy toll on the tribe. Eventually, they moved to Anacostine Island, today called Theodore Roosevelt Island, in the late 1680s. Over time the tribe merged with other local native groups. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Nacotchtanks">Nacotchtanks</a> John Smith's Map of Virginia, 1624. <span>Library of Congress Geography and Map Division</span>. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/item/99446115">View original image</a>. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Pre-1800s">Pre-1800s</a>