Maryland tribe works with nonprofit to preserve heritage, save Diamondback Terrapin

Princess Anne, Md. – Accohannock Chief Clarence “Lone Wolf” Tyler stepped out of his truck to a warm, cloudless day in Princess Anne’s Manokin River Park. His “Native Pride” baseball hat shields him from the sun’s glare as he reaches towards his trunk where dozens of native artifacts collected by anthologists as well as his own family members are arranged in neat display cases and boxes.

“My father found these,” he says pointing to a set of stone arrowheads cushioned on a bed of velvet within a wooden box. Tyler pulls In his repertoire of Accohannock artifacts is also a laminated sheet of paper with the diagram of a Diamondback Terrapin’s shell corresponding with the lunar cycle.

The Diamondback Terrapin, almost sacred to a lot of Marylanders, is literally sacred to the Accohannock people. Tyler says the terrapin was once a food source for his people, and the Accohannock used to track the lunar cycle with its patterns.

He and his people are partnering with conservation nonprofit Upstream Alliance, not only to safeguard and preserve their culture and their heritage, but also to save and protect the Diamondback Terrapin.

The project, according to Upstream Alliance President and Founder Don Baugh, aims to bolster “both the population of the turtles as well as to strengthen the connection between the terrapins and the tribe.”

“But most importantly, to do educational outreach to support the tribal heritage,” Baugh said.

In addition to partnering with the Accohannock people, Upstream Alliance works with world-renowned Diamondback Terrapin researcher Dr. Willem Roosenburg to survey terrapin populations. On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Maryland Environmental Service facilitates the Terrapin Education and Research Partnership (TERP) program which partners with local schools to raise terrapin hatchlings before releasing them into the wild. The TERP program is part of Dr. Roosenburg’s terrapin research at Poplar Island.

The terrapins are suffering severe habitat loss due to predators eating vulnerable terrapin hatchlings and increasing levels of land erosion, something the terrapin has in common with the tribe, Upstream Alliance President and Founder Don Baugh says. For centuries, the Accohannock made islands like Smith and Tangier Island home, however more and more tribespeople are leaving.

“People have moved off Smith Island for a variety of reasons, but including the fact that there’s just less land there to support people, they can’t farm like they used to,” Baugh said. Tyler also said a lack of economic prospects are also a factor in why younger tribespeople leave.

“It just seems like our older members is passing on and we can’t replace them. It it’s scary,” Tyler said.

According to Tyler, his people intermarried with white settlers to remain close to their homeland and spare themselves from segregation. Accohannock Council Chairman Jerry “Two Foxes” Wimbrow said, in the 1600s, his people lived on marshland and once lived throughout Maryland’s Eastern Shore and modern-day Accomack County, Virginia. However, Tyler, along with many of his tribespeople, no longer lives on certain ancestral lands.

As of 2017, his tribe is one of three recognized by the state of Maryland. However, the Accohannock and the beloved Maryland Reptile have one thing in common. Their homelands are washing away. Baugh said he thinks it is “symbolic” of the terrapin’s current plight that the Accohannock chief himself moved from Smith Island to Princess Anne.

“At the same time, you’ve got that same issue affecting the Diamondback Terrapins,” he said. “So, you know, they nest on beaches. And first of all, we have to have beaches.”

Wimbrow, who is also a veteran, recently went on a diamondback terrapin survey and says it’s impacted his view on the the ecological chain.

“It’s the circle of life,” he said. “So, if one thing falls out of that link, then there’s maybe a problem for the next link, and it’s just common sense.”

Wimbrow said though he is not “overboard” with conversations surrounding climate change, he said certain visible changes are undeniable. “I’m not a tree hugger,” he said. “But I see things, and I know when the tide gets high, well it’s really high. When it gets low, it’s really low. Like, you can you can look and you can see these things happening.”

For now, Tyler and Wimbrow said the Accohannock people stand ready to engage with the public to share their culture and, alongside those at Upstream Alliance, protect a creature important to all Marylanders.

“It’s just trying to educate the public and put ourselves out there to say who we were and that we’re still here,” Wimbrow said.