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MARYLAND (FOX 5 DC) - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed a bill on Tuesday to officially rename Indian Head Highway to Piscataway Highway.
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Upon hearing the news, Chief Jesse James Swann Jr of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe issued the following statement to FOX 5:
"Chief Jesse James Swann Jr and Mrs. Julies Tayac Yates, Matriarch of the Piscataway Indian Nation have worked with thousands of our tribal members to get this pushed through since 2015. At last count, we had 9,000 supporters between the online petition on Change.org, hard copy petitions, emails to the Delegates/Senators, and several thousand phone calls. It was a group effort of the majority of our tribal members from both tribes," the statement reads. "We made a joint decision to suggest the name Piscataway Highway to equally represent both Maryland State Recognized Tribes-the Piscataway Conoy Tribe and the Piscataway Indian Nation. This is an honor to be recognized as most people don't even realize that we are still here. We have more than 3,500 enrolled tribal members. What better way to know that you are on Indian Land than to enter Maryland and see Piscataway Highway?
"This is the first of many steps forward for our people. We are looking to build a cultural center/museum. We are looking to build this area as a cultural tourism mecca for the Piscataway. This will bring jobs to our people, a source of revenue for our tribe and the surrounding areas, as well as provide an opportunity to teach our culture to others in a way we deem appropriate. This is only the beginning, but it has been a long time coming! We thank the General Assembly for righting this injustice to our people and look forward to Governor Hogan signing this bill into law on OUR ancestral homelands."
A proposal to rename a Maryland highway after President Barack Obama was launched by two state lawmakers in 2021.
The infamous stretch of road, which is also known as Route 210, has long held a reputation of being dangerous to pedestrians and drivers.
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The bill is set to go into effect on Oct. 1.