The Yaocomico , also spelled Yaocomaco, were an Algonquian-speaking Native American group who lived along the north bank of the Potomac River near its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay in the 17th century. They were related to the Piscataway, the dominant nation north of the Potomac. The settlers who arrived to found the English colony of Maryland purchased land for their first settlement from the Yaocomico. By the late 17th century, the tribe had disappeared from the historical record. Historians believe this was mostly due to epidemics of newly introduced infectious disease and to pressure from European settlers and other Native groups. Description and history The Yaocomaco were one of the Algonquian-speaking groups, who lived mostly in the coastal tidewater areas of present-day Maryland. The Piscataway were dominant to the north of the Potomac River, but there were many smaller tribes such as the Yaocomaco. Maryland also had Iroquoian-speaking tribes, particularly the Susquehannock along the Susquehanna River, who had been raiding into Algonquian territory. There were also Siouan-speaking tribes to the west and southwest. According to historical tradition, the first settlers of the Maryland colony purchased the land for their settlement at St. Mary's City from the Yaocomico, who had a settlement in the area. In 1634, Leonard Calvert, the first governor of the Maryland colony, met the Yaocomico along the Potomac below the island the Europeans had named St. Clement's Island. Yaocomico is referred to in different sources as either the name of the natives living in the area or as the name of the leader of the village. It was a tribe. The colonists had previously encountered and traded with Natives further upriver and so had some experience with them. As a result of the meeting, the Yaocomico traded approximately of land for a variety of European-made metal tools and cloth. Apparently the Yaocomico were willing to relocate from this village, and it was an ideal place for European settlement, as it had already been cleared. Father Andrew White, a Jesuit missionary priest and early Maryland settler, described the Yaocomico in detail. They dressed in deerskin decorated with natural objects such as shells, animal teeth, and feathers. Their bodies were painted in different colors. They drew red and blue lines on their faces. The women wore tattoos on various parts of the body, and used manmade beads to adorn their bodies and clothing. White claimed the Yaocomico were