York, PA and Indigenous Peoples
Finally, we examined York College and its treatment of Indigenous people. When it comes to the question of whether or not there was a Native presence in what is now modern-day York County and the land belonging to York College of Pennsylvania, the short answer is a tentative yes. Before the impact of colonization, the entire state of Pennsylvania was home to six major Native American tribes (Shawnee, Erie, Iroquois, Munsee, Susquehannock, and the Lenape) with many smaller tribes hidden beneath them.
These tribes experienced hardships and conflicts about land use. Not only with the European colonizers, but in between tribes as well. In York County specifically, it is speculated that a population of Susquehannock natives resided in a village called the Attaock. While there is no permanent record of the Susquehannock tribe living on the land that eventually became the York College campus, there are sources that allude to York County itself being a vital footpath for the native tribe to collect resources not accessible via water transportation. The Susquehannock tribe was involved in several wars and experienced devastating hardships that eventually led to their assimilation into the Iroquois Nation years later.
Native presences in Pennsylvania would then decrease exponentially after the Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14th, 1784. Forcing Natives from their ancestral lands, the remaining Susquehannocks either fled before they were slaughtered, or they “disappeared” into the forests of their lands to live their lives in peace and assimilate amongst the people who would allow them to (Editors). Today, little is known about Native existence in or around York County, but a map from the historical society provides some visuals for where forts or camps once existed.