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Hackensack (Native Americans)
Encyclopedia
Hackensack was the exonym given to a band of Lenape
, a Native American
people is a European derivation of the Lenape word for what is now the region of northeastern New Jersey
along the Hudson and Hackensack River
s.
A phratry
of the Lenape, the Hackensack spoke the Unami dialect, a member of the Algonquian language
family. They were part of a group known as the people down river, and identified themselves with the totem
of the turtle ("Turtle Clan") Their territory has been variously spelled Ack-kinkas-hacky, Achkinhenhcky, Achinigeu-hach, Ackingsah-sack (among others) and translated as place of stony ground or mouth of a river. It included the areas around the Upper New York Bay
, Newark Bay
, Bergen Neck
, the Meadowlands
, and the Palisades
and overlapped that of other Unami: the Raritan on Staten Island
/Raritan Bay
, the Acquackanonk
on the Passaic River
, and the Tappan
along the Palisades
and Pascack Valley
. These groups, along with the Wappinger
in the Hudson Valley
and Canarsee and Rockaway
on Long Island
were sometimes collectively called the River Indians.
In the 17th century the Hackensack numbered about a thousand, of whom 300 were warriors, and their sachem
(or high chief) was Oratam
(born circa 1576). It is likely that he was also sagamore of the Tappan, a distinct but intimately related group. A seasonally migrational people, the Hackensack set up campsites and practiced companion planting
to supplement foraging
, hunting
, fishing
, trapping, and shellfish
ing. The terrain was quite diverse: massive tidal flats and oyster beds, forested mountains, and level land that could be cultivated. Ackensack, their semi-permanent village, would be relocated every several years to allow the land to renew itself. Its locations mostly remained between Tantaqua
and the middle reaches of the Hackensack River. Their summer encampment and council fire was located at Gamoenpa
, the big landing-place from the other side of the river. At Hopoghan Hackingh
, or land of the tobacco pipe, they collected soapstone
to carve tobacco pipes.
The society of the Unami was based on governance by consensus. A sagamore, though very influential, was obliged to follow decisions of the council. Those with the totem of the turtle were held in great esteem by Lenape groups, particularly as peacemakers. The word caucus may come from the Algonquian caucauasu meaning counselor.
Hackensack lands became part of the colonial province of New Netherland
after the first exploration of the area by Henry Hudson
, who had sailed up the river which bears his name, anchoring at Weehawken Cove in September 1609. Living close to the province's capital, New Amsterdam
(at the tip of Manhattan
), the Hackensack had early and frequent contact with the New Netherlander
s, with whom they traded beaver
, pelt
s, sewant
, manufactured goods, including firearm
s, gunpowder
and alcohol
. They also "sold" the land for settlements at Pavonia
, Communipaw
, Harsimus
, Hoboken
, Weehawken
, Constable Hook, Achter Col
, Vriessendael
. In 1658, Director-General of New Netherland
Peter Stuyvesant
re-negotiated the purchase of all the land from "the great rock above Wiehacken", west to Sikakes and south to Konstapels Hoeck. The area became collectively known as Bergen
with the founding of a village at Bergen Square
in 1661. In 1666, the Hackensack sold the land that would become the city of Newark
to Robert Treat
and in 1669, Oratam deeded a vast tract of land (2200 acres) to Sara Kiersted (who had mastered the Lenape language and acted as interpreter) between Overpeck Creek and the Hackensack River. He also brokered many land sales, and treaties between the native and colonizing peoples, including those that ended Kieft's War
and the Esopus Wars
.
In a series of essays published in 1655, David Pietersen de Vries
, who had established a homestead
at Vriessendael, described his observations of the Hackensack.
The British take-over of New Netherland between 1663 and 1674 coincided with Oratam's death (who is said to have lived into his 90s). The government of the newly formed province of East Jersey
quickly surveyed, patented, or deeded lands throughout Hackensack, Tappan, and Raritan territory. In most cases, the Lenape
were compensated for sale of the land. Both the land at Newark Tract and Horseneck Tract
were sold to English-speaking settlers by the Hackenack.
population may have numbered as many as 20,000. Several wars, at least 14 separate epidemics (yellow fever
, small pox, influenza
, encephalitis lethargica
, etc...) and disastrous over-harvesting of the animal populations reduced their population to around 4,000 by 1700. Since the Lenape people, like all Native Americans, had no immunity to European diseases, when the populations contacted the epidemics, they frequently proved fatal. Some Lenape starved
to death as a result of the over harvesting of mostly beavers. Others were forced to trade their land for goods such as clothing and food. As the Lenni Lenape population declined, and the European population increased, the history of the area was increasingly defined by the new European inhabitants and the Lenape Indian tribes played an increasingly secondary role.
It appears by the lack of their being mentioned in documents after that period that the Hackensack had died, removed themselves, integrated into European settler society, or became tributary to other groups such as the Ramapough Mountain Indians
and Munsee. By the mid-18th century most Lenape had become known as the Delaware Indians, after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
and governor of the Jamestown Colony
or had been dispersed further west. They were signatories to the Walking Purchase
agreement in Pennsylvania, and Treaty of Easton
, an attempt by the British to control lands they had gained in the French and Indian War
, as well as an attempt by the Native Americans to restrict further European migration inland.
Current Lenape groups are dispersed around the USA.
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
, a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
people is a European derivation of the Lenape word for what is now the region of northeastern New Jersey
Gateway Region
The Gateway Region is located in the northeastern part of State of New Jersey in the United States of America. The area encompasses Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic, Union and Middlesex counties...
along the Hudson and Hackensack River
Hackensack River
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River,...
s.
Territory and Society
Phratry
In ancient Greece, a phratry ατρία, "brotherhood", "kinfolk", derived from φρατήρ meaning "brother") was a social division of the Greek tribe...
of the Lenape, the Hackensack spoke the Unami dialect, a member of the Algonquian language
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
family. They were part of a group known as the people down river, and identified themselves with the totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
of the turtle ("Turtle Clan") Their territory has been variously spelled Ack-kinkas-hacky, Achkinhenhcky, Achinigeu-hach, Ackingsah-sack (among others) and translated as place of stony ground or mouth of a river. It included the areas around the Upper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay
Upper New York Bay, or Upper Bay, is the traditional heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and often called New York Harbor. It is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne.It...
, Newark Bay
Newark Bay
Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, 3rd largest and one of busiest in the United States...
, Bergen Neck
Bergen Neck
Bergen Neck is a name for the peninsula between the Upper New York Bay and the Newark Bay in the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Bayonne and Jersey City...
, the Meadowlands
New Jersey Meadowlands
New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for the large ecosystem of wetlands in northeast New Jersey in the United States. The Meadowlands are known for being the site of large landfills and decades of...
, and the Palisades
New Jersey Palisades
The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson Palisades are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in northeastern New Jersey and southern New York in the United States. The cliffs stretch north from Jersey City approximately 20 mi to near...
and overlapped that of other Unami: the Raritan on Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
/Raritan Bay
Raritan Bay
Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on the south by the Raritan...
, the Acquackanonk
Acquackanonk (Native Americans)
The Acquackanonk were a Lenape group whose territory was on the Passaic River in northern New Jersey. They spoke the same dialect and shared the same totem as the neighboring Hackensack, Tappan and Rumachenanck ....
on the Passaic River
Passaic River
The Passaic River is a mature surface river, approximately 80 mi long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey,...
, and the Tappan
Tappan (Native Americans)
The Tappan were a Lenape people who inhabited the region radiating from Hudson Palisades and New York – New Jersey Highlands in at the time of European colonialization in the 17th century....
along the Palisades
New Jersey Palisades
The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson Palisades are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in northeastern New Jersey and southern New York in the United States. The cliffs stretch north from Jersey City approximately 20 mi to near...
and Pascack Valley
Pascack Valley
The Pascack Valley is the name for a region of New Jersey, United States, contained within Bergen County. It is named for the Pascack Brook, which defines the valley...
. These groups, along with the Wappinger
Wappinger
The Wappinger were an American tribe native to eastern New York. The term "Wappinger" may also refer to:* Wappinger, New York, the Town of Wappinger named for the tribe...
in the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
and Canarsee and Rockaway
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
were sometimes collectively called the River Indians.
In the 17th century the Hackensack numbered about a thousand, of whom 300 were warriors, and their sachem
Sachem
A sachem[p] or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages...
(or high chief) was Oratam
Oratam
Oratam was sagamore, or sachem, of the Hackensack Indians living in northeastern New Jersey during the period of early European colonization in the 17th century...
(born circa 1576). It is likely that he was also sagamore of the Tappan, a distinct but intimately related group. A seasonally migrational people, the Hackensack set up campsites and practiced companion planting
Companion planting
Companion planting is the planting of different crops in proximity , on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity...
to supplement foraging
Foraging
- Definitions and significance of foraging behavior :Foraging is the act of searching for and exploiting food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce...
, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, trapping, and shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
ing. The terrain was quite diverse: massive tidal flats and oyster beds, forested mountains, and level land that could be cultivated. Ackensack, their semi-permanent village, would be relocated every several years to allow the land to renew itself. Its locations mostly remained between Tantaqua
Overpeck Creek
Overpeck Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River, approximately 8 miles long, in Bergen County in northern New Jersey in the United States. The upper creek flows through suburban communities west of New York City...
and the middle reaches of the Hackensack River. Their summer encampment and council fire was located at Gamoenpa
Communipaw
Communipaw is a section of Jersey City, New Jersey west of Liberty State Park and east of Bergen Hill, and site of one the earliest European settlements in North America. It gives its name to the historic avenue which runs from its eastern end near LSP Station through the neighborhoods of...
, the big landing-place from the other side of the river. At Hopoghan Hackingh
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
, or land of the tobacco pipe, they collected soapstone
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
to carve tobacco pipes.
The society of the Unami was based on governance by consensus. A sagamore, though very influential, was obliged to follow decisions of the council. Those with the totem of the turtle were held in great esteem by Lenape groups, particularly as peacemakers. The word caucus may come from the Algonquian caucauasu meaning counselor.
New Netherland and Province of New Jersey
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
after the first exploration of the area by Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
, who had sailed up the river which bears his name, anchoring at Weehawken Cove in September 1609. Living close to the province's capital, New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
(at the tip of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
), the Hackensack had early and frequent contact with the New Netherlander
New Netherlander
New Netherlanders were residents of New Netherland, the seventeenth century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the northeastern coast of North America, centered around the Hudson River and New York Bay, and at the end of the colony in the Delaware Valley.The...
s, with whom they traded beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
, pelt
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
s, sewant
Sewant
Sewant is the black and/or dark purple black shell bead system of the 17th century in Nieuw Nederlandt of what is currently the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware. This fiat currency system was introduced to the English at Plymouth Colony Plantations in 1627. ...
, manufactured goods, including firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s, gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
and alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
. They also "sold" the land for settlements at Pavonia
Pavonia, New Netherland
Pavonia was the first European settlement on the west bank of the North River that was part of the 17th century province of New Netherland in what would become today's Hudson County, New Jersey.-Hudson and the Hackensack:...
, Communipaw
Communipaw
Communipaw is a section of Jersey City, New Jersey west of Liberty State Park and east of Bergen Hill, and site of one the earliest European settlements in North America. It gives its name to the historic avenue which runs from its eastern end near LSP Station through the neighborhoods of...
, Harsimus
Harsimus
Harsimus is a neighborhood within Downtown Jersey City. The neighborhood stretches from the Harsimus Stem Embankment in the north to Christopher Columbus Drive in the south between Coles Street and Grove Street or more broadly, to Marin Boulevard...
, Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
, Weehawken
Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 12,554.-Geography:Weehawken is part of the New York metropolitan area...
, Constable Hook, Achter Col
Achter Col, New Netherland
Achter Kol was the name given to the region around the Newark Bay and Hackensack River in northeastern New Jersey by the first European settlers to it and was part of the seventeenth century province of New Netherland, originally administered by the Dutch West India Company...
, Vriessendael
Vriessendael, New Netherland
Vriessendael was a patroonship on the west bank of the Hudson River in New Netherland, the seventeenth century North American colonial province of the Dutch Empire...
. In 1658, Director-General of New Netherland
Director-General of New Netherland
This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland in North America...
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
re-negotiated the purchase of all the land from "the great rock above Wiehacken", west to Sikakes and south to Konstapels Hoeck. The area became collectively known as Bergen
Bergen, New Netherland
Bergen was a part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, in the area in northeastern New Jersey along the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers that would become contemporary Hudson and Bergen Counties...
with the founding of a village at Bergen Square
Bergen Square
Bergen Square, at the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Academy Street in Jersey City, is in the southwestern part of the much larger Journal Square district...
in 1661. In 1666, the Hackensack sold the land that would become the city of Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
to Robert Treat
Robert Treat
Robert Treat was an American colonial leader, militia officer and governor of Connecticut between 1683 and 1698....
and in 1669, Oratam deeded a vast tract of land (2200 acres) to Sara Kiersted (who had mastered the Lenape language and acted as interpreter) between Overpeck Creek and the Hackensack River. He also brokered many land sales, and treaties between the native and colonizing peoples, including those that ended Kieft's War
Kieft's War
Kieft's War, also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between settlers of the nascent colony of New Netherland and the native Lenape population in what would later become the New York metropolitan area of the United States...
and the Esopus Wars
Esopus Wars
The Esopus Wars were two localized conflicts between Dutch settlers and the Esopus tribe of Lenape Indians during the latter half of the 17th century in what is now Ulster County, New York. Like many other wars during the colonial period, at bottom they were the result of competition between...
.
In a series of essays published in 1655, David Pietersen de Vries
David Pietersen de Vries
Captain David Pieterszoon de Vries was a Dutch navigator from Hoorn, Holland.In 1617 de Vries went on a whaling voyage to Jan Mayen. In 1620 he sailed to Newfoundland and sold the dried fish in Italy. In Toulon he joined Charles, Duke of Guise. In 1624 he went to Canada again, still in French...
, who had established a homestead
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
at Vriessendael, described his observations of the Hackensack.
The British take-over of New Netherland between 1663 and 1674 coincided with Oratam's death (who is said to have lived into his 90s). The government of the newly formed province of East Jersey
East Jersey
The Province of East Jersey and the Province of West Jersey were two distinct, separately governed parts of the Province of New Jersey that existed as separate provinces for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. East Jersey's capital was located at Perth Amboy...
quickly surveyed, patented, or deeded lands throughout Hackensack, Tappan, and Raritan territory. In most cases, the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
were compensated for sale of the land. Both the land at Newark Tract and Horseneck Tract
Horseneck Tract
The Horseneck Tract was an area in present-day Essex County, New Jersey, United States, that consisted of what are now the municipalities of Caldwell, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Fairfield, Verona, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Roseland, and portions of Livingston and West Orange.On May 1, 1701...
were sold to English-speaking settlers by the Hackenack.
Delaware Indians
In 1600 the LenapeLenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
population may have numbered as many as 20,000. Several wars, at least 14 separate epidemics (yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
, small pox, influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
, encephalitis lethargica
Encephalitis lethargica
Encephalitis lethargica or von Economo disease is an atypical form of encephalitis. Also known as "sleepy sickness" , it was first described by the neurologist Constantin von Economo in 1917. The disease attacks the brain, leaving some victims in a statue-like condition, speechless and motionless...
, etc...) and disastrous over-harvesting of the animal populations reduced their population to around 4,000 by 1700. Since the Lenape people, like all Native Americans, had no immunity to European diseases, when the populations contacted the epidemics, they frequently proved fatal. Some Lenape starved
to death as a result of the over harvesting of mostly beavers. Others were forced to trade their land for goods such as clothing and food. As the Lenni Lenape population declined, and the European population increased, the history of the area was increasingly defined by the new European inhabitants and the Lenape Indian tribes played an increasingly secondary role.
It appears by the lack of their being mentioned in documents after that period that the Hackensack had died, removed themselves, integrated into European settler society, or became tributary to other groups such as the Ramapough Mountain Indians
Ramapough Mountain Indians
The Ramapough Mountain Indians, also known as Ramapo Mountain Indians or the Ramapough Lenape Nation, are a group of approximately 5,000 people living around the Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey and southern New York. Their tribal office is located on Stag Hill Road on Houvenkopf Mountain in...
and Munsee. By the mid-18th century most Lenape had become known as the Delaware Indians, after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr
Thomas West, 3rd and 12th Baron De La Warr was the Englishman after whom the bay, the river, and, consequently, an American Indian people and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named....
and governor of the Jamestown Colony
or had been dispersed further west. They were signatories to the Walking Purchase
Walking Purchase
The Walking Purchase was a purported 1737 agreement between the Penn family, the proprietors of Pennsylvania, and the Lenape . By it the Penn family and proprietors claimed an area of 1,200,000 acres and forced the Lenape to vacate it...
agreement in Pennsylvania, and Treaty of Easton
Treaty of Easton
The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War . Briefly, chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, Lenape-Delaware, Shawnee and others, agreed to be allies of the British colonies during the...
, an attempt by the British to control lands they had gained in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, as well as an attempt by the Native Americans to restrict further European migration inland.
Current Lenape groups are dispersed around the USA.
See also
- Elizabethtown TractElizabethtown TractThe Elizabethtown Tract was a property that was purchased on October 28, 1664, by John Baily, Daniel Denton and Luke Watson from the Native Americans that is in the area of present-day Elizabeth, New Jersey....
- EsopusEsopus tribeThe Esopus tribe was a tribe of Lenape Native Americans who were native to Upstate New York.The tribe fought a series of conflicts against settlers from the New Netherland Colony from September 1659 to September 1663, known as the Esopus Wars...
- Great TrailGreat TrailThe Great Trail was a network of footpaths created by Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking peoples prior to the arrival of European colonists in North America. It connected the Great Lakes region of Canada to New England and the mid-Atlantic...
- Horseneck TractHorseneck TractThe Horseneck Tract was an area in present-day Essex County, New Jersey, United States, that consisted of what are now the municipalities of Caldwell, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Fairfield, Verona, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Roseland, and portions of Livingston and West Orange.On May 1, 1701...
- Haverstraw Indians
- Lenape TrailLenape TrailThe Lenape Trail is a trail connecting Newark, New Jersey with Roseland, New Jersey. It was established in 1982. It is the fifth longest trail in the state behind the Delaware and Raritan Canal Trail, the Appalachian Trail, the completed section of the Highlands Trail in the state and the Batona...
- Minisink Archeological SiteMinisink Archeological SiteMinisink Archeological Site, also known as Minisink Historic District, is an archeological site located in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Hundreds of early stone tools along with remains of fish and fruit indicated a more diverse diet than previously expected...
- PatroonPatroonIn the United States, a patroon was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America...
- Toponymy of Bergen, New NetherlandToponymy of Bergen, New NetherlandBergen was part of the 17th century colony of New Netherland centered around Fort Amsterdam in what is now northeastern New Jersey. Placenames in most cases had their roots in Algonquian language Lenape and Dutch....
- Economy of the IroquoisEconomy of the IroquoisThe economy of the Iroquois originally focused on communal production and combined elements of both horticulture and hunter-gatherer systems. The tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy and other Northern Iroquoian-speaking peoples, including the Huron, lived in the region including what is now New...