Metoac
Encyclopedia
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...
settlements roughly east of what is now the Nassau County
Nassau County
Nassau County is the name of two counties in the United States:*Nassau County, New York*Nassau County, Florida...
line 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...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at the time of European contact
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
in the 17th century. Metoac does not specifically refer to political, cultural, linguistic, or social bonds, but is a geographic term. It is sometimes erroneously applied to the non-existent Thirteen tribes of Long Island first referred to in a 19th-century book by the local amateur historian Silas Wood
Silas Wood
Silas Wood was a U.S. Representative from New York.Born in West Hills, near Huntington, New York, Wood pursued classical studies....
, and since often quoted and repeated in many other works.
The term is likely derivative of metau-hok, the local word for the rough periwinkle, which played an important role in the economy of the region before and after the arrival of Europeans. Long Island was first settled by colonialist from New Netherland
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...
and New England in the mid 17th century and became important trade partners, particularly in the supply of sewant, an alternative currency. Indigenous populations declined significantly within a few decades. Derivatives of the many of the place names given by the indigenous populations are sill in use today. Small groups of surviving Native Americans have had success in gaining official state and federal status as tribes, and maintain reservations on or close to the East Fork of the Island.
Language
The Native American population was estimated at 10,000 at the time of first contact. They spoke two languages within the Algonquian language groupEastern Algonquian languages
The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least seventeen languages collectively occupying the Atlantic coast of North America and adjacent inland areas, from the Canadian Maritime provinces to...
, reflecting their different connections to mainland peoples. Those from the west in and around what is now New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
spoke one of the R-dialects of what is now known as "Delaware languages", (a 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...
- also known as the Delaware - language spoken in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Lower Hudson Valley, New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
and eastern Pennsylvania). Those living in the east spoke Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language
Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language
Mohegan-Pequot is an extinct Algonquian language formerly spoken in parts of present-day New England and Long Island.As of 2010, the Shinnecock and Unkechaug nations of Long Island, New York, had begun work...
, a Y-dialect similar to the Pequot
Pequot
Pequot people are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England...
of eastern Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
European colonizaion
Europe colonalization of the region begun in the 1620s. From the north the New England ConfederationNew England Confederation
The United Colonies of New England, commonly known as the New England Confederation, was a short-lived military alliance of the English colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. Established in 1643, its primary purpose was to unite the Puritan colonies against the Native...
exerted influence on eastern Long Island and along its north shore. The western portion (including what is now the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Queens were under the jurisdiction of New Netherland
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...
. This was formalized in the Treaty of Hartford
Treaty of Hartford
The term Treaty of Hartford applies to three historic agreements negotiated at Hartford, Connecticut. The 1638 treaty divided the spoils of the Pequot War. The 1650 treaty defined a border between the Dutch Nieuw Amsterdam and English settlers in Connecticut...
in 1650 which set a border running south from Oyster Bay. The Native Americans on Long Island played an important role in the trade economy as shells harvested there fashioned into small beads to create 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. ...
, or wampum
Wampum
Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...
("wampompeag" - shortened later by the English) were the most highly prized.
Displacement
The Pequot WarPequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict between 1634–1638 between the Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies who were aided by their Native American allies . Hundreds were killed; hundreds more were captured and sold into slavery to the West Indies. ...
and 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...
were two major conflicts involving the indigenous and immmigrating populations and are considered early genocides of Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. Exposure to new Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
n infectious diseases, such as measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
and smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, dramatically reduced the numbers of Native Americans on Long Island. In addition, some Native American settlements on Long Island migrated away under pressure from European settlement. By 1659, their population was reduced to less than 500. After the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
their numbers were reduced to 162 people by 1788. By this time, Samson Occom
Samson Occom
The Reverend Samson Occom was a Native American Presbyterian clergyman and a member of the Mohegan nation near New London, Connecticut...
had persuaded many survivors to join the Brothertown Indians
Brothertown Indians
The Brothertown Indians are Native American descendants of the Pequot and Mohegan tribes in southern New England...
off-island.
Exonyms
Histories of Long Island had long asserted there were multiple tribes on Long Island. Contemporary historian John A. Strong of Southampton CollegeSouthampton College
Stony Brook Southampton is a campus location of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, located in Southampton, New York between the Shinnecock Indian Reservation and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on the eastern end of Long Island. The campus features an innovative curriculum devoted to...
has demonstrated that documents indicate names commonly used to identify a people, or "tribe", on Long Island were instead European transliterations of indigenous language place names. For generations, the place names were mistakenly used as exonyms for peoples, not places. Among the many locations on Long Island used by the native population the following thirteen were used in early publications to describe individual goups
- CanarsieCanarsie, BrooklynCanarsie is a neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City, United States. The area is part of Brooklyn Community Board 18....
- in modern day Brooklyn, New York and Maspeth, QueensMaspeth, QueensMaspeth is a small community in the borough of Queens in New York City. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside and Sunnyside to the north, Long Island City to the northwest, Greenpoint to the west, East Williamsburg to the southwest, Fresh Pond and Ridgewood to the south, and...
, and Jamaica, New York. Legend states that the Carnarsee sold ManhattanManhattanManhattan 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...
to the Dutch Governor Peter MinuitPeter MinuitPeter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. He was the Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1633, and he founded the Swedish colony of...
for "24 dollars' worth of beads and trinkets.". - CorchaugCutchogue, New YorkCutchogue is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York . The population was 2,849 at the 2000 census.Cutchogue CDP roughly represents the area of Cutchogue hamlet in the town of Southold.-Geography:...
(Cochaug)(Cutchogue) - Around Riverhead, New York and Southold, New YorkSouthold, New YorkSouthold is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located in the northeastern tip of the county, on the North Fork of Long Island. The population was 20,599 at the 2000 census...
. The Fort Corchaug Archaeological Site is on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. - ManhassetManhasset, New YorkManhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080....
(also known as Manhansick) - Located on Shelter Island, New YorkShelter Island (town), New YorkShelter Island is a town and island at the eastern end of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It forms the tip of Suffolk County and is separated from the rest of the county by water. The population was 2,228 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
. Its name is applied to Manhasset, New YorkManhasset, New YorkManhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080.... - Marsapeague (also known as Massapequa, Marsapequa, Maspeth), - Located on the south shore from the Rockaways into Suffolk County. MassapequaMassapequa, New YorkMassapequa is a hamlet located in the suburban Nassau County, New York. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 21,685.Massapequa is located on the South Shore of Long Island....
and Maspeth, Queens are derivations of this. - Matinecock (also known as Matinecoc) - Located on the Long Island North Shore from Flushing, Queens to HuntingtonHuntington, New YorkThe Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, USA. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan...
. - Mericoke (also known as Merrick, Meroke, Merikoke, Meracock) - Located on the south shore from the Rockaway into Suffolk County. MerrickMerrick, New YorkMerrick is a hamlet in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 22,097. The name "Merrick" is taken from Meroke, the name of the Algonquian tribe formerly indigenous to the area...
is a derivation of this. - MontaukettMontaukettThe Montaukett is an Algonquian-speaking Native American group native to the eastern end of Long Island, New York and one of the thirteen historical indigenous centers...
(also known as Montauk, Meanticut)- Located in East Hampton, New YorkEast Hampton (town), New YorkThe Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...
. Its sagamore WyandanchChief WyandanchWyandanch was a sachem of the Montaukett Indians in the mid 17th century on eastern Long Island...
had his name on the title transfer of most of Long Island to the European settlers. - Nissequaq (also known as Nesaquake, Missaquogue)- Located on the North Shore from Fresh Pond to Stony Brook, New YorkStony Brook, New YorkStony Brook is a hamlet located in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, which is on the North Shore of Long Island...
. The village of NissequogueNissequogue, New YorkNissequogue is a village in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the village population was 1,543.The Village of Nissequogue is in the Town of Smithtown...
and the Nissequogue RiverNissequogue RiverThe Nissequogue River is an long river flowing from Smithtown, New York into the Long Island Sound.Its discharge of a second is the most of any of the freshwater rivers on Long Island....
are named after this. - Rockaway (also known as Rechaweygh, Rechquaakie)- Located around Rockaway and portions of Jamaica and Maspeth The Rockaways is a place name derived from this.
- Secatague (also known as Secatoag, Secatogue) - Located at Islip on the south shore.
- Setauket (also known as Setalcott) - Located on the North Shore from Stony Brook to Wading River, New YorkWading River, New YorkWading River is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, USA, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 7,719....
. The village of Setauket is named after this. - Shinnecock Indian NationShinnecock Indian NationThe Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe, headquartered in Suffolk County, New York, on the south shore of Long Island. Shinnecock are an Algonquian people from Long Island...
- Located in Southampton, New York. They occupy the Shinnecock Reservation, New YorkShinnecock Reservation, New YorkShinnecock Reservation is an Indian reservation for members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in the town of Southampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It lies on the east side of Shinnecock Bay on southeastern Long Island, near Tuckahoe, Shinnecock Hills, and the village of Southampton...
. - Unkechaug (also known as Patchogue, Onechechaug, Patchoag, Unchachaug, Unquaches, Unquachog, Unquachock, Unchechauge) - Located on the south shore from Brookhaven, New YorkBrookhaven, New YorkThe Town of Brookhaven is one of the ten towns into which Suffolk County, New York, United States, has been divided. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located in central Suffolk County and is the only town in the county that stretches from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long...
to Southampton, New YorkSouthampton (town), New YorkThe Town of Southampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, U.S., partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town had a total population of 54,712...
.
State and federal recognition
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
announced the Shinnecock Indian Nation
Shinnecock Indian Nation
The Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe, headquartered in Suffolk County, New York, on the south shore of Long Island. Shinnecock are an Algonquian people from Long Island...
had met the federal criteria for recognition as a tribe. While the final ruling is subject to a comment period, it is likely the announcement will stand. New York State has recognized the Shinnecock, based at Shinnecock Reservation near Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and the Unkechaugi, whose Poospatuck Reservation
Poospatuck Reservation, New York
The Poospatuck Reservation is an Indian reservation in the community of Mastic, Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 271 at the 2000 census....
at Mastic
Mastic, New York
Mastic is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 15,436 at the 2000 census. Mastic is a community located in the southeast part of the Town of Brookhaven....
is the smallest Indian reservation in the state. The Montaukett, a group around Montauk, is seeking both state and federal recognition.