17th Century Map of New Netherland Referencing Wiechquaeskecks in Pelham Region

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Sometime between 1654 and 1658 -- the precise date remains a mystery -- Arnold Colom of Amsterdam published a monumental sea atlas of the world.  Colom's "Zee Atlas" included what is believed to be the earliest Dutch sea chart of the New Netherlands.  Noted map authority Barry Lawrence Ruderman notes that "Jacob Theunisz Lootsman's chart is believed to pre-date it, but seems not to have been regularly published until later."  

Colom was a son of Jacob Colom, an Amsterdam printer, chart-maker, and bookseller.  Arnold Colom's sea chart of New Netherlands is "extremely rare on the market" according to Mr. Ruderman and sold most recently in a Swann Galleries auction on June 2, 2011 for $33,600.  A high resolution image of the map appears immediately below.

Colom, Arnold, “Pascaarte van Nieu Nederlandt uytgegeven door”

(Amsterdam, ca. 1656) (25.5 x 22 inches; hand-colored).  Source:

Ruderman, Barry Lawrence, Antique Maps Inc., Stock # 46535

(visited 24 Apr 2019).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Arnold Colom's sea chart of New Netherlands is significant for reasons other than its status as the first (or one of the first) such sea charts of the region.  Indeed, it depicts the region including today's Pelham and purports to label Natives in the New Netherland region.  It references "Manhattans," "Wickugick," and -- somewhat distant from Pelham and in the center of Long Island Sound -- "Siwanoys." 

Once again, like so many other 17th century Dutch maps of the region, this map seems merely to copy earlier references to supposed "Siwanoy" Natives in the region and places them distant from today's Pelham.  The map references "Wickugick" Natives (i.e., Wiechquaeskeck" Natives) near Pelham -- a group that, unlike "Siwanoys" is a group of Natives constantly referenced by that name in 17th century documents.

Detail from Colom, Arnold, “Pascaarte van Nieu Nederlandt

uytgegeven door” (Amsterdam, ca. 1656) (25.5 x 22 inches;

hand-colored).  Source:  Ruderman, Barry Lawrence, Antique

Maps Inc., Stock # 46535 (visited 24 Apr 2019).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

According to Barry Lawrence Ruderman, owner of Antique Maps Inc., this significant map may be the first sea chart of the New Netherlands (which included the region of today's Pelham).  Mr. Ruderman states, in part:

"Colom's sea chart is a landmark in the mapping of the region, depicting in a large scale the regions extending from the Dutch New Netherlands and New England in the north to South Carolina. 

Called by Koeman "the first sea chart of the New Netherlands," Colom's chart is both highly important and exceptionally rare. Along with Theunis Jacobsz' circa 1650 sea chart of the area from Nova Scotia to the Outer Banks, it is one of the two earliest sea charts showing the significant improvements resulting from the Dutch exploration and occupation of the region. Colom's map, which is the more focused of the two maps and constructed on a much larger scale than the Theunisz, is by far the more accurate of the two charts, drawing on Visscher's highly important Novii Begli, first published circa 1655. Burden observes that the Colom draws information from both Janssonius's Belgii Novi . . . map of 1651 and the first state of Visscher's significantly updated map, noting that: 

"The Delaware Bay and River and much improved . . . as is the area between Chesapeake Bay and the Outer Banks. Curiously two Jamestowns are depicted, one at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Remnants of [information Burden believes to have been derived from Jacobsz] survives such as the use of Bloemers kil on the west bank of Delaware Bay. There is no recognition of the Dutch victory over the Swedish colonies here. Long Island is one unified island,as Janssonius had depicted it, although like other areas of the map, it shows independent sources. A few English settlements are noted, such as Stamfoort and Nieuwer haven, but none appear in the Connecticut River Valley, only the Dutch fort of De Hoop. One large improvement . . . is the recognition of Boston as one of the three most important towns on that coast. It is not present on the Jacobsz, Janssonius or Visscher maps. 

The dating of the map has always been a mystery. In his monumental catalog of 1887, the legendary Dutch book and map seller, Frederik Muller & Cie, identified the Colom's map had being published in 1640 (item 902), while Stokes in The Iconography of Manhattan Island dated the charts as "before 1653?." Burden identifies 3 states of the map, each of which is extremely rare. Burden describes the map dated 1656 as the first state of the map, with subsequent states lacking the date. The second state includes the page number 13 in the bottom right corner, whereas the third state is number page 13."

Source:  Ruderman, Barry Lawrence, "The First Sea Chart of the New Netherlands" in Antique Maps Inc.:  Colom, Arnold, “Pascaarte van Nieu Nederlandt uytgegeven door” (Amsterdam, ca. 1656) (25.5 x 22 inches; hand-colored; Stock # 46535) (visited 24 Apr 2019).

Today's Historic Pelham article is another in a series intended to analyze 17th century maps that depict the Pelham region.  For examples of earlier such analyses, see:

Tue., Aug. 28, 2018: Seventeenth Century Maps that Depict the Pelham Region.

Thu., Apr. 18, 2019:  More Seventeenth Century Maps that Depict the Pelham Region and Local Native Americans.

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More Seventeenth Century Maps that Depict the Pelham Region and Local Native Americans

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Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

The Historic Pelham Blog has begun a series of articles intended to analyze 17th century maps that depict the Pelham region.  See Tue., Aug. 28, 2018:  Seventeenth Century Maps that Depict the Pelham Region.  Today's Historic Pelham Blog article continues that series with details from relevant additional 17th century maps and brief descriptions of the significance of each such detail.

Detail from "Pas caarte van Nieu Nederlandt uytgegeven door Arnold

Colom"  Ca. 1656.  By Mapmaker Arnold Colom.  Source:  "Pas caarte

van Nieu Nederlandt uytgegeven door Arnold Colom," John Carter Brown

Library Map Collection, Accession No. C-0113, File Name C-0113-000,

Call No. Cabinet Cc656 /2.1 (visited Aug. 18, 2018).  NOTE:  Click on

Image to Enlarge.

Like the Adriaen van der Donck map published in 1656, this map by Arnold Colom also prepared in about 1656 is fascinating in many respects important to Pelham history.  For example, like the van der Donck map of about the same time, this Colom map references "Siwanoys."  However, the Colom map places the reference in an entirely different location - - in the middle of Long Island Sound quite a distance east of Pelham nearing the eastern end of Long Island.

The placement of "Siwanoys" on this map is interesting when considered in the context of arguments by some scholars and Lenape linguists that the term "Siwanoy" is a combined reference to "Sewan" (i.e., "wampum") and "oy" (i.e., "people") and meant "makers of wampum."  See, e.g., Buckland, John Alexander, The First Traders on Wall Street: The Wiechquaeskeck Indians of Southwestern Connecticut in the Seventeenth Century, p. xiii (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2009).  The shores of Long Island Sound were known to be an active wampum-manufacturing region.  Placing the reference in the Sound on the Colom map would suggest a reference intended to encompass shores on both sides of the reference and, arguably, would be consistent with the argument that the term "Siwanoy" was intended by Natives as a descriptive term rather than a name intended to identify a specific Native group or people.

The Colom map also shows a reference to "Wickagick" Natives much closer to the Pelham region (clearly a reference to Wiechquaeskecks).  However, the map seems to show the Natives known as "Manhattans" as located not only on today's Manhattan Island, but also along the shoreline and in the region that includes today's Pelham.  The "Wickagick" seem to be shown as located northwest of the Pelham region.  

As noted in the recent discussion of other 17th century maps that depict the Pelham region, "It is known that the Manhattans of the Island of Manhattan and the Wiechquaeskecks of the Bronx and lower Westchester County, both Lenape groups that spoke the Munsee dialect, were close and communicated and traded with one another via a significant trail that became Broadway and Old Boston Post Road. However, most modern scholars agree that the Manhattans populated the Island of Manhattan while the Wiechquaeskecks populated much of the Bronx, Westchester County, and even southwestern Connecticut."

Detail from “Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ : nec non parties Virginiæ

tabula multis in locis emendate / per Nicolaum Visscher nunc apud

Petr. Schenk Iun.”  1656.  Mapmaker Nicolaes Visscher.  Source:

“Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ : nec non parties Virginiæ tabula multis

in locis emendate / per Nicolaum Visscher nunc apud Petr. Schenk Iun.”

(1656) via Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. (visited Aug.

25, 2018).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The detail above is from the earliest obtainable state of the well-known 17th Century map by Nicolaes Visscher that was largely based on a map published by Joannes Janssonius in 1651 (which itself borrowed heavily from a 1635 map by Willem Janszoon Blaeu).  There are many later editions of the Visscher Map.  It is entitled “Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ : nec non parties Virginiæ tabula multis in locis emendate / per Nicolaum Visscher nunc apud Petr. Schenk Iun.” That map contains a reference to the area that the Dutch knew as “Freelandt” (also Vreelant, Vreedlant and Vreedlandt) – where Englishmen sponsored by Thomas Pell settled near an area known today as Westchester Square in the Bronx – as well as a reference to “Siwanoys” in an area roughly north of today's Stamford, Connecticut. The map detail immediately below shows "Siwanoys" referenced in nearly the center of the detail in an area north of what is referenced as "Stamfort."  To the left (west) of the "Siwanoys" reference is a reference to the "Wickquaskeck" Natives.  The map purports to show the Manhattans not only on Manhattan Island, but also across much of the area that later became Pelham and Pelham Bay Park.  In the "Oost Rivier" (Long Island Sound) there are many islands depicted off the mainland shores of Freelandt, but the "Archipelago" reference in Long Island Sound appears in this map far east of today's Pelham. 

Detail from "A Map of New England and New York" from the 1676

Edition of Speed's Prospect of the World by John Speed.  Published

in London and Hand Colored, 20 x 15.5 Inches.  Source:  Barry Lawrence

Ruderman, Antique Maps, Inc., Digitized Image of Speed, John, "A

Map of New England and New York" in Speed's Prospect of the World,

(London, 1676) (Stock No. 50585; visited Apr. 18, 2019).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

The detail above is from an example of John Speed's Map of New England and New York from his 1676 edition of Speed's Prospect of the World published in London.  According to Barry Lawrence Ruderman of Antique Maps, Inc.:

"Speed's map is one of the earliest maps to illustrate dramatic shift from Dutch to English dominance in the Northeast in the latter part of the 17th Century and one of the earliest to use the term New York for both Manhattan (formerly New Amsterdam) and New York State, as well as one of the earliest appearances of New Iarsey (Jersey). As noted by Michael Buehler, Speed's map shares the traits of many other regional maps of the period: a haphazard depiction of the St. Lawrence, no sign of Lake Ontario, Lake Champlain offset far to the East of its actual location, Cape Cod at essentially the same latitude as New York City, and the Delaware River curving eastward to connect with the Hudson. Many of these errors can be traced far back to early 17th-century prototype maps by Samuel Champlain, Adrien Block and others. One of only a small group of English maps of New England, prior to 1700. Based on Jansson's [Janssonius's] map of 1651, it illustrates the territories acquired by the British with the capture of New Amsterdam in 1664, which radically adjusted the landscape of North American politics. While the map's geographical features are largely drawn from Jansson, the map's nomenclature is substantially anglicized, including the first appearance of the name Boston (omitted from the Jansson maps), and the use of the names New York and Cape Cod."

This detail reproduces from Jansson's map of 1651 references "Siwanoys" in nearly the center of the detail in an area north of what is referenced as "Stanford."  To the left (west) of the "Siwanoys" reference is a reference to the "Wickquaskeck" Natives.  The map purports to show the Manhattans not only on Manhattan Island, but also across much of the area that later became Pelham and Pelham Bay Park.  This detail, like several above, strongly supports the theory that references to "Siwanoys" were simply copied from earlier maps rather than through any form of meaningful independent confirmation.

Continued analysis of such 17th century map details continues to support the theory, now based on rather extensive 17th century primary sources, that there were no local Native Americans in the Pelham region properly known as "Siwanoys" during the 17th century.  Rather, according to much recently-assembled evidence, at the time Thomas Pell bought the lands that became Pelham on June 27, 1654 and for decades thereafter, the Native Americans that populated the Pelham region near the shores of Long Island Sound were referenced as "Wiechquaeskecks."  See Wed., Jan. 29, 2014:  There Were No Native Americans Known as Siwanoys.  See also Thu., Aug. 09, 2018:  Evidence that the Most Famous Native in Pelham History Was a Wiechquaeskeck, Not a "Siwanoy."

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Seventeenth Century Maps that Depict the Pelham Region

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Maps, of course, provide an interesting glimpse of changes within our region since the earliest European explorers began traversing the area and attempting to chart and map it for others to follow.  Dutch and English cartographers began crafting such depictions that included the region around today's Pelham as early as 1614.  

The accuracy and reliability of such maps must be considered with extreme care, however.  Most were drawn and engraved in Holland or England and were crafted by reliance on earlier maps supplemented with interpretations of carefully recorded information from the logs of ships that since had visited the same region.  Indeed, many maps of the New York region included images of Natives, Native canoes and dugouts, Native palisades, and other such cultural resources but placed the locations erroneously.  As one example, some showed birch bark canoes off the shores of Manhattan, an unlikely scenario since the Natives of the region crafted dugout canoes, not birch bark canoes which were far more prevalent near Massachusetts.  

Many, many maps were crafted simply by beginning with a copy of an earlier map.  Thus, errors were repeated over and over in many instances for decades.  Still, much can be learned from reasoned consideration of such maps and the ways they depict particular areas.

Today's Historic Pelham Blog article presents details from a handful of important 17th century maps that included depictions of the region that later became Pelham.  In each instance, the detail is followed by a brief commentary that summarizes a little about the historical significance of the map viz-a-viz the Pelham region.  

There are far too many such 17th century maps to discuss in a single article.  Indeed, some already have been discussed in other Historic Pelham Blog articles.  See, e.g., Mon., Aug. 13, 2018:  There Seems To Be Another Early 17th Century Map that References Siwanoys.  Today's article, however, will begin what is planned as a series of intermittent discussions of such maps in an effort to document such material as it relates to the history of the little Town of Pelham, New York.  Each detail, on which visitors can click to see a higher resolution of the image, is followed by a citation to its source and a link to an image of the full map which, typically, can be magnified to very large size for study.

Detail from "Nova Anglia, Novum Belgium et Virginia + Bermuda majori mole

expressa" (New England, New Netherland, and Virginia, and Bermuda Drawn

on a Larger Scale).  1630.  By Mapmakers Hessel Gerritsz and Ioannes de Laet.

Source:  Christie's, LAET, Johannes de (1593-1649) and Hessel GERRITSZ

(1581-1632). Nova Anglia, Novum Belgium et Virginia.  Leiden, ca 1630.,

(visited Aug. 18, 2018).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

This map is considered a landmark work.  It was prepared in 1630, barely five years after the founding of New Amsterdam and the construction of Fort Amsterdam. The detail above shows the region that became Pelham just left of center.  There are three significant references important to the history of the region.  There is a reference to "Helle gat" (today's Hell Gate where the so-called East River enters Long Island Sound, once a treacherous, boulder infested area where many vessels foundered).  There also is a reference to "Wecké" in the region which clearly is an early reference to Wiechquaeskeck.  The reference may have been a reference to the geographical feature referenced so often as "Wickers Creek" (and by many spelling variants).  However, because other nearby references on the map clearly indicate local Native peoples, this most likely is a reference to the Wiechquaeskeck Natives in the region.  If so, it is significant to note that it is the only such Native reference on the map in the Pelham region -- there is no reference to Siwanoys.  

A third significant aspect of the detail is the reference in the Long Island Sound waters off the shores of the Pelham region to "Aechipelago" (i.e., Archipelago) and the depiction of a host of islands off the shores.  This group of islands clearly would include the myriad such islands, islets, and rocky outcroppings off the shores of Pelham including City Island, Hart Island, Hunter's Island, Travers Island, Davids Island, the Blauzes, the Chimney Sweeps, and dozens of other such islets.

Detail from "Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova." (New Netherland and New

England.) 1635.  By Mapmaker Willem Blaeu.  Source:  "Nova Belgica

et Anglia Nova," New York Public Library Lionel Pincus and Prrincess

Firyal Map Division, Digital Image No. 434101 (visited Aug. 18,

2018).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Though published in 1635, this is an enhanced, engraved, and published version of Adriaen Block's early 1614 manuscript map of New Netherland and New England.  Unlike most of the other maps, this one is oriented with north depicted to the right on the map as seen by the viewer.  

This early map references "Wecke" (i.e., Wiechquaeskecks) roughly in the region of today's Pelham (with no reference in that region to Siwanoys).  The map also shows "Hellegat" and three references in the area to "Archipelagus" (or other spelling variants). 

Detail from "Nova Anglia, Novum Belgium, et Virginia" (New England,

New Netherland, and Virginia).  1636.  By Mapmakers Janssonius

Jansz and Johannes Jan.  Source:  Nova Anglia, Novum Belgium, et

Virginia, New York Public Library, Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal

Map Division, Image ID 484206 (visited Aug. 18, 2018).  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Map collectors refer to this map as the "first state" of Janssoniu (or Jansson) Jansz's printed map plate that clearly was based on the above-referenced 1630 copper plate prepared by cartographer Hessel Gerritsz.  Because the map is based on the earlier 1630 Gerritsz map, the region of today's Pelham references the same three features important to Pelham history:  (1) Wecke; (2) Helle gaet; and (3) Aechipelago.

Detail from "Nova Belgica sive Nieuw Nederlandt." 1656.  Prepared by

Adriaen van der Donck and Included in van der Donck's "Beschryvinge

van Nieuw-Nederlant" Published in 1656.  Source:  "Nova Belgica sive

Nieuw Nederlandt," 1656, John Carter Brown Library Map Collection,

Brown University, Accession No. 02929, File Name 02929-1, Call No.

F656 D678b (visited Aug. 18, 2018).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

This map is fascinating because it was created from a map drawn by Adriaen van der Donck, after whom today's Yonkers is named.  During portions of the 1640s van der Donck owned and developed a vast acreage awarded him by the Director-General and Council at Fort Amsterdam that encompassed a large swath of the southwestern portion of today's lower Westchester County.  Van der Donck actually resided in the region and served as, among other things, a guide and interpreter for the Dutch colonial authorities given his experience with local Natives.

That makes the map detail depicted above quite interesting given that it contains a reference to "Siwanoys" suggesting that a band of local Natives in the region was known as "Siwanoys."  Interestlingly, the map places such "Siwanoys" north and northwest of Stamford rather than in the Pelham region.  

The Pelham region, which is labeled "Freedlant," is shown as populated by the Natives known as "Manhattans" (who also are shown as located on today's Manhattan).  It is known that the Manhattans of the Island of Manhattan and the Wiechquaeskecks of the Bronx and lower Westchester County, both Lenape groups that spoke the Munsee dialect, were close and communicated and traded with one another via a significant trail that became Broadway and Old Boston Post Road.  However, most modern scholars agree that the Manhattans populated the Island of Manhattan while the Wiechquaeskecks populated much of the Bronx, Westchester County, and even southwestern Connecticut.

The map seems to copy other earlier maps in its placement of a reference to "Siwanoys" north of Stamford.  It also includes a reference to "Hellegat."  Though it references "Archipelago" in Long Island Sound well east of Stamford, it shows the Sound as the "Oost Rever" (East River) and depicts many small islands in waters off the shores of Freedlant.  

Detail from "Pas caerte van Nieu Nederlandt en de Engelsche Virginies

van Cabo Cod tot Cabo Canrick"  1666.  By Mapmaker Pieter Groos.

Source:  Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc., "Pas caerte

van Nieu Nederlandt en de Engelsche Virginies van Cabo Cod tot

Cabo Canrick" (visited Aug. 18, 2018).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

This detail immediately above is from a significant 17th century Dutch map that illustrates the Atlantic coast of America from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras with, of course, an emphasis on the Dutch Colony of New Netherland.  Cartographer Pieter Goos published the map in De Zee Atlas ofter Water-Weereld, first published by Goos in 1666.  

There are a number of notable features in the region that became today's Pelham depicted on this map.  First, it once again includes a reference to "Hellegat" (similar to the earlier-referenced 'Helle gaet" references described above.  It also references the Pelham region as "Freedlant," a Dutch term that translates very roughly as "Freedom Land."  Not only did the Dutch know today's Pelham region as Freedlandt (with many variant spellings reflected in 17th century records) but also in the 1960s a massive amusement park operated in the same area (including the area where today's Co-op City stands) that was named "Freedom Land."  Additionally, it shows the Long Island Sound off of Pelham shores as "Oost Rivier" (i.e., "East River").  Finally, this map shows the "Archipelago" as an area of islands off Connecticut shores, although it continues to show many small, untitled islands and islets off the shore of "Freedlant."

 Detail from "Pas caerte van Nieu Nederlandt en de Engelsche Virginies : van

Cabo Cod tot Cabo Canrick" (Later Edition, 1676, of Map by Pieter Goos first Published

in 1666).  Source:  Pas caerte van Nieu Nederlandt en de Engelsche Virginies :

van Cabo Cod tot Cabo Canrick, New York Public Library Lionel Pincus and 

Princess Firyall Map Division, Digital Image No.  433976 (visited Aug. 18, 2018).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

This detail from a 1676 edition of a map first published by cartographer Pieter Groos in 1666 (see above) includes two interesting elements depicted in the region that became today's Pelham.  First, it once again includes a reference to "Hellegat" (similar to the earlier-referenced 'Helle gaet" references described above.  It also references the Pelham region, once again, as "Freedlant."

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Does this 17th Century Colonial Document Reference Natives Named "Siwanoys"?

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I long have argued that there were no local Natives who knew themselves -- or were referenced by others or properly identified -- as "Siwanoys" despite the nearly two-hundred-year-old Pelham tradition to the contrary.  See Wed., Jan. 29, 2014:  There Were No Native Americans Known as Siwanoys; Mon., Aug. 13, 2018:  There Seems To Be Another Early 17th Century Map that References Siwanoys; Mon., Aug. 20, 2018:  A 17th Century Book Reference to "Siwanois" Natives in the Region of Today's Pelham.

One of the bases for this conclusion is the fact that research has not revealed any primary source 16th, 17th, or 18th Dutch or English colonial documents showing that a group of local Natives identified themselves (or were identified by authorities) as a group named "Siwanoys."  Rather, countless such primary source documents (hundreds, if not thousands) identify the local Natives who inhabited the region that became today's Pelham and Pelham Bay Park as "Wiechquaeskecks" (with a variety of spellings).

Yesterday's Historic Pelham Blog article focused on a reference in a book published in the Netherlands in 1625 that stated:  "The natives here are called Siwanois, and dwell along the coast for eight leagues, to the neighborhood of Hellegat."  The article concluded that the un-sourced reference written by a man who never had visited America could not be viewed as actual evidence that local Natives were, in fact, known properly as "Siwanoys."  Indeed, recent scholarship seems to be settling on the suggestion that the term "Siwanoy" was a descriptive term that meant sewan (i.e., wampum) making people ("oy") of this place.  Another alternative seems to be, roughly, people to the south or southerly people.

Today's Historic Pelham article addresses an early 18th century colonial document that makes a reference to Natives known as "Sewonkeegs."  At least one scholar has concluded that the term "Sewonkeeg" was a spelling variant of "Siwanoys."  See "SYNONYMY" in Hodge, Frederick Webb, ed., Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part 2, pp. 1021, 1137 (Washington, DC:  Gov't Printing Office, 1912) (stating "Sewonkeeg = Siwanoy"). 

In January, 1700 (new style), officials of the Colony of Connecticut were concerned about rumors of an "Indian Rising."  There were rumors that Natives well to the north including Mohawks were planning an attack against English settlers in New England.  The Governor of the Colony of Connecticut at the time was Fitz-John Winthrop (known as "John Winthrop" like his father who served as an earlier Governor of the Colony of Connecticut and like his Grandfather who served as an earlier Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay). On January 22, 1699/1700 (old style, the equivalent of February 1, 1700 under the "new style" Gregorian Calendar), Governor Winthrop and a group of military and civilian advisers gathered in New London to meet with a number of local Native sachems and their various "councils."  The purpose of the meeting was to reaffirm earlier peace arrangements with the local Natives and to learn from them what they had heard of the rumors regarding plans by Natives to the north including Mohawks to attack English colonists.

One of the Natives present at the meeting was a Mohegan sachem named "Owaneco."  Owaneco was the eldest son of the Mohegan sachem Uncas.  He was named after Uncas' father, Owaneco.  Owaneco spoke at length during the meeting.  He detailed all rumors his people had heard.  Among those rumors was one that certain "Eastward Indians" including the Mohawks and Nowonthewogs were conspiring to attack English settlers and had sent wampum to "Western Indians" including "the Sewonkeeg" to secure their participation in the plot.  The specific reference contained in the record of the meeting reads, in pertinent part, as follows:

"Likewise he [i.e., Owaneco] informs that about a month since he heard that the Mohawks and the Nowonthewog or the Eastward Indians had combined against the English and that they had agreed to send Wampom to the Sewonkeeg or Western Indians, and that they had sent a girdle of Wampom to the Wapaquasett or New-Roxbury Indians of which he was to have a part; when he heard this news he advised his men to be silent till the belt of Wampom should be brought to him --"

If Frederick Webb Hodge, editor of the Native American Handbook, Part 2, published in 1912 was correct and "Sewonkeeg = Siwanoy," then arguably this early 18th century document would suggest the existence of a band of Natives understood (at least by the sachem Owaneco) as Siwanoys. 

Once again, like the 1625 reference in the book by Johannes De Laet addressed in yesterday's article, this much later 18th century reference to "Sewonkeeg" does not support the existence of  a group of Natives in the region of today's Pelham that were known properly as "Siwanoys."

First, of course, the location of these "Sewonkeegs" is only referenced as "Westward" of the "Eastward Indians" that included the Mohawks and the Nowonthewog.  The "Westward" reference is simply too broad to assume that the actual location was the region that included today's Pelham and Pelham Bay Park.

Second, Frederick Webb Hodge is one of many scholars who seem simply to have assumed the existence of "Siwanoys" (likely due to reliance on the work of others who also assumed their existence) without ever detailing any evidence whatsoever to establish their existence.  

Third, this document is an early 18th century document.  Scholars seem entirely to agree that by the end of the 17th century, years of warfare, periodic epidemics, and waves of settlers who took control of nearly all local land from Natives had forced the Natives (including those who once populated the region that became today's Pelham and Pelham Bay Park) out of the Hudson River Valley.  Thus, there is virtual certainty that the reference to "Sewonkeegs" who were "Westward" of the Mohawks and Nowonthewog could not have been a reference to Natives near the Pelham region.  Admittedly, of course, Native bands were forced elsewhere and this could be a reference to such a band, but the evidence is scant -- and virtually non-existent -- that a substantial band of Siwanoys large enough to be capable of being recruited for an early 18th century attack against English settlers continued to exist (much less continued to exist in this region).

Fourth, spelling variants of most Native references are legion in the early colonial records where scribes simply tried to reproduce in writing the phonetics of such terms.  Thus, it admittedly could be the case that the "Sewonkeeg" reference was a spelling variant of the more common spelling of "Siwanoy."  It must be recognized, however, that whether Siwanoys existed or not, the term "Sewonkeeg" may not be a spelling variant of the term.

Fifth, there are countless 17th century Dutch and English documents that make clear that Natives in the area that became today's Pelham and Pelham Bay Park were referenced as "Wiechquaeskecks" (also with a wide variety of spellings).  Assuming that this record dated January 22, 1699/1700 (old style) referencing ""Sewonkeegs" is actually a reference to "Siwanoys," this single document certainly provides little support for the conclusion that that Natives known as "Siwanoys" once populated the Pelham region and sold their lands to Thomas Pell on June 27, 1654 (old style).

Portrait of Fitz-John Winthrop (Born March 14, 1637; Died

November 27, 1707) Who Served as 24th Governor of the Colony

of Connecticut, 1698-1707.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

Transcribed immediately below is the January 22, 1699/1700 (old style) record referenced in today's Historic Pelham Blog article.

"Information respecting a rumored Rising of the Indians.

[New-York Papers, Bundle, H, J, K, K 23, 24, 25.]

The information made by Owaneco Sachem of Monhegan concerning a combination of the Indians to make warr upon the English given to the Gover r & Councill in New London January the 22 1699/1700

PRESENT -- The Honb le  John Winthrop Esq Governour,
Capt n Samuell Mason, 
Capt Dan l Wetherell,
Mr. Rich d Christophes
Mr Nemehiah Smyth, Mr. Nehemah Palmer.

The Indians then attending were (: besides Owaneco Sachem of the Mohegans and divers of his Councill:) Momohans Councill, Scadaub Sachim of a part of the Pequots with his Councill and the Indian Councill of Nihantick. -- 

The interpreters were:  Capt n John Stanton and Lieut t James Avery: -- 

Owaneco being asked what he desired to relate -- Declared:

He remember the covenant made between the Colony and His Father, pursuant to which he had made hast to inform Capt n Mason as soon as he understood any mischief to be designed against the English.

The Hon ble Governour then telling him, that he had sent for him to know and now expected to hear from him:) what he had heard concerning the designe, that as he had heretofore so he might also now shew, how carefull he was, that, that ancient covenant might not be broken.  Owaneco went on and reported as followeth:  That he had news by a Juncks'es Indian call'd Wadungum (: about two months since :) that a Dutchman at Albany had told of the Mohawcks that King William had ordered all the Indians to be cutt off; and that the English and French had letters about it, and that the Dutchman advised the Mohawcks to buy ammunition speedily; because in a little time none would be suffered to sell them any, and sold them presently about twenty barrells of powder -- 

Since which Owaneco informs that he heard that Canada Mohawks were come over to the other, and that they held a great Councill, where the news above mentioned was discoursed -- The Canada Mohawks said they heard the same, wherefore they came over to take Councill with them against the English.  An Indian whose name is Toby formerly belonging to the Indians that live at New Roxbury (: and who had a hand in the killing of one Johnson near the same town in the last war with the Indians, from the English, they might then easily destroy the English; Upon which the Mohawks imployed Toby to carry presents to the Nipmug (: or Wapaquassett) Indians, and to the Mohogans to draw them off from the English and withall to assure the Mohegans that if they would not forsake the English, they would look upon them as Enemies -- 

Likewise he informs that about a month since he heard that the Mohawks and the Nowonthewog or the Eastward Indians had combined against the English and that they had agreed to send Wampom to the Sewonkeeg or Western Indians, and that they had sent a girdle of Wampom to the Wapaquasett or New-Roxbury Indians of which he was to have a part; when he heard this news he advised his men to be silent till the belt of Wampom should be brought to him -- 

About a week after this Owaneco being at Norwich, one Nanaquabin a principal Indian among the Wapaquassetts came to him and asked him to refresh himself with a cup of sider, and gave him at Ensigne Bushnel's a piece of eight and an half, with a shilling which he shewed to Ensigne Bushnell and soon after went out of Norwich; designing home, but when he had got out of Town, a young Indian running after him, overtook him and told him, Nanaquabin was comeing to speak with him, upon which he made a stop until Nanaquabin came up, who then told him that he had a secret to tell him and desired that the Indians that were with him might be sent away which he did, and then Nanaquabin told him, there was a great designe on foot ag st the English, that the Mohawks were concern'd in it; and confirmed the former news which he had heard of the Mohawks, and at the same time Nanaquabin delivered to Owaneco a part of the girdle of Wampom (which he had delivered to Capt n Mason and was by him brought to the Governour and Councill.) which Wampom Nanaquabin told him the Mohawks had sent him and that the Wapaquassett Indians had already received  part of a girdle of Wampom -- He further said that Nanaquabin importuned him very much to keep this matter close, and pressed upon him the danger that would be in discovering it, because the designe was not yet ripe for the Schachkook Indians were gone a hunting to Manadnuck and Winepisseoket and were to meet at Namaschaug a fishing place, where they were to receive orders from the Mohawks when to strike the blow; and perswaded him to withdraw from the English; telling him that whatsoever discovered the plott would be look'd upon as enemies to the combined Indians and made to eat fire -- After this discourse, Nemaquabin asked Owaneco what answer he would returne to the Mohawks; who said he must first ask his Councill; then Owaneco asked Nemaquabin, how the Wapaquassett Indians liked the designe, who said very well, and that they have returned them thanks and a present of twenty five shillings; Then Owaneco asked him how much time he must have to answer them in; who replyed, the sooner the better; but not later then the beginning of the spring; after this discourse they both went to Shatuskett, and stayed there two nights; Owaneco asked Nemaquabin, where he would hunt this winter; who answered at Manadnuck but when Owaneco replyed that Manadnuck was a place of death, because he had received the Wampom; then he said he would go into Philips Country and draw off from the English, the Indians that were in those parts. --"

Source:  O'Callaghan, E.B., ed., Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York; Procured in Holland, England and France, by John Romeyn Brodhead, Esq., Agent, Vol. IV, pp. 613-15 (Albany, NY:  Weed, Parsons and Co., 1854) (footnotes omitted).

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A 17th Century Book Reference to "Siwanois" Natives in the Region of Today's Pelham

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Research has revealed an early 17th century book that refers to "Siwanois" as natives that "dwell along the coast for eight leagues, to the neighborhood of Hellegat."  The area referenced in the book includes the region that later became today's Pelham and Pelham Bay Park.  

This fascinating reference may be added to the various editions of a number of 17th century maps that also included references to "Siwanoys" and "Siwanois" in various areas including the area north of today's Stamford, Connecticut and the area of northeast Massachusetts.  See Mon., Aug. 13, 2018:  There Seems To Be Another Early 17th Century Map that References Siwanoys.  Today's Historic Pelham Blog article describes and quotes the 17th century resource and addresses whether this reference disproves the conclusions that the local Natives who sold land to Thomas Pell were Wiechquaeskecks and that there were no Natives who should properly be known as "Siwanoys."

In 1625 a large folio volume in Dutch written by Ioannes de Laet (also, Johannes De Laet) was published by the "Printing House" of Isaack Elzevier in Leyden.  (Today's Leyden is in the Province of South Holland, Netherlands).  De Laet's work was entitled "Nieuvve Wereldt, Ofte, Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien Wt veelderhande schriften ende aen-teeckeninghen van verscheyden natien by een versamelt door Ioannes de Laet; ende met noodighe kaerten ende tafels voorsien."  Roughly translated, the book was entitled "New world, or, Description of West-India collected out of various writings and notes from various nations by Johannes de Laet, and provided with needful maps and tables."  

 

Title Page of "Nieuvve Wereldt, Ofte, Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien

Wt veelderhande schriften ende aen-teeckeninghen van verscheyden

natien by een versamelt door Ioannes de Laet" Published in 1625.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Johannes De Laet, born in 1582, was a director in the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company from the first organization of the firm until his death on December 15, 1649.  De Laet was passionately interested in geography and "was one of the chief workers for the [Leyden Printing House] of Elzevier in the composition of their popular series of manuals sometimes called Respublicae Elzevirianae, writing some eight or nine little volumes on the geography and government of as many different countries."  See Jameson, J. Franklin, Narratives of New Netherland 1609-1664, p. 31 (NY, NY:  Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909).  Although De Laet "seems never to have visited America," id., p. 32, he had not only a geographical interest, but also a personal interest in New Netherland.  According to Jameson:

"De Laet's most direct interest in New Netherland arose some years after he had published the first edition of the New World.  In 1630, soon after the institution of the system of patroonships, he became a partner in the abortive Dutch settlements on either side of Delaware Bay, and in the more permanent patroonship of Rensselaerswyck."  Id.

De Laet's folio on the "New World" published in 1625 was divided into fifteen "books."  Book III dealt with "Virginia" and included chapters 7 through 11 that dealt with New Netherland.  Chapter 8 was entitled "Situation of the Coast of of New Netherland from Pye Bay to the Great River of Mountains."  Pye Bay was a Dutch reference to a feature near Marblehead, Massachusetts.  The "Great River of Mountains" was a Dutch reference to the Hudson River.  Within this description of the northeastern coast between today's Marblehead, Massachusetts and today's Upper New York Bay off the tip of Manhattan was a description of the coastal area between Hell Gate below today's City Island and the Four Mile and Quinipiac Rivers in Connecticut.  Within the description of that area appears the following reference, as translated and published in 1909 by J. Franklin Jameson:

"Four leagues further to the west there lies a small island, where good water is to be found; and four leagues beyond that are a number of islands, so that Captain Adriaen Block gave the name of Archipelagus to the group.  The great bay is there about four leagues wide.  There is a small stream on the main that does not extend more than half a league in from the shore, when it becomes perfectly dry.  The natives here are called Siwanois, and dwell along the coast for eight leagues, to the neighborhood of Hellegat."

Source:  Jameson, J. Franklin, Narratives of New Netherland 1609-1664, p. 44 (NY, NY:  Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909) (reference appears in Book III, Ch. on "Virginia," p. 86, in original 1625 De Laet folio).

 

Detail from Book III, p. 86 of  de Laet, Ioannes, Nieuvve Wereldt, Ofte,

Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien Wt veelderhande schriften ende

aen-teeckeninghen van verscheyden natien by een versamelt door

Ioannes de Laet; ende met noodighe kaerten ende tafels voorsien

Leyden, Netherland:  Elzevier, 1625).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Red Arrow Points to Reference to "Siwanois" on Original Page.

An immediate reaction to this reference may suggest to some that de Laet, who seems never to have visited New Netherland, had some knowledge from some unidentified source that the Natives in the coastal region that includes today's Pelham and Pelham Bay Park were known as "Siwanoys."  The reference does not, however, rise to the level of primary source evidence that there were Natives in the Pelham region that referenced themselves, and were referenced by others at the time, as "Siwanoys."

First, in both the 1625 edition and a 1630 edition of the same folio, de Laet included an assertion that among the Natives that inhabited an area along the "South River" (known today as the Delaware River) was a group named the "Sauwanoos."  See Jameson, J. Franklin, Narratives of New Netherland 1609-1664, p. 52 n.3 & p. 53 (NY, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909). This reference to "Sauwanoos" along the Delaware River joins 17th century map references to "Siwanoys" north of today's Stamford and to "Siwanois" in the northeastern part of today's Massachusetts as well as the earlier-described de Laet book reference to "Siwanois" near Hell Gate.  These four Siwanoy references tied to widely-disparate geographic locations together suggest either mistakes due to reliance on uninformed and inaccurate map references or -- more likely -- mapmakers' (and, perhaps, others') mistaken use of Native descriptive phrases intended to apply across different groups of Natives as though such descriptive phrases were the tribal names of the various groups of Natives.  (See below.)  

Second, others who have considered the matter closely likewise have rejected the notion that de Laet's work published in 1625 supports the existence of a group of Natives properly known as "Siwanoys."  For example, in his recent book on Wiechquaeskeck Natives, John Alexander Buckland argues extensively that "Siwanoy" was a descriptive term that meant the people who make wampum in this place.  He devotes a chapter in his book to the argument and begins as follows:  "Siwanoy means 'the place of sewan-making,' or 'the people who make sewan at this place.'  Sewan means 'wampum,' or 'shell beads.'  Oy, ois, or og means 'place.' There were Siwanoy all along the shore on both sides of Long Island Sound, in Delaware and in Massachusetts, north of Boston, when the Europeans arrived."  Buckland, John Alexander, The First Traders on Wall Street: The Wiechquaeskeck Indians of Southwestern Connecticut in the Seventeenth Century, p. 65 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2009).  He further notes:

"It is very probable that, about 1630, someone charting the shore asked the people there the name of their tribe, through an interpreter.  The two languages were vastly different in grammar and structure, and the question was understood as 'who are you?'  The answer was simply 'Siwanoy,' the people who make sewan. . . . Use of the name Siwanoy was not unique to the north shore of Long Island Sound in early accounts.  Johan de Laet (deLaet: 53) mentioned the Sawanoos [sic] on Long Island [sic] in 1609.  Adraien Block's 1614 map of northeastern Massachusetts has Sywanois there.  That simply means that they also made wampum on Long Island and in northeastern Massachusetts.  The name also turned up on maos of Delaware.  Various early spellings of Siwanoy included:  Sewonkeeg, Siwanoos, Siwanois, Sywanois, and Siwanog."

Source:  id., p. 66.

Third and most significantly, research has not revealed even one New Netherland or New England colonial document that uses the term "Siwanoy" or any spelling variant of it as the name of an identifiable group of Natives in the region of today's Pelham or elsewhere.

Despite the single reference in De Laet's 17th century book indicating that coastal Natives near Hell Gate were named "Siwanois," no primary evidence supports the assertion.  De Laet certainly was mistaken. 

*          *          *          *          *

"CHAPTER 8

Situation of the Coast of of New Netherland from Pye Bay to the Great River of Mountains. . . . 

"Pye Bay is perhaps that of Marblehead, Massachusetts."  [NOTE:  The "Great River of Mountains" was how the Dutch, who came from a flat sea-level nation, first described the Hudson River in the earliest years of the 17th Century.  Thus, what follows is a relevant portion of a chapter that describes the northeast coastline from today's Marblehead, Massachusetts to New York Harbor and Upper New York Bay.]

[Page 43]

Next, on the same south coast, succeeds a river named by our countrymen Fresh River, 3 which is shallow at its mouth, and lies between two courses, north by east and west by north; but according to conjecture, its general direction is from north-northwest.  In some places it is very shallow, so that at about fifteen leagues up the river there is not much more than five feet of water.  There are few inhabitants near the mouth of the river, but at the distance of fifteen leagues above they become numerous; their nation is called Sequins.  From this place the river stretches ten leagues, mostly in a northerly direction, but is very crooked; the reaches extend from northeast to southwest by south, and it is impossible to sail through them all with a head wind.  The depth of water varies from eight to twelve feet, is sometimes four and five fathoms, but mostly eight and nine feet.  The natives there plant maize, and in the year 1614 they had a village resembling a fort for protection against the attacks of their enemies.  They are called Nawaas, and their sagamore was then named Morahieck.  They term the bread made of maize in their language, leganick.  This place is situated in latitude 41° 48'.  The river is not navigable with yachts for more than two leagues farther, as it is very shallow and has a rocky bottom.  Within the land dwells another nation of savages, who are called Horikans; they descend the river in canoes made of bark  This river has always a downward current, so that no assistance is drived from it in going up, but a favorable wind is necessary.  

From Fresh River to another called the river of Royenberch, 4 it is eight leagues, west by north and east by south; this stream 

[Page 44]

stretches east-northeast, and is about a bow-shot wide, with a depth of three and a half fathoms at high water.  It rises and falls about six feet; a southeast by south moon causes high water at its mouth.  The natives who dwell here are called Quiripeys.  They take many beavers, but it is necessary for them to get into the habit of trade, otherwise they are too indolent to hunt the beaver.

Four leagues further to the west there lies a small island, where good water is to be found; and four leagues beyond that are a number of islands, so that Captain Adriaen Block gave the name of Archipelagus to the group.  The great bay is there about four leagues wide.  There is a small stream on the main that does not extend more than half a league in from the shore, when it becomes perfectly dry.  The natives here are called Siwanois, and dwell along the coast for eight leagues, to the neighborhood of Hellegat.  At the entrance of this bay, as we have already mentioned, are situated several islands, or broken land, on which a nation of savages have their abode, who are called Matouwax; they obtain a livelihood by fishing within the bay; whence the most easterly point of the land received from our people the name of Fisher's Hook and also Cape de Baye. 1  This cape and Block Island are situated about four leagues apart, in a course east by north and west by south."

[Page 43, Footnote 3 Reads:  "3 Four Mile River."]

[Page 43, Footnote 4 Reads:  "4 Quinipiac River, near New Haven."]

[Page 44, Footnote 1 Reads:  "1 Montauk Point."]

Source:  Jameson, J. Franklin, Narratives of New Netherland 1609-1664, pp. 43-44 (NY, NY:  Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909) (Includes an English translation of those portions of de Laet's "New World" relating to New Netherland as one of a series of "Original Narratives of Early American History Reproduced Under the Auspices of the American Historical Association").   

"CHAPTER 11

Further Description of the Coast to the Second Great River, and from thence to Latitude 38°, [and what the free Netherlanders have done there]. . . . 

"Ed.  1630, which, at the passage below relating to Indian tribes, reads:  'On this South River dwell divers nations of savages, namely, the Sauwanoos, Naraticons, Ermonmex, Sankicans.  TheMinquaas, Capitanasses, Gacheos, Sennecaas, Canomakers, Konekotays, Matanackouses, Armeomecks, etc., dwell further inland and upon another river. . . ."

Source:  Jameson, J. Franklin, Narratives of New Netherland 1609-1664, p. 52 n.3 (NY, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909) (Includes an English translation of those portions of de Laet's "New World" relating to New Netherland as one of a series of "Original Narratives of Early American History Reproduced Under the Auspices of the American Historical Association").

"CHAPTER 11

Further Description of the Coast to the Second Great River, and from thence to Latitude 38°, [and what the free Netherlanders have done there]. . . . 

"Within this bay is the other large river, called the South River, of which we have spoken in the seventh chapter; and several smaller streams. . . which I shall omit to describe as their true bearing and situation have not reached me, although some of our navigators are well acquainted with these rivers, which they discovered and have visited for several years.  Several nations of savages inhabit the banks of these rivers, namely, the Sauwanoos, Sanhicans, Minquaas, Capitanasses, Gacheos, Sennecaas, Canomakers, Naratekons, Konekotays, Matanackouses, Armeomecks, etc., nearly all of whom are of the same character and condition as those we have already described.  They plant the land and have much maize, beans, and whatever else the other natives possess."

Source:  Jameson, J. Franklin, Narratives of New Netherland 1609-1664, pp. 52-53 (NY, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909) (Includes an English translation of those portions of de Laet's "New World" relating to New Netherland as one of a series of "Original Narratives of Early American History Reproduced Under the Auspices of the American Historical Association").

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