The Hudson Valley Indians Through Dutch Eyes

Introduction
Period of Exploration
Hudson's Exploration of the Hudson River
Period of Settlement
Tribal Identity and Locations
Political Organization
Law and Order
Economics
Puberty and Marriage
Religion
Dutch Attitudes Toward the Indians
Conclusion

Introduction

The subject of this paper is influenced by two facets of the early Dutch experience in North America. The Dutch who settled the Hudson Valley came to procure the trade and territory of its indigenous people and not to proselytize for their salvation. Unlike their French neighbors to the north, they sent no zealots to live among the Indians and learn their ways and beliefs in order to change them. Theirs was a pragmatic if culturally myopic interest in profits and yet, this interest alone should have brought to the Dutch an intimate knowledge of the natives. Unfortunately, while they left copious and detailed records of their trade and intrigues, their Indian records, with few exceptions, exhibit the quality of the disinterested.

The process of settlement is of equal importance to understanding the Dutch view of the native population. While the potentially rich prize lay within grasp and claim by 1609, there was little organized effort to colonize until the 1620’s. To be sure, Amsterdam merchants were quick to capitalize on the trade possibilities and thereby reaped enormous profits. By 1613 a small fortified storehouse had been constructed on Manhattan Island and a year later a second storehouse was built south of Albany (Lossing 1888:14-15). Yet these settlements were largely wilderness outposts with few permanent settlers until after the chartering of the Dutch West India company in 1623.

The reasons for the Dutch reluctance to settle quickly are instructive. The discovery and colonization of Hudson’s River was the incidental byproduct of a more complex series of European struggles for nationhood and empire which focused on Holland and Spain. Pitted against the Catholic monarchy of Spain was a group of Protestant expatriates from Antwerp. Because of the persecutions by the Duke of Alba, much of the intellectual and commercial talent of Antwerp immigrated to Holland and Zealand, particularly to the city of Amsterdam. Along with their intellectual curiosity and their propensity for trade they shared an intense hatred for Spain and a nearly pathological desire to end Spanish rule of their homeland.

This desire for retribution permeated every action of the group. George Asher, the biographer of Hudson, described their plan:

... they longed with all their hearts to drive the Spaniards from their ancient homesteads, to return in triumph and to introduce the Protestant religion into their native country. The plan by which they intended to effect this noble purpose is so grand that it hardly deserves the oblivion with which history has punished its failure. They proposed to attack the Spaniards in all their colonies, to destroy their resources and thus to disable them from holding Belgium any longer (Asher 1860:XXX).

The author of this plan was an Antwerp merchant William Usselincx, who agitated for more than thirty years among his countrymen and who later became the founder of the vehicle with which to bring the plan to fruition: The Dutch West India Company.

This audacious plan for Spanish defeat whetted the Dutch merchants' interest in world geography and made Amsterdam the center of cartography. Dutch merchants financed explorations designed to provide the knowledge needed to challenge Spanish supremacy. It was not long before these voyages focused on discovering a westward passage to Asia.

By the mid-sixteenth century the search for an all water route to Cathay had become the singular preoccupation of exploration. Its existence was accepted as a matter of faith by explorers, sovereigns, and merchants alike while the maps they produced and exchanged were used to support the surety of its presence. As Asher points out:

It seems to have been agreed among map makers that America must be an island; that it could not possibly stretch across the pole, so as to join Asia; and that, therefore, a northwest passage must exist somewhere This vague idea is expressed, on all the delineations of the globe produced in those days, in that positive form which maps necessarily assume (Ibid.:CIV).

With such Impeccable circularity assuring the existence of a passage and, given the impetus of national rivalries, buttressed as they were by religious fanaticism, it is little wonder that the new lands offered only a secondary interest. For their part, the men who explored the routes sailed for any nation that would pay the bills. Their primary concern was with the vindication of their ideas. As they probed the coast line of America, charted its sinuosity, recorded their location and pressed on, rarely did they stop to explore that which they had discovered; their concern was with the uncharted.

The returning ships, with their strange and sometimes unwilling trophies, their captains' charts and logs and their crews’ tales, had a potent influence on European views of the New World. On the one hand was the careful observation of the geographer-explorers describing the physical features of the New World. They included descriptions of the plants and animals, the bays, shoals, water depths, currents, and inhabitants. Whenever possible, they brought back specimens for their sovereigns to examine so that each European court developed its collection of curios. On the other hand were the stories told by the sailors, filtered by the prisms of their culture and certainly elaborated and distorted by time and situation. Added to this were printed and illustrated reports which often turned the New World population into a veritable bestiary imposing medieval myth and allegory on the new continents. Whether the reports were from the scrupulously kept ship's journal or the egregious product of grog house conversation, they circulated throughout Europe as fact. They led to erudite discussions which reverberated through the religious communities challenging established Christian doctrine. Thus, by 1600, Europeans had formed a picture of the New World and an evaluation and valuation of its inhabitants.

Period of Exploration

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On January 17, 1524, Verrazano sailed “...to reach Cathay, on the extreme coast of Asia... " (Ibid. :LXXIX) Aware that the area above the 65th parallel had been explored, he sailed west from Madiera arriving in March along the coast of the Carolinas near the 34th parallel (Ibid. :199-200). He sailed north reaching the Hudson River at the end of March, entered the harbor for a reconnaissance, stayed two weeks, and then proceeded north along the coast to the St. Lawrence and New Foundland From there he returned to France sometime in late May of 1524.

In his journey north from the Carolinas, Verrazano came in contact with a number of Indian groups. On these occasions there were exchanges of items, and, on one occasion, the kidnapping of an Indian boy. In Verrazano's words:

We took the little boy from the old woman to carry with us to France, and could have taken the girl also, who was very beautiful and very tall; but it was impossible because of the loud shrieks she uttered as we attempted to lead her away (Ibid.:207).

For his part, Verrazano found the people to be well-proportioned, of fair complexion,

“... . their faces are sharp, their hair long and black, upon the adorning of which they bestow great pain; their eyes are black and sharp, their expressions mild and pleasant” (Ibid.:213). He found they adorned themselves with copper ornaments, deer skin “artificially wrought in damask figures,” preferred ornaments of azure and red, disliked yellow and "... prized most highly the bells, azure crystals, and other toys to hang in their ears and about their necks” (Ibid.).

During his two week stay in Narragansett Bay he noted that, like other Indians he had previously observed, they carved canoes from a single log, and lived in circular houses, ten to twelve paces in circumference, made from split logs and covered with straw. In these houses resided as many as thirty persons; “the father and the whole family dwell together in one house in great numbers" Ibid.:217).

The mainstay of the Indian diet was a porridge or pulse made of corn which they planted according to the phase of the moon and “other ancient usages.” He noted that they were people in generally good health who lived a long life and:

If they fall sick, they cure themselves without medicine, by the heat of the fire; and their death at last comes from extreme old age. We judge them to be very affectionate and charitable towards their relatives, making loud lamentations in their adversity, and in their musing calling to mind all their good fortune. At their departure out of life, their relations mutually join in weeping, mingled with singing, for a long while (ibid.:218).

In summary Verrazano presented a valuable, if cursory, picture of Indian adaptation along the east coast. Their adjustment consisted of somewhat uniform patterns of technology, horticulture, diet, housing, dress, and trade.

A few months after Verrazano's exploration Estavan Gomez, a Portuguese sailing for Spain, covered the same route. Although he left no journal, he did leave a map of the coastline showing the principal harbors and rivers. Like Verrazano, he kidnapped natives to bring back to Spain. One consequence of this kidnapping fueled interest in exploration. Through an error it was reported that Gomez had returned from the east with clavos or cloves instead of esclavos or slaves (Ibid.:XCI).

It is certain that Henry Hudson and his crew had an impression of what to expect on their third voyage to attempt to discover an all water route to Cathay. But what each expected, captain or crew, depended upon the sources to which they had been exposed and the credence they placed in these sources. For Hudson, they were the printed reports and the personal exchanges with the geographers and explorers; whereas for the crew the information came from the waterfronts.

This distinction is admirably reflected in the three journals of Hudson's third voyage: those of Van Meteren, DeLaet, and Juet. The first of these comes from the history of the wars between Spain and the Netherlands, written by Emanuel Van Meteren whose position as Dutch consul in London enabled him to came in contact with the returning captains. As consul he undoubtedly met with Hudson in 1609-1610 and it is quite likely that it was from Hudson he received the notes included in his history.

Hudsons's Exploration of the Hudson River

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They found this a good place for cod fishing, as also for the traffic in skins and furs, which were to be got there at a very low price. But the crew behaved badly towards the people of the country, taking their property by force; out of which there arose quarrels among them (Ibid.:149).

They left Pennobscot Bay on the twenty-sixth of July and sailed south to the vicinity of 37° 45’, then north along the shore until on the twelfth of September they reached 40° 45'

“where they found a good entrance, between two headlands, and thus entered on the 12th of September into as fine a river as can be found, with good anchoring ground on both sides” (Ibid.:150).

This journal included only one short description of the Indians of the valley. On their course up the river Van Meteren reported that the Indians in the lower part of the river “are a strong and warlike people” while those in the upper part were “friendly and polite.” The journalist lamented the superficiality of the exploration saying “. . more could have been done if there had been goodwill among the crew and if the want of some necessary provisions had not prevented it” (Ibid.). It is hard to imagine what “necessary provisions’ were lacking since the ship carried on an active trade in food and furs the length of the river.

The second description which reflected Hudson’s view of his trip is to be found in a history written by John DeLaet in 1625 entitled Nieuwe Werelt (New World). DeLaet was a director of the Dutch West India Company, a Belgian expatriate, and a partner in the ill fated Dutch attempt to establish a colony on the Delaware River. Cast in these various roles, DeLaet had access to most of the contemporary materials, particularly the reports to the Dutch East India Company, from which he drew his description (Ibid.:XXXIV, Jameson 1909:32-34).

According to DeLaet, shortly after Hudson’s arrival at Sandy Hook he was visited by “... ten savages clothed in elk skins, who showed them every sign of friendship” (Jameson 1909:38). Hudson went ashore, visited with the natives and gave the following description:

When I came on shore, the swarthy natives all stood and sang in their fashions. Their clothing consists of the skins of foxes and other animals, which they dress and make the garments from skins of various sorts. Their food is Turkish wheat (maize), which they cook by baking and it is excellent eating. They soon came on board, one after another, in their canoes, which are made of a single piece of wood. Their weapons are bows and arrows, pointed with sharp stones, which they fasten with hard resin. They had no houses, but slept under the blue heavens, some on mats of bulrushes interwoven, and some on the leaves of trees. They always carry with than all their goods, as well as their food and green tobacco, which is strong and good for use. They appear to be a friendly people, but are much inclined to steal, and are adroit in carrying away whatever they take a fancy to (Ibid.:48).

The absence of permanent dwellings suggests that Hudson visited a temporary camp, perhaps for fishing. He noted the presence of copper pipes which he assumed were of local origin. Hudson was convinced of the presence of iron, based “. . .on the testimony of the natives, who, however, do not understand preparing it for use” (Ibid.:49). Additionally, he commented on the excellence of the oysters, and the abundance of fish, particularly salmon and sturgeon.

Proceeding up the river Hudson landed on the west shore somewhere in the vicinity of what is now Catskill, N. Y., (42° 18’) and visited one of the Indian encampments. In Hudson’s words:

I sailed to the shore in one of their canoes, with an old man, who was the chief of a tribe, consisting of forty men and seventeen women; these I saw there in a house well constructed of oak bark, and circular in shape, with the appearance of having a vaulted ceiling. It contained a great quantity of maize, and beans of the last year’s growth, and there lay near the house, two mats were spread out to sit upon, and immediately some food was served in well made red wooden bowls; two men were also despatched at once with bows and arrows in quest of game who soon after brought in a pair of pigeons which they had just shot. They likewise killed at once a fat dog, and skinned it in great haste, with shells which they get out of the water. They supposed that I would remain with then for the night, but I returned after a short time on board the ship.... The natives are a very good people; for, when they saw that I would not remain they supposed that I was afraid of their bows, and taking the arrows, they broke then in pieces, and threw than into the fire, etc. (Ibid.:49).

There is nothing in these descriptions to suggest that the Indians reacted to the voyage with anything but amiability. Hudson and the Indians visited and gifts were exchanged; they communicated although we do not know how.

The third, and by far the most complete account of the voyage, comes from Robert Juet who accompanied Hudson in some undisclosed capacity. Nothing is known of Juet prior to his voyages with Hudson except that he gives his home as Limehouse, England. Asher holds that he was probably English and accompanied Hudson without holding a formal position. Since he was one of the leaders of the crew who opposed Hudson and since he was active in the mutiny that led to Hudson’s death, it is difficult to accept that there existed a close bond between the men. However, the identity of the enigmatic Juet is of little import. Of greater interest is the contrast between Juet’s journal as opposed to the writings attributed to Hudson. For, when Hudson saw the natives as friendly, agreeable people for whom he had respect and sympathy; Juet expressed a xenophobia, a virulent and pervasive distrust that marks his journal.

On the fourth of September, while aground off Sandy Hook (40° 39’) Juet reported the first contact:

This day the people of the country came aboard of us, seeming very glad of our coming, and brought greene tobacco, and gave us of it for knives and beads. They goe in deere skins loose, well dressed. They have yellow copper. They desire cloathes, and are very civil. They have great store of maize or Indian wheate, whereof they made good bread (Asher 1860:79).

It is clear from this passage that the arrival of a strange vessel did not result in paroxysms of amazement; the pleasure at the coming was more likely because of the opportunity to trade. Juet reported in an earlier passage that the French had been carrying on an active trade along the coast of New England, that some of the Indians “spoke some words of French,” and that they had a supply of yellow copper (Ibid.:61). Verrazano referred to the copper nearly a hundred years earlier thus suggesting a complex and well established system of trade and communications. Clearly, the Indians of the Hudson Valley were aware of the proclivity of the intruders to trade as well as the types of items that would interest than.

On the fifth of September, after freeing the ship from a sandbar, some of the crew went ashore, visited the Indians and explored the terrain. The Indians gave them dried currants, hemp, copper pipes, and ornaments. “This day,” he says, “many people came aboard, some in mantles of feathers, and some in skinnes of divers sorts of good furres” (Ibid.:79). Although matters seemed to be amiable enough, Juet concluded the passage by saying “At night they went on land againe, so wee rode very quiet, but durst not trust them” (Ibid.;emphasis added).

On the sixth Hudson sent five men to sound the river, probably in the vicinity of the Narrows. They explored as far as Upper New York Bay and, on their return “they were set upon by two canoes, the one having twelve, the other fourteen men” (Ibid.) and one of the crew, John Coleman, was killed and two others wounded. Juet does not give any clue as to what caused the fight.

Coleman was buried at Sandy Hook on the seventh and the following day another group of Indians came to trade corn and tobacco for knives and beads. The crew tried unsuccessfully to determine if these Indians had participated in the attack. On the ninth two large canoes came, one with armed men aboard and the other "... in shew of buying of knives to betray us; but we perceived their intent. Wee tooke two of then to have kept them, and put red coates on them, and would not suffer the other to come neere us . So they went on land, and two other came aboord in a came; we tooke the one and let the other goe; but hee which we had taken, got up and leapt overboord” (Ibid.). After that, they moved the ship into the channel where they stayed for another day.

On the eleventh they sailed into the Hudson River where they anchored. Again the Indians visited bringing items of trade and again Juet ended the passage with “but we durst not trust then.” The following day the Half Moon proceeded two leagues up the river. Before leaving on the twelfth twenty-eight canoes, full of men, women, and children came but they were not allowed to board. They traded for oysters and beans and he noted that they had copper tobacco pipes and clay pots.

They proceeded up the river a few leagues at a time, stopping for frequent visits from Indians whom they treated with distrust. By the fourteenth of September Hudson was at West Point; the next day he sailed twenty leagues passing the upper Highlands. Juet reported:

This morning our two Savages got out of a port and swam away. After we were under sayle, they called to us in scorne. At night we came to other mountains (the Catskills), which lie from the rivers side. There wee found very loving people, and very old man: where wee were well used (Jameson 1909:21).

At this tine Hudson’ s ship was anchored somewhere between Athens and Hudson, N.Y. He stayed at anchor for a full day trading for corn, tobacco or pompions (pumpkins). By the nineteenth Hudson was just south of the present site of the city of Albany. The water being too shallow for his ship, he sent a boat ahead to explore while the remainder of the crew made repairs and traded for furs and food. Juet reported that in the afternoon of the twentieth:

And our master and his mate determined to trie some of the chiefe men of the country, whether they had any treacherie in them. So they tooke them downe into the cabbin, and gave than so much wine and aqua vitae, that they were all meine: and one of than had his wife with them, which sate so nodestly, as any of our country women would doe in a strange place. In the ende one of them was drunke, which had beene aboord of our ship all the tine that we had beene there: and that was strange to them; for they could not tell how to take it. The canoes and folke went all on shoare: but some of them came againe, and brought strings of Beades: some had sixe, seven, eight, nine, ten; and gave him. So he slept all night quietly (Ibid.:22-3).

The Indians returned the following day, and when they saw their companion had recovered they “. . . brought Tabacco, and more Beades, and gave than to our Master, and made an Oration, and shewed him all the Country round about. Then they sent one of their compaie on land, who presently returned, and brought a great Platter full of Venison dressed by themselves; and they caused him to eate with them: then they made him reverence, and departed all save the old man that lay aboord: (Ibid.:23). Juet does not tell us what treacheries were uncovered by this ruse but the rewards were obvious.

Unable to sail past the falls at Cohoes, Hudson began his descent on the twenty-third, continuing the friendly exchanges with the Indians. By the twenty-seventh he reached the 42nd parallel; by the twenty-ninth they were harbored in Beacon Bay. On the thirtieth there was another incident with the Indians. One climbed the rudder and stole a few small items of clothing. The mate shot and killed him whereupon his companions fled. The crew launched a boat to retrieve the articles and “Then one of them that swamme got hold of our boat, thinking to overthrow it. But our cooke tooke a sword, and cut off one of his hands, and he was drowned” (Ibid.:25-6). The attacks continued the following day with a half dozen Indians reported killed. On the second of October, Hudson reached the vicinity of Manhattan Island “There we saw no people to trouble us: and rode quietly all night...” (Ibid.:27). On the fourth, after two days of stormy weather, they sailed for England.

While Hudson’s contacts were cursory in nature he, like his predecessors, had an opportunity to observe at first hand the Indian’s life styles. Several points stand out.

• First, there seemed to be none of the amazement among the Indians that one might expect at the arrival of a strange craft and crew. If anything, Hudson’s visit was treated as a fortuitous opportunity to carry on trade, suggesting that there had been prior exposure to Europeans.
• Second, the presence of copper ornaments described by Verrazano and Hudson points to the existence of long term and well established indigenous trade routes extending across half the continent. The most likely point of origin of this copper was the Great Lakes area (Spencer et al. 1965:50). with frequent contacts by the French in the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes region as well as along the New England coast it is inconceivable that European goods, or at least knowledge of Europeans, did not permeate the Hudson Valley.
• Third, while both Verrazano and Hudson gave detailed descriptions of the dress, habits, and ornamentation of the Indians, it is interesting to note that no mention is made of the presence of scalps or even prisoners. ‘To be sure, absence does not prove non-existence; yet it is curious that such an obvious if gruesome ornament would be missed by such perspicacious observers.
• A fourth point that deserves mention related to tribal boundaries. Hudson found that the Indians north of 42° 18’ were friendly while those to the south were hostile and warlike and this demarcation coincides with the boundaries outlined by later writers suggesting that the Hudson Valley contained only two distinct ethnic groups.
• The fifth and final point concerns the Indian’s ecological adjustment. Hudson presented a picture of people living in relative abundance, with ample meat, fish, and grain supplies and, judging from his continual contacts along the shore, a people living in a well populated valley.

Period of Settlement

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• Nicholaes van Wassenaer’s Historical Verhael (1624-1630),
• Johan DeLaet’s New World (1625-1640),
• The Letter of Isaack DeRassieres to Samuel Blommaert (1628),
• The letter of Reverend Jonas Michaelius (1628),
• David de Vries’ Korte Historiael Ende Journaels Aenteyckeninge (1633-1643),
• Vander Donck's A Description of the New Netherlands (1656).

In addition, there are three valuable maps:

• One drawn by Captain Adrian Block in 1614
• A second by Captain Cornelius Hendricks in 1616
• The third by Vander Donck in 1656.

The first two are almost identical and are often referred to as the Carte Figuratives. Thus, from these works and charts it is possible to draw a composite description which, though sketchy in many details, at least presents some of the principal dimensions of early Indian culture in the Hudson Valley.

Tribal Identity and Locations

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Below the Maikans are situate these tribes; Mechkentowoon, Tapents, on the west side; Wiekagjock, Wyeck on the east side. Two nations lie there lower down at Klinckersberg near Kingston, N.Y. At the Fisher’s hook are Pachany, Warenecker, Wanauannankonclex. Near one place Esopes, are two or three tribes. The Manhates are situate at the mouth (Ibid.:67-8).

Because van Wassenaer ‘s history is based upon the reports he received from sailors and the maps available in 1624, it is to be assumed the tribes near the Esopus refer to groups on the east shore of the Hudson and that the Wiekagjock are most likely the Wikagy of the Carte Figuratives while the Wyeck may be a corrupted form of the Siwanoys (Sequins). DeRassieres identified this last group as the Souwenos (Ibid.:103) located near Pelham, N.Y. De Vries identified the Wikasyl as the Wickgwaesgeck and added another tribe to the region, the Tanditekes or Tankitekes whom Jameson said lived near Sing Sing (Ibid.:216). DeRassieres reported that the Raritans killed his men on Staten Island in 1640 and that on “The 2d. of November, there came a chief of the savages of Tankitekes, named Pacham, .. .bringing a dead hand hanging on a stick, and saying that it was the hand of the chief who had killed or shot with arrows our men on Staten Island” (Ibid.:211). South of the Tankitekes and Wickgwaesgeck were the Rechgawawanes who occupied what is now the Bronx, N.Y. (Bolton 1920:320).

At first glance, it appears as though the Hudson Valley was inhabited by a bewildering assortment of ethnic entities. This view is reinforced when one looks at the Dutch documents relative to the tong Island Indians. However this confusion is somewhat illusory. We can claim with some surety that the Indians bordering the mouth of the Hudson including the western half of long Island and extending up both sides of the Hudson to the area of Hudson and Catskill, N. Y. (42° 18') were all Munsee Delaware; that those to the north of this line were the Mahicans, another Algonkian speaking group linguistically different from the lower valley Indians; and the Indians of the Connecticut River Valley belonged to a third group which included the Naugatuck, Scaticook, Mohigan, Wappanoos, Sequins and a number of other groups not related to the Hudson Indians. Those to the south in New Jersey were Unami Delaware, a distinct although related group. Thus there is some support for the early distinctions made by Hudson between the Indians of the lower and upper Hudson Valley (Goddard 1971:14-26). It is not clear to which group the Sanhikans belonged. DeLaet, in his 1625 edition, located then on the west side of the Hudson and identified then as the enemies of the Manhattans “. . . and a much better people; they dwell within the sandy hook, and along the bay, as well as in the interior of the country” (Jameson 1909:45). However, in his 1630 edition he located then on a tributary of The South or Delaware River (ibid.:52-53). Thus it is likely that this tribe was Unami and not Munsee. This view is supported by DeLaet's Sankikan vocabulary which is, in large part, a list of Unami Delaware terms. The same applies to the Raritan who ‘. . . live where a little stream runs up about five leagues behind Staten Island...” (de Vries 208:Ibid.). In all likelihood the Raritan and Sanhikans were a single group of Unami-Delaware.

The Dutch failure to understand the valley tribes is attributable in part to the nature of Munsee Delaware socio-political structure and, in part, to the expectations of the Dutch. The seasonal migrations led the Dutch into believing more tribes existed than actually was the case. The Dutch reported that after spring planting, the Indians subsisted on fish by establishing camps along the river. In the fall, after harvest, the men, women, and children left the village to hunt. They returned in December with their winter’s supply of smoked meat. During these forays it was customary to leave the old and very young in the village (Wassenaer 71, DeRassieres 105-6, Ibid.). Apparently this cycle confused the Dutch for DeLaet noted:

Some of them lead a wandering life in the open air with no settled habitations; lying stretched upon the ground or on mats made of bulrushes, they take both their sleep and food, especially in the summer, when they go nearer to the sea for the sake of fishing. Others have fixed places of abode, and dwellings built with beams in the form of an oven, covered above with the bark of trees, so large that they are sufficient for several families (Jameson 1909:57).

While this accounts for the multiple contacts with the same group it does not explain the number of names attributed to each group. Again, Dutch predilection to look for established political units similar to those in Europe led to the inevitable conclusion that small villages were synonymous with nation-states. Nowhere do the Dutch mention the clan system of the Munsee, a vital component in their social and political organization. The Delaware had three exogamous clans: Wolf, Turkey, and Turtle. These clans were divided into a varying number of sub-lineages, each of which bore a name that could relate to some incident in the groups past or to a locality which they had at one time inhabited. Names like Pachami and Waroneck may have identified sub-lineages of clans suggesting that the independent tribes were in reality a number of interrelated kin groups. In other cases the original meaning was lost (Harrington 1913:210-11, Kinietz 1946:52).

Political Organization

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They dwell together in tribes, mostly of one consanguinity, over which commands a chief who is general and is generally called Sackema, possessing not much authority and little advantage, unless in their dances and other ceremonies (Jameson 1909:271).

Vander Donck noted that they lived in tribes with a chief who possessed little power except in ceremonies and war (Ibid.:302). DeLaet pointed out that “They have no form of political government, except that they have their chiefs, whom they call sackmos and sagamos, who are not much more than heads of families, for they rarely exceed the limits of one family connexion” (Ibid.:57-8). The sachen, according to DeRassieres, was chosen by the people to lead discussions but decisions were based on consensus. After a stranger was properly greeted and given the opportunity to state in public his desires:

the Sachina announces his opinion to the people, and if they agree thereto, they give all together a sigh--”He! ‘-- and if they do not approve, they keep silence, and all come close to the Sackirna, and each sets forth his opinion till they agree; that being done, they come all together again to the stranger, to whom the Sackirna then announces what they have determined, with the reasons moving them thereto (Ibid.:109).

The information on succession is not clear, but it seems probable that chiefly titles descended matrilineally through the extended family that constituted the village-tribe (Lindestran 1925) with due considerations given to community interests. The rules of matrilineallty and lineage exogamy required that young men seek wives in neighboring villages with the man moving into the village of his wife (Ibid.:107). If the husband moved to the village of his wife but did not become a member of her clan, the result was that any political duties he would have would be in the village of his mother while economic obligations tied him to his wife’s people. To maintain continuing contacts with both villages would require that villages representing different clans be in close proximity. However, it is easy to see why the Dutch might have been confused by such an amorphous system. The fact that chiefs had little power; that they were primarily military and ceremonial leaders; that they were assisted by an informal council; and that they depended upon the support of the community to give credence to decisions were mystifying to observers accustomed to autocratic leaders.

Law and Order

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... in order that she may be held up before the world as a whore, which they call poerochgue; and then the husband takes from her everything that she has, and drives her out of the house; if there be children, they remain with her, for they are fond of them beyond measure (DeRassieres in Jameson 1909:108).

For a man, the punishment was a public humiliation. The wife removed his right shoe and left legging, ‘. . . she then tears off the lappet that covers his private parts, gives him a kick behind, and so drives him out of the house” (Ibid.). Intercourse with a member of the matriline was deemed a serious transgression but there is no indication given of the punishment meted out. Once again, the failure to understand the importance of kinship to the village and the inability to accept an alternative system resulted in the Dutch observers concluding that no rules existed where in fact the rules were articulated in a different fashion.

Economics

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they usually wear a dressed deer skin; some have a bear’s skin about the body; some a coat of scales; some a covering made of turkey feathers ..... They also use a good deal of duffel cloth, which they buy from us, and which serves for their blanket by night and their dress by day (DeRassieres Ibid.:106).

Some wore beaver skins with the fur turned out in the summer and inward in the winter (de Vries Ibid.:217). Leggings and Moccasins covered the lower extremities and they adorned themselves with sewan (wampum), copper ornaments, paint, and scarification. Women wore their hair long coating it with grease to make it shine. Men either braided their hair or shaved the top like a cock’s comb or Iroquois roach (de Vries Ibid.:217).

Sex roles were explicitly defined. Women prepared the meals, the staple of which were corn mush and corn bread. The corn was boiled, then beaten on a flat rock, ground in a wooden mortar, dried and sifted through a small basket made of reeds or hemp. The fine grain was mixed with warm water, wrapped in leaves, and baked in hot ashes. A gruel called sappaen was made from the coarser particles (DeRassieres in Jameson 1909:107-8). In addition, dried meats, fish, beans, squash, berries, and nuts were used to supplement this diet.

Women were solely responsible for the crops. They prepared the land, planted, tilled, and harvested the crops which they stored in reed baskets. The ceremonial system was closely identified with the agricultural cycle and began with the first full moon in February which was honored by a festival:

...then they collect together from all quarters and revel in their way, with wild game and fish, and drink clean river water to their fill. They have nothing with which they can become intoxicated. It appears that the year commences then, this moon being a harbinger of the summer (Wassenaer Ibid.:69).

Toward the end of March they prepared the ground and in April the corn was sown, five or six seeds to the hills, and in the middle of May they planted beans so that it would climb the corn stalks (DeRassieres Ibid.:69). In August they thinned the corn; plucking out the extra corn stalks from which the Indians sucked the sweet sap (DeRassieres Ibid.:107). In September and October they gathered the hardened corn and beans for storage (de Vries Ibid.:219) after which the women accompanied the men on the hunt, returning to the village in December for the winter.

Throughout all this horticultural activity, men remained aloof concerning themselves with fishing, hunting, and trade. They assisted in the heavy work of clearing the fields, repairing the dwellings, and manufacturing the tools and weapons. In addition to making projectile points and axes, they made canoes by either hollowing logs or by covering wooden frames with bark sealed with pitch (Representatives of New Netherland Ibid.:301). During the spring and summer using hemp drag nets or seines, as well as spears and arrows, they collected quantities of fish for the women to smoke and dry. The fish included striped bass, salmon, sturgeon, and shad. In the fall, the men hunted in groups driving the herds of deer into the river where they were lassoed by men in canoes. Alternately, they built two converging palisades a thousand or more feet apart at their widest. Beaters drove the animals toward the narrow passage where hunters slaughtered them. Snares were commonly used to trap small game such as rabbits, beavers, squirrels and the like while large numbers of pigeons, ducks, and geese also supplemented the diet. Turkeys, “...which weigh from thirty to thirty-six and forty pounds, and which fly wild, for they can fly one or two thousand paces, and then fall down, tired with flying, when they are taken by the savages with their hand, who also shoot then with bows and arrows” (de Vries Ibid.:221).

Trading was a third important concern of men. It is clear, that by 1620, the Indians had become involved with, if not dependent upon, European trade. Wassenaer portrayed trading as a major Indian concern noting that they were continually involved in buying furs and that inland groups came to the river Indian to deal directly in order to get a better price and to enjoy their hospitality (Wassenaer Ibid.:70). Items of exchange included kettles, knives, axes, beads, cloth “and all sorts of iron work which they require for housekeeping.” Sewam or wampum beads, one of the mediums of exchange was measured by the hand or finger (Ibid.), its manufacture was a major winter’s occupation of the men.

Puberty and Marriage

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... lament that they must lose their virginity; but for all that they do not omit their diversions at night, or other unseasonable tines (Ibid.:218).

As to marriage, there seemed to be little ceremony involved. Gifts were exchanged and the man moved to the domicile of the woman. According to Vander Donck men generally married but once (1968:82); however, other sources indicated that polygamy was common (Ibid.:Wassenaer 70, de Vries 223, Representatives of New Netherland:302). In instances where the woman was a virgin, there was a six week wait before the marriage could be consummated at which time the couple met, feasted, and sang and danced with their friends and relatives at a ceremony called kintikaen (DeRassieres Ibid.:107).

Married partners frequently changed mates and incidental liaisons were common, facts that seemed to shock the Dutch observers. According to Vander Donck “I have known an Indian who changed his wife every year, although he had little or no reason for it” (1968:83). In such instances the children stayed with the mother and as a general rule the children were well treated. DeRassieres wrote that because of their libidinous ways they had few children ".... so that it is a wonder when a woman has three or four children particularly by any one man whose name can be certainly known” (DeRassieres in Jameson 1909:109).

Religion

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When anyone among them is sick, he visits him, sits by him and bawls, roars and cries like the possessed (Wassenaer Ibid.:68).

The kitzinacka was selected at puberty, possibly as a result of a vision, after which he was apparently trained until he was old enough to take over his curing duties. He was expected to be celibate, even forbidden to eat food cooked by a married women. He had no fixed residence but lived where he chose “or where they last of officiated” (Ibid.). The kitzinacka appeared to combine spiritual and medical duties but, as previously stated, the sachem officiated at the calendrical ceremonies.

Funerals were marked by the stoic silence of the men and the excited lamentations of the women, who made ".... dreadful and wonderful wailing, naming the dead, smiting upon their breasts, scratching and disfiguring their faces and showing all possible signs of grief “ (Vander Donck 1968:87). In instances where the dead were young or warriors killed in battle, the women of the family shaved their heads and burned their hair on the grave. The close relatives wore black paint to mark their loss and the name of the deceased was no longer mentioned. The Dutch found the Indians believed in the existence of a soul and an after world which accounted for the care with which they carried out funerary rites. They may have held a death feast ceremony since, according to de Vries, “They give a party when any one is dead in the house” (Jameson 1909:223).

The dead were buried in their finest garb in a grave lined with boughs. The body was then covered with clay, earth, and stones to a height of seven or eight feet and surrounded by a palisade (de Vries Ibid. :223). According to de Vries the body was laid out in the grave, while Vander Donck reported that after several days and nights of mourning the body was brought to the grave “wherein they do not lay it down, but place it in a sitting position upon a stone or a block of wood as if the body were sitting upon a stool...” (Ibid.). With the body they buried utensils and provisions for the journey to the other world (Ibid.).

Dutch Attitudes Toward the Indians

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As to the natives of this country, I find them entirely savage and wild, strangers to all decency, yea, uncivil and stupid as garden poles, proficient in all wickedness and godlessness: devilish men, who serve nobody but the Devil, that is, the spirit which in their language they call Menetto: under which title they comprehend everything that is subtle and crafty and beyond human skill and power. They have so much witchcraft, disination, sorcery and wicked acts, that they can hardly be held in by any bands or locks. They are as thievish and treacherous as they are tall; and in cruelty they are altogether inhuman, more than barbarous, far exceeding the Africans (Ibid.:126-7).

When Michaelius wrote this communication he had been in New Netherlands but four months, yet he dismissed the Indians as being beyond redemption and recommended that the Church ignore the adults and remove the children “by means of promises and presents” so they could be instructed in the ways of a virtuous and Christian life (Ibid.).

The Dutch not only found the Indians to be an immoral and depraved lot, but also racially inferior. Michaelius likened them to Africans while de Vries referred to their temperament as being like that of the Italians in that they were a vengeful people. Thus, at an early stage in their colonization, the Dutch had characterized the native populations as depraved, dangerous, inferior, godless, and, most unfortunately, beyond salvation. The Indian wars beginning in 1640 were precipitated by, and were the natural outcomes, of these attitudes. Only the small size of the Dutch population and its attendant dispersal along the 150 miles of the valley prevented Dutch aggression sooner. While the conflicts resulted from specific, and indeed, petty grievances--the killing of Dutch cattle by Indian dogs or the destruction of Indian corn by Dutch cattle--the fact is that, because of their views of the Indians, the Dutch had never bothered to work out an equitable relationship with them.

Conclusion

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