Wappinger

A member of a Native North American people who formerly occupied lands along the Hudson River in New York State, and whose members dispersed following wars with Dutch settlers in the 17th century

Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P) 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Stamford, History

City in Fairfield County, southwestern Connecticut, on Long Island Sound.

The site of Stamford was purchased from the Siwanoy people in 1640 by Nathaniel Turner, an agent for the New Haven Colony. European settlement began the following year when a group of families moved to the site, naming the community for Stamford, England.

"Stamford," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wappinger

Rodolf and his men just slaughtered every Wecquaesgeek in the sleeping village at Pavonia without regard for age or sex. The killing by these Dutch "Christians" was especially brutal involving babies hacked to death in their mother's arms, torture, and mutilation. When the attacks began, some Wecquaesgeek made the mistake of fleeing to Fort Amsterdam. They were murdered in cold blood outside the gates and their bodies tossed into the Hudson. De Vries, who had relocated near the Tappan villages at Corlear's Point and apparently bore no hatreds after his plantation on Staten Island had been destroyed by the Raritan, saved some of the Wecquaesgeek who came to him for protection by telling them to hide in forest. In all, Andriansen killed 31 but brought 30 prisoners back to an uncertain fate at Fort Amsterdam. Rodolf butchered 80 Wecquaesgeek and took no prisoners. His soldiers reportedly brought the severed heads of their victims back to the fort and played kickball with them. Preparing for a possible siege, Kieft further inflamed the situation by seizing corn from the Metoac on Long Island and killing three Canarsee warriors in the process.

Wappinger Location

East side of the Hudson River between the Bronx and Rhinebeck extending east to the crest of the Taconic Mountains on the border between New York and Connecticut. Except for a few small groups, most Wappinger had left the lower Hudson Valley by 1760 and settled in western Massachusetts with the Mahican at Stockbridge, the Iroquois in New York, or the Delaware in Pennsylvania.

Population

In 1600 the seven Wappinger tribes probably numbered about 8,000 in 30 villages. After contact, the rate of their "melting away" was dramatic. Smallpox struck the area 1633-35 and 1692. By 1700 epidemics (including malaria) had reduced the lower Hudson tribes to 10 per cent of their original number. Warfare also took a serious toll, and at least 1,600 Wappinger were killed during the Wappinger War (1643-45). Only a few hundred Wappinger remained in the lower Hudson Valley after 1700, and almost all were gone by 1758. One possible group of Wappinger remain in the region today, the Ramapough Mountain Indians (Ramapo Mountain People) in northern New Jersey. They are probably descendents of a mixture of Munsee Delaware, Mattabesic Ramapo, and Pompton (Wappinger who relocated to northern New Jersey during the 1660s). With 2,500 members, they have state recognition but were denied federal status in 1993.

Names

Meaning "easterner" and applied to the entire group of seven related tribes, Wappinger was originally the name of a small sachemship consisting of three villages on the east side of the Hudson near Poughkeepsie. Spelling variations are: Wappinck, Wapping, Wappingo, and Wawping. Because many of the Algonquin-speaking tribes south of the St. Lawrence River (Mahican, Wappinger, Delaware, etc.) had a wolf clan, the French commonly referred to them collectively as Loup (French for wolf). Other names for the Wappinger were: Highland Indians, Long Reach Indians, Oping (Opine), and Pompton.

Sub-Nations

• Kitchawank (Kitchawong) - northern Westchester County.
• Nochpeem - northern Putnam and southern Duchess Counties.
• Sintsink (Sinsink) - east side of Hudson River between Tarrytown and Croton.
• Siwanoy (Sinanoy) - Hellgate east to Norwalk, Connecticut.
• Tankiteke (Pachami, Pachany) - extreme western portion of Fairfield County, Connecticut into eastern halves of Duchess and Putnam Counties, New York.
• Wappinger (Waping) - east side of Hudson River between Wappinger Falls and Poughkeepsie.
• Wecquaesgeek (Wechquaesgeek, Wiechquaeskeck, Wickquaskeek) - east side of Hudson River between the Bronx and Tarrytown.

Culture

Mention is sometimes made of a Wappinger tribe or confederation, but it took a major war with the Dutch to unite these seven small tribes into a single unit. Like most of the eastern Algonquin groups, the Wappinger were organized into sachemships where, in most cases, the authority of the sachem and council (composed of clan chiefs) extended over only a few villages and was limited mostly to resolving problems and disputes. Councils of the individual sachems were only held as required by common problems. However, in times of war, leadership was given to a war chief, whose authority was absolute for the duration of the conflict. A greater degree of organization was not required, since the Wappinger generally lived in peace with most of their neighbors. "Most" is used here, since, like the neighboring Metoac on Long Island, the Wappinger manufactured a superior form of wampum which they traded with other tribes. There appears to have been some warfare before contact because of this valuable commodity. There were also raids by European slavers during the 1500s.

As a result, the Wappinger were forced to make more extensive military preparations than the norm. Besides their villages, most of the Wappinger had at least two "castles," or forts, where they could retreat when threatened. Like other tribes in the region, the Wappinger relied heavily on an agriculture of corn, beans, squash. Tobacco was also grown for ceremonial purposes. Diet was supplemented by fishing in the spring and summer and hunting during the colder months. The Wappinger frequently cooked their meat without removing the innards which made it difficult for some of their Dutch guests to enjoy the meal. Despite this, many Dutch are known to have married Wappinger women. Villages consisted of wigwams and mid-sized longhouses. As a rule, the Wappinger only lived in their villages during the warmer months and moved to their castles for the winter. The Hudson River provided easy transportation for their dugout canoes. Because of its tidal surges, both the Wappinger and Mahican called it the Mahicanituk meaning "ever flowing river." Its Iroquois name was Cohatatea, but the Dutch renamed it the Maurititius. Only after the English gained control of New York in 1664 did it become known as the Hudson River.

The area around greater New York City was originally occupied by three tribal groups: Wappinger, Munsee and Unami Delaware, and Metoac. Since all of them spoke related languages and shared a common culture, there has never been a consensus as to which tribe belonged to which group. In the classification employed here, the Wappinger lived on the east side of the lower Hudson, the Delaware occupied the west side, and Manhattan and Long Island belonged to the Metoac. These distinctions would not be important if not for the question of which tribe sold Manhattan Island to the Dutch for only twenty-five dollars. Even Native Americans are not certain about this. The Delaware usually blame the Wappinger. However, if the Manhattan had purchased, rather than sold, their island for this price, they would probably be claimed as immediate family. For our purposes, the Manhattan - meaning "people of the island" - were Metoac.

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