A New History of the Munsee Indians

More enigmatic than they should be in this late age, even among historians of New York, the Munsee are less known than the story for which they are best known &#8211 the purchase of Manhattan Island for veritable pittance in 1626. One reason the Munsee (a northern sub-set of sorts of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware, as they were called by Europeans) have been ignored by historians is their rather early refugee status by the 1740s.

Anthropologist Robert S. Grumet’s The Munsee Indians: A History attempts to paint a portrait of the Munsee, whose territory stretched form the lower Hudson River Valley to the headwaters of the Delaware, as an Indian Nation in their own right. Previous histories, particularly those of the Lenape, have generally ignored the important role of the Munsee.

Grumet marshals archeological, anthropological and archival evidence to bring to life the memorial lives of Mattano, Tackapousha, Mamanuchqua, and other Munsee leaders who helped shape the course of American history in the mid-Atlantic before the American Revolution. The Musee emigrated to reservations in Wisconsin, Ontario, and Oklahoma where their descendants live to this day.

Grumet is the senior research associate at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in Today’s Northeastern United States in the Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries.

The Munsee Indians: A History is part of the Civilization of the American Indian Series by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Oldest Dutch Farm in Mohawk Valley Seeks Interns

The Mabee Farm Historic Site on the Mohawk River in Rotterdam Junction, Schenectady County, is considered the oldest house in the Mohawk Valley. The Schenectady County Historical Society is continuing to develop the farm site as a museum and educational center for the community and holds Colonial events, workshops, tours and educational programs which reflect the historical significance of this early Mohawk River farmstead. Read more

New Netherland: Hendricks Award Seeks Submissions

The annual Hendricks Manuscript Award application is due March 15. This award is given to the best published or unpublished book-length manuscript relating to any aspect of the Dutch colonial experience in North America. This Award, endowed by Dr. Andrew A. Hendricks, carries a prize of $5,000 and a framed Len Tantillo print with a brass name plate.

Entries must be based on research completed or published within two years prior to first submission. Manuscripts may deal with any aspect of New Netherland history. Biographies of individuals whose careers illuminate aspects of the history of New Netherland are eligible, as are manuscripts dealing with such cultural matters as literature and the arts, provided that in such cases the methodology is historical.

Edited collections of articles that meet the above criteria are eligible- however, works of fiction and works of article length are not eligible. The successful entry should be well written, adequately researched and documented, demonstrate thorough knowledge of primary sources, follow accepted scholarly standards, and contribute to the scholarship in the field.

Three clear, readable photocopies of the manuscript must be submitted on or before March 15 , with a letter of intent to enter the contest. The prize-winner, chosen by a five-member panel of scholars, is selected in May or June. The prize is given at an awards ceremony in conjunction with the annual Rensselaerswijck Seminar, held in September. Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed.

Address entries to Hendricks Manuscript Award Committee

New Netherland Institute
P.O. Box 2536, ESP Station
Albany, NY 12220-0536

Previous Hendricks Award Winners:

1987 Oliver A. Rink, Holland on the Hudson: An Economic and Social History of Dutch New York (Cornell University Press, 1986).

1988 Thomas E. Burke, Jr., &#8220The Extremest Part of All: The Dutch Community of Schenectady, New York, 1661-1710 (Ph.D. dissertation State University of New York at Albany, 1984). Published as Mohawk Frontier: The Dutch Community of Schenectady, New York, 1661-1720 (Cornell University Press, 1992).

1989 Firth H. Fabend, A Dutch Family in the Middle Colonies, 1660-1800 (Rutgers University Press, 1991).

1990 David William Voorhees, &#8220&#8216-In Behalf of the true Protestants religion’: The Glorious Revolution in New York&#8221 (Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1988).

1991 Joyce Goodfriend, Before the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730 (Princeton University Press, 1992).

1992 David E. Narrett, Inheritance and Family Life in Colonial New York City(Cornell University Press, 1992).

1993 David S. Cohen, The Dutch-American Farm (New York University Press, 1992).

1994 Martha Dickinson Shattuck, &#8220A Civil Society: Court and Community in Beverwijck, New Netherland, 1652-1664&#8243- (Ph. D. dissertation, Boston University, 1993).

1995 Willem F. Eric Nooter, &#8220Between Heaven and Earth: Church and Society in Pre-Revolutionary Flatbush, Long Island&#8221 (Ph.D. dissertation, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1995).

1996 Dennis J. Maika, &#8220Commerce and Community: Manhattan Merchants in the Seventeenth Century&#8221 (Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1995).

1997 Dennis C. Sullivan, &#8220The Punishment of Crime in Colonial New York: The Dutch Experience in Albany during the Seventeenth Century&#8221 (Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Albany, 1995).

1998 Paul A. Otto, &#8220New Netherland Frontier: Europeans and Native Americans along the Lower Hudson River, 1524-1664&#8243- (Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1994).

1999 J. A. Jacobs, &#8220Nieuw-Nederland: het tere begin van een pas ontluikend land&#8221 (Ph.D. dissertation, Leiden University, 1999).

2000 Cynthia Van Zandt, &#8220Negotiating Settlement: Colonialism, Cultural Exchange and Conflict in Early Colonial Atlantic North America, 1580-1660&#8243- (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, 2000).

2001 Adriana Van Zwieten, &#8220A Little Land to Sow Some Seeds&#8221 (Ph. D. dissertation, Temple University, Philadelphia, 2001).

2002 No recipient

2003 Benjamin Schmidt, Innocence Abroad: the Dutch Imagination and the New World, 1570- 1670, Cambridge University Press, 2001

2004 Simon Middleton, Privilege and Profits: Tradesmen in Colonial New York, 1624-1750, University of Pennsylvania Press (Expected date of publication: 2006)

2005 Mark Meuwese, &#8220For the Peace and Well-Being of the Country: Intercultural Mediators and Indian-Dutch Relations in New Netherland and Dutch Brazil (1600-1664),&#8221 (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Notre Dame, 2005).

2006 No recipient

2007 1) Jeroen van den Hurk, &#8220Imagining New Netherland: Origins and Survival of Netherlandic Architecture in Old New York, 1614-1776&#8243- (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, 2006).

2007 2) Kees Jan Waterman&#8221&#8216-To Do Justice to Him and Myself’: Evert Wendel’s Account Book of the Fur Trade with Indians in Albany, New York, 1695-1726,&#8221 (ms. to be published by the American Philosophical Society.)

2008 W. Th. M. Frijhoff, Fulfilling God’s Mission: The Two Worlds of Dominie Everardus Bogardus, 1607-1647, Myra Heerspink Scholz, trans. (Leiden: Brill, 2007).

2009 James Bradley, Before Albany: An Archeology of Native-Dutch Relations in the Capital Region, 1600-1664 (Albany: New York State Museum Bulletin 509, 2007).

New Paltz Talk: Early Hearths of the Hudson Valley

Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz is known for its unique architecture and for the preservation of the houses built by the community’s founding families. On Saturday, Huguenot Street continues its Second Saturday’s Lecture Series with a lecture by Rob Sweeney, local historian and old house enthusiast, titled &#8220Early Hearths of the Hudson Valley.&#8221

The talk will begin at 7pm on Saturday, February 13th in Deyo Hall, which is located on Broadhead Avenue between Chestnut and Huguenot Streets in downtown New Paltz. There is a $7 charge per person ($5 for Friends of Historic Huguenot Street). Refreshments will follow Sweeney’s talk. In the case of inclement weather, the talk will be postponed to February 20th.

Rob Sweeney is a board member of Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture, the historian for the Town of Ulster and the owner of the Benjamin Ten Broeck House, a stone house built in 1751. His presentation will trace the evolution of the &#8220jambless fireplace,&#8221 a style that dates to medieval Europe and which can be found in the houses of Historic Huguenot Street, to the popularity of the &#8220Rumford Fireplace&#8221 of the early 19th century. Sweeney will also explore the role of tradition over comfort among the residents within the region.

Historic Huguenot Street (HHS), located on the banks of the Wallkill River, is where small group of French-speaking Huguenots settled in 1678. Today, just steps from downtown New Paltz, the site features seven stone houses dating to 1705, a burying ground and a reconstructed 1717 stone church – all in their original village setting. HHS offers six acres of landscaped green space and public programming to the local community and visitors from around the world.

Ships, Explorers, And The World Trade Center

In 1916 the burnt timbers of what some believe is a 17th-century ship’s keel (the remains of Adriaen Block’s Tiger, forerunner of the Onrust) were discovered at the site of the future World Trade Center. You can read about that at one of my favorite blogs, The Old Salt Blog. Later, an ancient anchor and a Dutch cannon were recovered there in 1967. These maritime relics will be exhibited together in February 2-28, 2010, along with a model of a new ship that commemorates the World Trade Center and honors America’s maritime heritage.

The exhibit will be kicked off with an Exhibition Preview, Luncheon and Fundraiser on February 3, 2010. The preview event will feature preservationists Peter Stanford and Kent Barwick, an exhibition preview, the dedication of World Trade Center Steel, cocktails and a luncheon, followed by a guided tour of the exhibition.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

* the charred remains of a ship’s bow excavated in 1916, long thought to be the ship’s keel of Dutch explorer Adrian Block’s Ship TIJGER, which burned off Manhattan in 1613, and a bronze cannon marked &#8220VOC,&#8221 property of the Dutch East India Company (Courtesy Museum of the City of New York)-

* an ancient, 11-foot iron anchor hoisted from the construction site of the World Trade Center in 1967, where it had been buried for more than 300 years (Courtesy National Maritime Historical Society)-

* a model and film of the USS NEW YORK, the Navy’s newly commissioned (7 November 2009) Landing Platform, Dock Warship, made with 7.5 tons of World Trade Center Steel forged into its bow (Courtesy USS NEW YORK Commissioning Committee)-

* documentary film footage from 1916 of the discovery of the Ship TIJGER Keel and a section of Manhattan Company Water Pipe (1804) found during excavation for the IRT subway tunnel at the future World Trade Center site (Courtesy Brooklyn College Archives)- and

* at the entrance to The India House: a steel artifact recovered from the World Trade Center. This will be a permanent reminder of the World Trade Center, the innocent victims, and the bravery of those who responded on September 11, 2001.

The exhibit, curated by Margaret Stocker, is being hosted by India House (One Hanover Square, NYC) and is being presented by the India House Foundation.

Exhibit Hours: Weekdays 11 &#8211 3:30 and group tours by appointment
Suggested Donation: $10
For Group tours contact [email protected] or telephone Maria Dering at 212-873-6715

Exhibition Preview, Luncheon and Fundraiser February 3, 2010
To Reserve Tickets: [email protected]
Skippers: $250 Explorers: $350 Masters of the Universe: $500
or email [email protected]

Dutch Legend: St. Nicholas and American Santa Claus

Elisabeth Paling Funk will give a free lecture, entitled &#8220From the Old World to the New: St. Nicholas in Dutch Legend and Celebration and the Birth of the American Santa Claus,&#8221 at the Historic Elmendorph Inn, North Broadway in Red Hook on Wednesday, December 16, at 7:30 pm- refreshments will be served after the lecture. The event is sponsored by the Egbert Benson Historical Society of Red Hook.

Elisabeth Paling Funk PhD attended the University of Amsterdam, received her BA in English, cum laude, from Manhattanville College and an MA and PhD from Fordham University. She is an independent scholar, editor, and translator.Her articles on Dutch-American and early American Literature have been published in the U.S. and the Netherlands. She is preparing her dissertation, “Washington Irving and His Dutch-American Heritage . . . ” for publication as a book. Dr. Funk is a former trustee of the New Netherland Institute.

Photo: Sinterklaas in the Netherlands in 2007.

Jews In New Amsterdam Lecture November 30th

In celebration of the new exhibit on the roots of religious freedom in America, The Flushing Remonstrance: Who Shall Plead For Us?, written & curated by Susan Kathryn Hefti, the John L. Loeb, Jr. Foundation has generously sponsored a very exciting companion lecture entitled &#8220Jews in New Amsterdam&#8221 by Dr. Gary Zola, Executive Director of the American Jewish Archives and Professor of The American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, in conjunction with the Museum of the City of New York, Monday, November 30, 2009 at 6:30pm. (1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street NYC).

Seating for the lecture is limited. So if you wish to attend Jews in New Amsterdam, please RSVP at your earliest convenience.

For a Special $6 Members Rate simply call MCNY at 917.492.3395 and mention &#8220The Flushing Remonstrance&#8221 when making your reservation.

Photo: The Flushing Remonstrance, written in 1657, recognized as the earliest political assertion of freedom of conscience and religion in New York State.

Dutch Influence: Cookies, Coleslaw and Stoops

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Dutch arrival off the coast of Manhattan, the renowned linguist Nicoline van der Sijs along with Amsterdam University Press have published Cookies, Coleslaw, and Stoops: The Influence of Dutch on the North American Languages.

From Santa Claus (after the Dutch folklore saint Sinterklaas) and his sleigh (the pronunciation of the Dutch slee is almost identical) to a dumbhead talking poppycock, the contributions of the Dutch language to American English are indelibly embedded in some of our most vernacular terms and expressions. This fascinating volume charts over 250 Dutch loan words that journeyed over the Atlantic on Henry Hudson’s ship the Halve Maan and into the American territory and languages. Each entry marks the original arrival of a particular term to American English and offers information on its evolving meaning, etymology, and regional spread.

Food Historian To Speak on Hudson Valley Traditions

As we near the end of the Quadricentennial Year, culinary historian Peter G. Rose will give be giving lectures on &#8220Joyful Traditions: How the Dutch Brought us Santa, Presents and Treats&#8221 around the Hudson River valley in November and December. Rose was the recipient of the 2002 Alice P. Kenney Award for research and writing on the food customs and diet of the Dutch settlers in New Netherland. Her books and articles on the region’s foodways are rich in agricultural, culinary and ethnic history.

November 15 at 2 o’clock at the Kiersted House for the Saugerties Historical Soc. in Saugerties, NY.

November 16 at 7:30 o’clock at the Haverstraw King’s Daughters Public Library in Haverstraw, NY. In this case the topic will be &#8220The Forgotten Holidays.&#8221

November 21 at 2 o’clock at the Schenectady Historical Soc. in Schenectady, NY

December 2 at 7:30 at the Katonah Village Library, in Katonah, NY. For reservations, call: 232 5735.

December 3 at 6:30 o’clock for the Culinary Historians of NY, at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, 421 East 61st St, NYC, For reservations, call: 212 838 6878.

December 5 at 1 o’clock at the TenBroeck Mansion in Albany, NY.

December 13 at 4:30 at the Kinderhook Library in Kinderhook, NY.

All talks will be followed by a book signing including her latest two books: Food, Drink and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch and Summer Pleasures, Winter Pleasures: a Hudson Valley Cookbook.

Sex and the City: The Early Years

On Wednesday, November 18th, Bill Greer, the author of The Mevrouw Who Saved Manhattan, is giving a talk at the Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, at 7 p.m. The lecture, entitled &#8220Sex and the City: The Early Years,&#8221 looks at the bawdy world of Dutch New York from 1624 to 1664. Through anecdotes of real people and events, the talk examines the libertine culture Europeans brought to the Hudson Valley and how this culture engendered an independent streak that fueled a rebellion of the common people against their rulers. This conflict, many historians argue, laid the foundation for the pluralistic, freedom-loving society that America became.

Greer is also a Trustee and Treasurer of the New Netherland Institute based in Albany.

Date: November 18, 2009
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, Grand Army Plaza, in the Brooklyn Collection Reserve Room