48 



AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 



hattan Island and the Governor said 

 that they, "if they desire it, be admit- 

 ted with their wives and children, to 

 plant upon this Island, but nowhere 

 else, if they remove; and that it be 

 upon the north point of the Island 

 near Spuyten Duyvel." 1 



Mrs. Mary A. Bolton Post, in writ- 

 ing to the editor of "The Evening 

 Post," June 19th of the year of the 

 opening of the Harlem Ship Canal 

 (1895), speaks of some Indians who 

 were allowed to camp on the south 

 side of Spuyten Duyvil Creek on the 

 Bolton property in 1817. Ruttenber 

 says that the Reckgawanc had their 

 principal village at Yonkers, but that 

 on Berrien's Neck (Spuyten Duyvil 

 Hill) was situated their castle or fort 

 called Nipinichsen. This fort was pro- 

 tected by a strong stockade and com- 

 manded the romantic scenery of the 

 Papirinimen, or Spuyten Duyvil 

 Creek, and the Mahicanituk (Hudson 

 River), the junction of which was 

 called the Shorackappock. It was 

 from this castle that the Indians came 

 who attacked Hudson on his return 

 down the river. 2 Some small shell 

 deposits occur on Spuyten Duyvil Hill, 

 but as yet this "castile" has not been 

 definitely located. The village site 

 at Yonkers, according to Mr. James, 

 is now covered by buildings; but 

 several relics found near the site years 

 ago are now in the Manor Hall at that 

 place (1904). 



Judging from these references, we 

 might conclude that the territory 

 occupied by the tribe commonly known 

 as Manhattans including Manhattan 

 Island and that part of the mainland 

 which is west of the Bronx River north 



1 History of Harlem, p. 369. 



2 Ruttenber, pp. 77-78. 



of Yonkers, and that these Indians 

 were a sub-tribe of the Wappinger 

 division of the Mahikan. 



NOTABLE TYPES OF REMAINS. 



Dog Burials. The first dog burials 

 were found by Mr. Calver in 1895. 

 The first burial was unearthed at the 

 summit of a ridge of soft earth at 209th 

 Street, near the Harlem River. The 

 ridge, which was about twelve feet 

 high, had been partly cut away for the 

 grading of Ninth Avenue. It was 

 at the highest part of the hillock that 

 a pocket of oyster and clam shells was 

 noticed, from which a few fragments 

 of Indian pottery which lay on the 

 face of the bank had evidently fallen. 

 The shells, upon inspection, were found 

 to have served as a covering for the 

 skeleton of a dog or wolf. Another 

 burial was found on May 18th within 

 fifty yards of the first burial. It had 

 been covered with shells just as the 

 first one, but had been disturbed by 

 workmen. Mr. Calver says: "The 

 two canine burials were situated at a 

 point just without the borders of the 

 Harlem River shell-heap and were 

 distinct from it. The shells were 

 found to be matched, hence it was con- 

 cluded that they were thrown in un- 

 opened or eaten on the spot. As the 

 skeletons were intact and the bones 

 uninjured, all probability of the ani- 

 mals having been eaten is disposed of. " 

 These burials are common in this 

 vicinity, Mr. Calver thinks they were 

 for some religious purpose, and suggests 

 a relation to the "White Dog Feast" 

 of the Onondaga of this state. 1 How- 

 ever, it is known that the carcass of 

 the sacrificed dog was burnt by the 



1 New York Herald, May 26, 1895. 



