628 Nj-:w ^•()KK 



lATi-: Mr si: I'M 



about 1890, at which time the importance of the various aboriginal 

 sites seems to have first been reahzed. Several good accounts of 

 these sites have been published l)y the American Museum, in volume 

 3 of ''Anthropological Papers." 



The original name for the Indians of the island was the " Man- 

 hattans," a name translated by the modern Delaw^are as " the place 

 where they were all intoxicated." This interpretation is based on 

 the tradition of the first meeting of these Indians with the Dutch 

 explorers, who immediately oflered them drafts of their strong- 

 liquor. The relation of the Indians of the island with the white 

 explorers was not a happy one and a conflict began almost im- 

 mediately. 



The first mention of the Manhattan Indians is by Verrazano, in 

 1524, who gave some account of their appearance and costumes. 

 Later, in 1609, we have another account. From that time on vari- 

 ous explorers mention the Manhattan Indians, among them Delaet, 

 Wassanear, Vanderdonck and DeVries. A fairly extended account 

 of these Indians is given by Alanson Skinner in the " Report of the 

 Director of the State Museum for 191 1," and also in his mono- 

 graph of " The Indians of Manhattan Island," published by the 

 Torch Press. 



The aboriginal occupation of Manhattan island seems for the 

 most part Algonkian. Whether some earlier people once occupied 

 the island is not knowai as much of the land is now covered by 

 buildings. The Iroquois seem to have exerted some influence over 

 the Indians of Manhattan, and fragments of Iroquoian pottery have 

 been found at the northern end of the island. One of the finest 

 Iroquoian pots extant came from an excavation at 214th street and 

 loth avenue and w^as found by Mr Calver. It is now in the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History (see plate 193). The settlement 

 of the Dutch upon the island caused the gradual expulsion of the 

 Indians, wdio w-ithdrew after several onslaughts 1)\- the colonists. 

 There were massacres by the Dutch and English in which many 

 hundreds of the Indians were murdered, a subject which has been 

 well discussed by Mr Skinner.^ 



The principal collections of aboriginal material from Manhattan 

 island are in the American Museum of Natural Historv. 



^The Indians of Greater New York, Miner, ("edar J^apids. 



