﻿ABORIGINAL 
  PLACE 
  NAMES 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  120, 
  

  

  commence 
  with 
  S, 
  as 
  in 
  Saponanican, 
  another 
  name 
  for 
  this 
  place. 
  

  

  Man-hat-tan, 
  the 
  island, 
  is 
  equivalent 
  to 
  the 
  Delaware 
  word 
  

   Manatey. 
  Zeisberger 
  wrote 
  it 
  Minatey 
  and 
  Menatey. 
  Trumbull 
  

   has 
  Munnohhanit 
  and 
  Menohhannet, 
  on 
  an 
  island, 
  in 
  the 
  Natick 
  

   dialect; 
  but 
  says 
  elsewhere 
  that 
  Manataanung 
  or 
  Manatees 
  is 
  the 
  

   name 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  ung 
  being 
  a 
  locative 
  affix. 
  Tooker 
  now 
  derives 
  

   the 
  name 
  from 
  manah, 
  island, 
  and 
  atin, 
  hill, 
  thus 
  making 
  it 
  hilly 
  

   island. 
  Heckewelder 
  could 
  not 
  find 
  that 
  there 
  ever 
  was 
  a 
  distinct 
  

   nation 
  called 
  Manhattans, 
  and 
  concluded 
  that 
  the 
  island 
  was 
  called 
  

   Man-a-hat-ta-ni 
  by 
  the 
  Delawares, 
  and 
  was 
  inhabited 
  by 
  them. 
  

   This 
  they 
  now 
  claim. 
  De 
  Laet, 
  however, 
  in 
  1625 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  

   Manatthans 
  were 
  a 
  wicked 
  nation 
  and 
  deadly 
  enemies 
  of 
  the 
  San- 
  

   kikani, 
  living 
  opposite 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  As 
  the 
  

   word 
  simply 
  refers 
  to 
  those 
  dwelling 
  on 
  an 
  island, 
  several 
  intelli- 
  

   gent 
  writers 
  have 
  given 
  the 
  same 
  name 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  lived 
  on 
  

   Staten 
  Island, 
  and 
  who 
  had 
  the 
  same 
  title 
  to 
  it. 
  Schoolcraft 
  alone 
  

   thought 
  the 
  word 
  meant 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  whirlpool. 
  

  

  Under 
  another 
  similar 
  name, 
  Man-a-hat-ta-nink, 
  place 
  of 
  general 
  

   intoxication. 
  Heckewelder 
  and 
  others 
  have 
  related 
  a 
  story 
  of 
  this, 
  

   not 
  well 
  proved, 
  but 
  he 
  also 
  wrote 
  it 
  Manahachtanienk, 
  with 
  the 
  

   same 
  meaning. 
  Then 
  he 
  gave 
  it 
  as 
  Manahachtanicuk 
  (probably 
  the 
  

   same), 
  cluster 
  of 
  islands 
  with 
  channels 
  everywhere. 
  Some 
  Dela- 
  

   wares 
  recently 
  referred 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  arrowwood 
  found 
  

   there. 
  They 
  said: 
  

  

  Our 
  traditions 
  affirm 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  

   America 
  our 
  nation 
  resided 
  on 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  New 
  York. 
  We 
  called 
  

   that 
  island 
  Manahatouh, 
  the 
  place 
  where 
  timber 
  is 
  procured 
  for 
  

   bows 
  and 
  arrows. 
  The 
  word 
  is 
  compounded 
  of 
  N'manhumin, 
  / 
  

   gather, 
  and 
  tanning, 
  at 
  the 
  place. 
  At 
  the 
  lower 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  island 
  

   was 
  a 
  grove 
  of 
  hickory 
  trees 
  of 
  peculiar 
  strength 
  and 
  toughness. 
  

   Our 
  fathers 
  held 
  this 
  timber 
  in 
  high 
  esteem, 
  as 
  material 
  for 
  con- 
  

   structing 
  bows, 
  war 
  clubs, 
  etc. 
  

  

  Washington 
  Irving's 
  humorous 
  definitions 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  as 
  well 
  

   known 
  as 
  they 
  once 
  were. 
  In 
  his 
  quaint 
  history 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  he 
  

   said: 
  

  

  The 
  name 
  most 
  current 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day, 
  and 
  which 
  is 
  likewise 
  

   countenanced 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  historian 
  Van 
  der 
  Donck, 
  is 
  Manhattan 
  ; 
  

   which 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  originated 
  in 
  a 
  custom 
  among 
  the 
  squaws, 
  in 
  

   the 
  early 
  settlement, 
  of 
  wearing 
  men's 
  hats, 
  as 
  is 
  still 
  done 
  among 
  

  

  