THE INDIANS OF MANHATTAN ISLAND AND VICINITY. 

 By Alanson Skinner, 



Department of Anthropology. 



Introduction. 



AS a part of the Hudson-Fulton celebration, a special exhibit repre- 

 senting the Indians of New York has been arranged in the West 

 Hall, on the ground floor of the Museum. The low, or table cases, 

 contain implements of stone, bone, shell and other materials, found on 

 Manhattan Island and in and around Greater New York, — implements 

 once used by the Indians occupying this region. In the upright cases will 

 be found ethnological objects, many of which are still in use among the 

 surviving Iroquois Indians of New York State. This guide, therefore, 

 refers chiefly to the remains of Indians found upon Manhattan Island and 

 adjacent shores, examples of which are shown in the table cases. The 

 location of the various cases may be seen from the accompanying plan. 



In using this guide, the visitor is advised to turn north, as he enters the 

 exhibit and take a general view of the cases in the order designated; then it 

 is suggested that he follow the discussion (pp. 14-36) of the various kinds of 

 specimens found near New York City as he makes a second examination of 

 the exhibits in the table cases. 



The Hudson-Fulton exhibition is designed to show the life of the Indians 

 of New York City and vicinity in prehistoric times, when primitive conditions 

 were as yet unchanged by the advent of European settlers. The objects 

 shown have been collected by Museum expeditions sent for the purpose of 

 excavating the ancient village, camp and burial sites of the Indians in several 

 localities within the area indicated, and the exhibits have been prepared 

 from the remains thus secured. The remnants of the tribes that once 

 occupied the primeval forests of Greater New York have so long been scat- 

 tered and lost that almost nothing can be obtained from them now. 



Beginning with the northern half of the exhibit, the visitor will find the 

 first section of the upright case (l) 1 devoted to a few specimens showing 

 some of the more perishable articles formerly in use among the Delaware 

 and Mohegan Indians of this immediate vicinity. Most of these have been 

 collected from the scattered remnants of these people, or else were obtained 

 from old families who, since the disappearance of the natives, preserved 



1 See diagram on page 4. 



