View source for Siwanoy

{{Short description|Native American subtribe in New York (state)}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            =  <!-- (defaults to {{PAGENAME}}) -->
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
|popplace    = United States ([[New York (state)|New York]])
|languages  =[[Munsee language|Munsee]]
|religions  = Indigenous religion
| image            = {{Location map many | USA New York Long Island
| relief = yes
| width = 240
| float = left
| label = <!-- Ann Hook's Neck -->
| pos = right
| marksize = 8
| lat_deg = 40.849086
| lon_deg = -73.800647
| label2 = <!-- Laaphawachking -->
| pos2 = right
| bg2 =
| mark2size = 8
| lat2_deg = 40.876154
| lon2_deg = -73.789317
| label3 = <!-- Shippan -->
| pos3 = right
| bg3 =
| lat3_deg = 40.897635
| lon3_deg = -73.769999
| label4 = <!-- Poningo -->
| pos4 = right
| bg4 =
| lat4_deg = 40.971879
| lon4_deg = -73.662968
| label5 = <!-- Hell Gate -->
| pos5 = right
| lat5_deg = 40.782440
| lon5_deg = -73.925128
| label6 = <!-- Nanichiestewack -->
| pos6 = right
| lat6_deg = 41.269176
| lon6_deg = -73.7019527
| label7 = <!-- Norwalk CT-->
| pos7 = right
| lat7_deg = 41.0961307
| lon7_deg = -73.4976031
| label8 = <!-- White Plains NY -->
| pos8 = right
| lat8_deg = 41.0261994
| lon8_deg = -73.7897053
}}
| image_caption    =  Map of Long Island Sound showing approximate location of known Siwanoy settlements
| flag          =
| flag_caption  =
| total            =  <!-- total population worldwide -->
| total_year       =  <!-- year of total population -->
| total_source     =  <!-- source of total population; may be ''census'' or ''estimate'' -->
| total_ref        =  <!-- references supporting total population -->
| genealogy        =
| regions          =  <!-- for e.g. a list of regions (countries), especially if region etc below not used -->
| related_groups   = [[Wappinger]], [[Delaware people|Lenape]], [[Wecquaesgeek]], [[Mahican]]
| footnotes        =
}}
The '''Siwanoy''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|w|ə|n|ɔɪ}}) were an [[Native Americans in the United States|Indigenous American]] band of [[Munsee language|Munsee]]-speaking people,<ref name=gotham>{{cite book |last1=Cantwell |first1=Anne-Marie E. |last2=Wall |first2=Diana diZerega |title=Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City |date=2001 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |isbn=9780300097993 |page=129 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-b3IU_iWZ6kC}}</ref> who lived in [[Long Island Sound]] along the coasts of what are now [[The Bronx]], [[Westchester County, New York]], and [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]].<ref name="Cook">{{cite book
| last= Cook
| first= Sherburne Friend
| title=The Indian Population of New England in the Seventeenth Century
| year = 1976
| publisher = University of California Press
| page = 60
| isbn = 0-520-09553-7
}}</ref> They were one of the western bands of the [[Wappinger|Wappinger Confederacy]].<ref name="Pelliana" />  By 1640, their territory (Wykagyl) extended from [[Hell Gate]] to [[Norwalk, Connecticut]], and as far inland as [[White Plains, New York|White Plains]];<ref name="Hodge 3" /> it became hotly contested between [[Dutch colonization of the Americas|Dutch]] and [[English colonial empire|English colonial]] interests.<ref name="Bolton">{{cite book
|last= Bolton
|first= Robert
|title= History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WdYpAQAAMAAJ
|publisher=Chas. F. Roper
|access-date = 2020-06-08
|location= New York
|year = 1881
}}</ref>{{rp|28}}
== Name ==
[[File:Excerpt from Map-Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ (Amsterdam, 1685).jpg|thumb|The Siwanoy are listed in southern [[Westchester County, New York]], and westernmost [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]] on this excerpt of ''Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ'' (Amsterdam, 1685).]]
The origin of the name ''Siwanoy'' is unknown. It appears at least as early in that spelling on the 1685 revision of a 1656 Dutch map, ''Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ''  ("New Netherland and New England", and also parts of Virginia, by [[Petrus Schenk the Younger]] from an original by [[Nicolaes Visscher I]].
The name ''Siwanoy'' may be a corruption of ''Siwanak'', "salt people".<ref name="Hodge 3" />{{rp|585}}
== Language ==
The Siwanoy spoke [[Munsee language|Munsee]], a [[Delaware languages|Delaware language]], which was an [[Eastern Algonquian language]].<ref name="Goddard">{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Goddard
| first = Ives
| editor-last = Bruce G.
| editor-first = Trigger
| encyclopedia = Handbook of North American Indians
| title = Delaware
| year = 1978
| publisher = Smithsonian Institution
| volume = 15: Northeast
| location = Washington, DC
| isbn = 978-0160045752
| pages = 213–214
}}</ref> Nohham Cachat-Schilling of the Massachusetts Ethical Archaeology Society writes that the Siwaony might not have spoken Munsee but instead may have spoken [[Paugusset language|Paugusset]] or another dialect.<ref>{{cite web|title=Decolonizing Our Story, Indigenous Peoples of the Great Rivers Intervale: an Onomastic and Identity Review |last=Cachat-Schilling |first=Nohham
|url=https://www.academia.edu/60153097| page=31 |date=June 2022}}</ref>
== Culture ==
Like the greater [[Lenape]], women typically wore their hair loose, whereas men would often remove all hair but a long forelock.<ref name="Ohea" />{{rp|5}} They frequently painted their bodies and faces (black, red, yellow, blue, and white) for ceremonial rites, war, and festive occasions, or to mourn the dead.<ref name="Ohea" />{{rp|5}} [[Wampum]] jewelry and belts were worn as a symbol of social status.<ref name="Ohea" />{{rp|5–6}} The Siwanoy no doubt ate all varieties of fish and shellfish, as the shore had numerous fishing stations and a rich aquatic life; and the interior provided fruits, nuts, and animal life.<ref name="Ohea" />{{rp|5}}
Their closest allies were the Lenape to the west and the [[Mohicans|Mahicans]] to the north, with whom they shared a [[totem]] (or emblem) – the “enchanted wolf”, with the right paw raised defiantly.<ref name="Ruttenber">{{cite book
|last=Ruttenber
|first=E. M.
|title= History of the Indian Tribes of Hudson's River
|publisher=J. Munsell
|location= Albany, N.Y.
|year = 1872
|page=50
}}</ref><ref name="Pelliana" />{{rp|27–28}} They were also allied and shared a common lifestyle with the [[Wecquaesgeek]].<ref name="Ohea" />{{rp|3}} Like other tribes of the area, the Siwanoy were loosely organized into several groups, each with a [[Sagamore (title)|sagamore]] (chieftain) and a somewhat-defined territory.
== Settlements ==
The Siwanoys' largest village in 1640 was Poningo, located near modern-day [[Rye, New York|Rye]].<ref name="Hodge 3">{{Cite book| title= Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico |volume=3| author= Hodge, Frederick Webb | author-link= Frederick Webb Hodge | url=
https://books.google.com/books?id=8qWVBgAAQBAJ&q=siwanoy | access-date=2020-07-14 |isbn=9781582187501|date=1912}}</ref>{{rp|279}} They also had [[stockade]] settlements at [[Rodman's Neck|Ann Hook's Neck]], [[Hunter Island (Bronx)|Hunter Island]], and [[Davenport Neck]] (''Shippan''), and “winter quarters” farther south at [[Hell Gate]].<ref name="Pelliana" />{{rp|27}}  They referred to the area surrounding Ann Hook's Neck and Hunter Island as ''Laaphawachking'' ("place of stringing beads"),<ref name="Bolton" />{{rp|37}} because of the large quantities of wampum produced there.<ref name="Ohea" />{{rp|6}}
The village of Nanichiestawack, or Nawchestaweck ("place of safety"), located near present-day Woods Bridge at [[Muscoot Reservoir]],{{efn|Although the village of Nanichiestawack was located north of the traditional extent of Siwanoy territory, between 500 and 700 Siwanoy and Wecquaesgeek people were killed there during the [[Pound Ridge massacre]].<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="Mount Nimham" />}} was destroyed during the [[Pound Ridge massacre]] in 1644.<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="Mount Nimham">{{cite book
|last= Maxson
|first= Thomas F.
|title= Mount Nimham: The Ridge of Patriots
|year=2009
|publisher=Robert Sterling Publishing
|location=Molokai, Hawaii
|pages=16–17
|isbn= 9780578025810
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5udvAgAAQBAJ&q=siwanoy
}}</ref>
[[File:Wpdms terra throgs neck.jpg|thumb|The geographic feature [[Throggs Neck]], shown in red, in the Bronx]]
In the early 20th century, Alanson Skinner unearthed the Throgs Neck site, on the peninsula [[Throggs Neck]], and sites at [[Clasons Point]] in the Bronx, which he identified as being once occupied by Siwanoy, as well as other peoples.<ref name=gotham/> Native people attacked a European ship from this site in 1619.<ref name=gotham/>
== Religion ==
Two [[Glacial erratic|glacial erratic boulders]] named ''Grey Mare'' and ''Mishow'', located on Hunter Island, were spiritually significant to the Siwanoy.<ref name="Ohea">{{cite web |title=Native Americans |last=O'Hea Anderson |first=Marianne |publisher=Administrator's Office, Van Cortlandt & Pelham Bay Parks, [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|City of New York Parks & Recreation]]  |url=http://pelhambaypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Native-Americans.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920123626/http://pelhambaypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Native-Americans.pdf |archive-date=2020-09-20  |date=June 1996 |pages= 5–6}}</ref> Here the Siwanoys practiced their sacred ceremonies, and two [[sachem]]s are believed to be buried at ''Mishow''; the Siwanoys believed the boulders to have been placed there by their guardian [[Manitou]] (the spiritual, omnipresent life force that manifests itself in everything).<ref name="Bolton" />{{rp|37–38}} Many Siwanoys likely became [[Christianization|Christianized]]; the Siwanoy sagamore [[Wampage|Wampage I]] was one of these, taking John White as a [[baptismal name]].<ref name="Pelliana" />{{rp|38}}
== 17th-century history ==
===Conflict with European colonists===
{{further|Kieft's War|Pound Ridge massacre}}
The western bands of the Wappinger, including the Siwanoy, were at war with the Dutch from 1640 to 1645.<ref name="Hodge 4" />{{rp|913}} Part of this period is often referred to as [[Kieft's War]], and is said to have cost the lives of some 1,600 Wappinger refugees.<ref name="Hodge 4" />{{rp|913}} Thus, tensions between the colonists and the indigenous people of the area were extremely high at this time.
A group of Siwanoy, led by Wampage I, killed [[Anne Hutchinson]], six of her children, and nine others in August 1643,<ref name="Shorto">{{cite book
|first=Russell|last=Shorto|title=The Island at the Center of the World|location=New York|publisher=Doubleday/Vintage|year=2004|isbn=1-4000-7867-9|pages=160, 384}}</ref> near [[Split Rock (Bronx, New York)|Split Rock]], an ancient landmark.  The only survivor was Hutchinson's nine-year-old daughter, [[Susanna Cole|Susanna]] - possibly spared because of her red hair - who "became the wife of an Indian Chief, residing in a settlement near the Split Rock".<ref name="Barr">{{cite book |last= Barr|first= Lockwood |title= Ancient Town of Pelham, Westchester County, New York |publisher=Dietz Press|location=Richmond, Va.|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RywXAAAAIAAJ |year=1946}}</ref> It has been written that Wampage himself was the murderer of Hutchinson and that he adopted the name of Anhōōke due to a [[Mohicans|Mahican]] custom of taking the name of a notable person personally killed.<ref name="Bronxville">{{cite book |last= Mays |first= Victor |title= Pathway to a Village: A History of Bronxville |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5e9OAQAAMAAJ |publisher=Nebko Press |year=1962 |page=14 }}</ref><ref name="Bell">{{cite book
|last= Bell
|first= Blake A.
|title=Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak
|year=2004
|publisher=iUniverse
|location=New York
}}</ref>{{rp|18}}
In February 1644, the entire village of ''Nanichiestawack'' was wiped out by 130 Dutch mercenaries under [[John Underhill (captain)|Capt. John Underhill]]. The surprise attack, known as the [[Pound Ridge massacre]], took place while a large number of Siwanoy and [[Wecquaesgeek]] people were gathered together for a corn festival. The Dutch forces slaughtered between 500 and 700 indigenous people, including women and children, who were forced into their homes and burned alive.<ref name="Mount Nimham" /><ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last=Kriss |first=Gary |date=1982-10-31 |title=As Darkness Descends, Wraiths Arise |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/31/archives/as-darkness-descends-wraiths-arise.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2020-09-09}}</ref>
===Treaty with Thomas Pell===
On June 27, 1654, [[Sachem|sagamores]] Shāwānórōckquot (Shanarockwell), Poquōrūm, Anhōōke (Wampage I), Wawhāmkus, and Mehúmōw deeded to [[Thomas Pell]] 9,160 acres of land east of the [[Hutchinson River]] northward to [[Mamaroneck, New York|Mamaroneck]], including modern day [[Pelham, New York|Pelham]], [[New Rochelle, New York|New Rochelle]], [[The Pelham Islands]], and portions of [[The Bronx]].<ref name="Barr" />{{rp|13}}<ref name="Bell" />{{rp|1}} The parties signed a treaty under the Treaty Oak near [[Bartow-Pell Mansion]] in Pelham.<ref name="Bell" />{{rp|18–20}} [[New Netherland]] authorities did not recognize his title, accusing the [[New England|New Englanders]] of continued encroachment upon Dutch territory. In September 1664, the British Navy, supported by a militia invasion force consisting largely of [[City Island, Bronx|City Island]] colonists and led by Pell himself, entered [[New Amsterdam]] and forced [[Peter Stuyvesant]], the Dutch Governor of New Netherland, to surrender.<ref name=TownHistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.townofpelham.com/history.htm |title=Town of Pelham History}}</ref>
===Merger and removal===
Following the 1654 treaty, the Siwanoys remained in the area around Westchester County for another hundred years, until they eventually "melted away" by intermarriage with the English settlers.<ref name="Pelliana">{{Citation
| last =Pell
| first =Robert T.
| title =Thomas Pell II (1675/76-1739): Third Lord of the Manor of Pelham
| journal =Pelliana: Pell of Pelham
| volume =New Series, vol. I
| issue =3
| pages =25–48
| date =1965
| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LF9JAAAAMAAJ
}}</ref>
== 18th- to 19th-century history ==
Some continued to reside along the shore in Westchester County until 1756, when most of the Wappinger and Mahicans remaining in the area joined the [[Nanticoke people|Nanticoke]], then living under the protection of the [[Iroquois]], and with them were eventually merged into the [[Lenape]]. Some of them joined the [[Stockbridge–Munsee Community|Stockbridge Indians]], a Lenape people who were [[Indian removal|forcibly removed]] to Wisconsin in the 1830s.<ref name="Hodge 4">{{Cite book| title= Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico |volume=4| author= Hodge, Frederick Webb | author-link= Frederick Webb Hodge | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WouVBgAAQBAJ&q=Siwanoy&pg=PA669 | access-date=2020-06-06 |isbn=9781582187518|date=1912}}</ref>
== Descendants ==
The [[Stockbridge Munsee Community]] is a [[federally recognized tribe]] based in [[Wisconsin]].<ref name="fr2022">{{cite journal |title=Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs |journal=Federal Register |date=January 28, 2022 |volume=87 FR 4636 |pages=4636–41 |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/01/28/2022-01789/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of |access-date=2 October 2022}}</ref> The [[Delaware Nation]] and [[Delaware Tribe of Indians]] are both federally recognized tribes in [[Oklahoma]].<ref name="fr2022"/> [[New York (state)|New York]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Delaware]] have [[state-recognized tribes]] that identify as Lenape descendants.<ref>{{cite web |title=State Recognized Tribes |url=https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx#State |website=National Conference of State Legislatures |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025051136/https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx#State |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Notable Siwanoys==
* [[Wampage I]], Anhōōke (died ca. 1680), chieftain at [[Rodman's Neck|Ann Hook's Neck]] and present-day [[Hunter Island (Bronx)|Hunter Island]]
* Wampage II (Ninham-Wampage/Ann Hook), chieftain on present-day Hunter Island circa 1700<ref name="Pelliana" /><ref name="Saunders">{{cite book |last= Saunders |first= James B. |title= The Pelham Manor Story, 1891-1991 |year=1991 |pages=28–29 }}</ref>
* Ponus, chieftain at present-day [[Rye, New York]], circa 1640; possible namesake of ''Poningo'', the Siwanoy village located at Rye<ref name="Bolton" />{{rp|127}}<ref name="Stamford">{{cite news |last=Carella |first= Angela |date=2020-07-22 |title=Hatchets, hoes and mirrors: Deed shows how colonists bought Stamford |url=https://www.ctinsider.com/local/stamfordadvocate/article/Hatchets-hoes-and-mirrors-Deed-shows-how-15427158.php |work=[[Stamford Advocate]] |location=[[Stamford, Connecticut]] |access-date=2020-09-28}}</ref>
* Shanarockwell (Shāwānórōckquot), chieftain at present-day Rye circa 1660<ref name="Bolton" />{{rp|127}}
* Cokenseko, chieftain circa 1680; namesake of [[Kensico, New York]]
* Wappaquewam, chieftain at present-day [[Mamaroneck, New York]], in 1661<ref name="NYT2">{{cite news |last=Markowitz |first=Dan |date=1999-11-21 |title=A Village Here, A Village There. But Why?; For Many in Mamaroneck, It Is Still the 'Place Where We Gather' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/21/nyregion/village-here-village-there-but-why-for-many-mamaroneck-it-still-place-where-we.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2020-09-10}}</ref>
* Mayn Mayano (Mianus), chieftain at present-day [[Greenwich, Connecticut]] circa 1640<ref name="Greenwich">{{cite news |last=Marchant |first=Robert |date=2015-02-21 |title=Born in conflict, a town called Greenwich emerges |url=https://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Born-in-conflict-a-town-called-Greenwich-emerges-6094442.php |work=[[Greenwich Time (newspaper)|Greenwich Time]] |location=[[Greenwich, Connecticut]] |access-date=2020-09-10}}</ref>
* Wascussee, chieftain at Shippan (present-day [[Davenport Neck]]) in 1640<ref name="Stamford" />
* Anna, daughter of Wampage II, who married Thomas Pell II, 3rd Lord of Pelham Manor (son of [[Sir John Pell]])<ref name="Pelliana" /><ref name="Barr" />{{rp|34–35}}
== Notable Siwanoy descendants ==
*[[Claiborne Pell]], [[U.S. Senator]] from Rhode Island; direct descendant of Wampage I<ref name=congress66>1966 ''[[Congressional Record]]'', Vol. 112, Page {{URL|https://archive.org/details/sim_congressional-record-proceedings-and-debates_january-10-january-27-1966_112/page/606/mode/2up|S606}} (1966-01-19)</ref>
*[[Clay Pell|Herbert Claiborne Pell IV]], a candidate for [[Governor of Rhode Island]]; direct descendant of Wampage I<ref name=congress66/>
*[[Herbert Pell]], [[United States Ambassador to Hungary|U.S. Ambassador to Hungary]] and [[United States Ambassador to Portugal|Portugal]]; direct descendant of Wampage I{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
==See also==
{{Portal|Connecticut|New York City}}
*[[Siwanoy Country Club]]
==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist|1}}
==External links==
* [https://www.mohican.com/ Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians],
* [https://www.delawarenation-nsn.gov/ Delaware Nation]
* [https://delawaretribe.org/ Delaware Tribe of Indians]
* [http://www.siwanoynation.org Siwanoy Nation Incorporated], an [[unrecognized tribe]] and nonprofit organization based in Tampa, Florida<ref>{{cite web |title=Siwanoy Nation Incorporated |url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_fl/N21000010470 |website=OpenCorporates |access-date=2 October 2022}}</ref>
* {{cite web |title=Siwanoy historical documents at the Mapping Early New York Encyclopedia |url=https://nahc-mapping.org/mappingNY/encyclopedia/node/7273 |publisher=New Amsterdam History Center}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Wappinger]]
[[Category:Lenape]]
[[Category:Algonquian peoples]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in New York (state)]]
[[Category:History of Fairfield County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Algonquian ethnonyms]]
[[Category:People from New Netherland]]
[[Category:History of the Bronx]]
[[Category:Extinct Native American peoples]]