Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.Ruttenber, Edward Manning
History
Footprints of the Red Men: Indian geographical names in the valley of Hudson's river, the valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: their location and the probable meaning of some of them.
Ruttenber, Edward Manning
Indians of North America -- New York (State); Names, Geographical -- New York (State); Names, Indian -- North America
[FN] Wallabout Bay takes its first name from Dutch _Waal,_ "gulf,
abyss," etc., and _Bocht,_ "bend," It was spoken of colloquially by the
early Dutch as "The bay of the foreigners," referring to the Walloons
who had settled on the north side of the bay in 1625. The first white
child, Sarah Rapelie, born in New Netherland, now the State of New York,
was born here June 17th, 1625.
Manette, so written of record--"near Mannato hill," about thirty miles
from Brooklyn and midway between the north and south sides of the
island--has been interpreted from its equivalent, _Manitou,_ "Hill of
the Great Spirit," but means strictly, "That which surpasses, or is more
than ordinary." (Trumbull.) It was a word in common use by the Indians
in application to everything that was more than ordinary or that they
could not understand. In this instance it seems to have been applied to
the water of a spring or well on the rising ground which they regarded
as of surpassing excellence; from the spring transferred to the hill.
The tradition is that some ages ago the Indians residing in the vicinity
of the hill were suffering for water. They prayed to the Great Spirit
for relief, and were directed to shoot an arrow in the air and where it
fell to dig and they would find water. They did so and dug the well now
on the rising ground, the water of which was of surpassing excellence,
or Manitou. The story was probably invented to account for the name. It
is harmless fiction.
Rennaquakonck, Rinnegahonck, a landmark so called in the boundaries of
a tract on Wallabout Bay, described in deed as "A certain swamp where
the water runs over the stones," and, in a subsequent deed, "At the
sweet marsh" (Hist. of Brooklyn), is an orthography of _Winnegackonck,_
meaning "At the sweet place," so called from some plant which was found
there, or to distinguish the marsh as fresh or sweet, not a salt marsh.
The exchange of R and W may be again noted.
Comac, the name of a village in Suffolk County, is an apheresis of
_Winne-comac,_ as appears of record. The combination expresses, "Good
enclosed place," from _Winne,_ "Good, fine, sweet, beautiful, pleasant,"
etc., and _-komuck,_ "Place enclosed," or having definite boundaries,
limited in size.
Nyack, the name of the site of Fort Hamilton, is a generic verbal from
_Nâï,_ "A point or corner." (_Nâïag,_ Mass., _Néïak,_ Len.) The
orthographies vary--Naywayack, Narrack, Nanak, Narrag, Najack, Niuck,
Narrioch, etc. With the suffix _-ak,_ the name means "Land or place at
the point." (See Nyack-on-the-Hudson.) Dankers and Sluyter wrote in
their Journal (1679-80): "We went part of the way through the woods and
fine, new-made land, and so along the shore to the west end of the
island called Najack. . . . Continuing onward from there, we came to the
plantation of the Najack Indians, which was planted with maize, or
Turkish Wheat." The Nayacks removed to Staten Island after the sale of
their lands at New Utrecht. (See Narrioch.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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