While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Dutch influence. The influence of the Dutch on the
Indians N. of Mexico was confined to the period (1609-64) from Hudson s visit to
the surrender of New Amsterdam and its dependencies to the English. The region
in which this influence was exerted lies between the Susquehanna and Connecticut
rs., and between the Atlantic and L. Ontario. Ft Orange, now the city of Albany,
was a noted trading post of the Dutch, and there they came in contact with the
Iroquoian tribes of the N., in addition to the Algonquian tribes of the S. The
harsh con duct of Hudson toward the Indians met by him on Hudson r. was in part
responsible for many subsequent conflicts between the Dutch and the natives. The
Dutch were agents in furnishing brandy to the Indians of their territory and to
the surrounding tribes, thereby undoing much of the good sought to be
accomplished by the French authorities. The United Company of the New
Netherlands, which exercised the first controlling influence in the region of
Hudson r., was succeeded in 1621 by the powerful West India Company, and in 1632
was founded the fort on Connecticut r. where is now the city of Hartford. The
trade in furs with the Pequot and other tribes was extensive. Disputes soon
occurred that f roved detrimental to trade, and De Forest Hist. Inds. of Conn.,
73, 1852) considers that it was the loss of the Dutch trade which induced the
Pequot to invite the English of Massachusetts bay to settle in Connecticut, an
act that led ultimately to their own destruction. Quarrels between the Dutch of
New Amsterdam and the Indians, and the savage conduct of Gov. Kieft in 1642, led
to much slaughter of natives during the next 2 years, and stirred up many of the
Connecticut tribes against both the English and the Dutch. Some of them had
engaged in intriguing, now against one, now against the other party of the
whites. Friederici (Indianerund Anglo-Americaner, 16, 1900) takes a more
favorable view of the attitude of the Dutch toward the Indians in general than
that entertained by many authorities. The Dutch helped the Iroquois confederacy
against the northern Algonquian hordes, and the wars thus initiated were in
progress when the English conquest took place. They also aided the Mali i can
against the Mohawk (Ruttenber, Ind. Tribes of Hudson R., 56, 1872) and
the Seneca against the Munsee, to whom the Swedes had supplied arms. Many
troubles arose from the cupidity of the traders and settlers who sold firearms
and liquors to the Indians, regardless of the general policy of the government
(Nelson, Inds. of New Jersey, 1894). An interesting relic of Dutch
influence is the title "Kora" given by the modern Iroquois of Canada to the
governor-general, or to the King of England, a corruption of Corlaer, the name
of one of the Dutch governors of New Amsterdam. (A. F. C.)
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
