Wappinger Indian Tribe Location

Wappinger. From the same root as Abnaki and Wampanoag, an meaning "Easterners"

Connections

The Wappinger belonged to the Algonquian linguist family and spoke an r-dialect, their nearest allies being the Mahica the Montauk, and next the New England tribes.

Location

The east bank of the Hudson River from Manhattan Island to Poughkeepsie and the territory eastward to the lower Connecticut Valley. (See also Connecticut.)

Subdivisions or "Sachemships"

Hammonasset, west of the Connecticut River, Conn., at its mouth.
Kitchawank, in the northern part of Westchester County beyond Croton River and between Hudson River and the Connecticut.
Massaco, in the present towns of Simsbury and Canton on Farmington River, Conn. Menunkatuck, in the present town of Guilford, Conn.
Nochpeem, in the southern part of Dutchess County, N. Y.
Paugusset, in the eastern part of Fairfield County and the western edge of New Haven County, Conn.
Podunk, in the eastern part of Hartford County, Conn., east of Connecticut River. Poquonock, in the towns of Windsor, Windsor Locks, and Bloomfield, Hartford County, Conn.
Quinnipiac, in the central part of New Haven County, Conn.
Sicaog, in Hartford and West Hartford, Conn.
Sintsink, between Hudson, Croton, and Pocantico Rivers.
Siwanoy, in Westchester County and part of Fairfield County, Conn., between the Bronx and Five Mile River.
Tankiteke, mainly in Fairfield County, Conn., between Five Mile River and Fairfield and extending inland to Danbury and even into Putnam and Dutchess Counties, N. Y.
Tunxis, in the southwestern part of Hartford County, Conn.
Wangunk, on both sides of Connecticut River from the Hartford city line to about the southern line of the town of Haddam.
Wappinger proper, about Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County, N. Y.
Wecquaesgeek, between the Hudson, Bronx, and Pocantico Rivers.

Villages

Alipconk, in the Weckquasgeek sachemdom, on the site of Tarrytown, N. Y.
Appaquag, on the Hockanum River east of Hartford, Conn., in the Podunk sachemdom.
Aspetuck, near the present Aspetuck in Fairfield County, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom.
Canopus, in Canopus Hollow, Putnam County.
Capage, near Beacon Falls on Naugatuck River, Conn., in the Paugusset sachemdom.
Cassacuhque, near Mianus in the town of Greenwich, Conn., Siwanoy sachemdom.
Cockaponset, near Haddam in Middlesex County, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Coginchaug, near Durham, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Cossonnacock, near the line between the towns of Haddam and Lyme, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Cupheag, given as the probable name of a town at Stratford, Conn., but this was perhaps Pisquheege.
Hockanum, at the mouth of Hockanum River, Hartford County, Conn., in the Podunk sachemdom.
Keskistkonk, probably on Hudson River, south of the highlands, in Putnam County, in the Nochpeem sachemdom.
Kitchiwank, about the mouth of Croton River, N. Y., in the Kitchiwank sachemdom.
Machamodus, on Salmon River in Middlesex County, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Massaco, near Simsbury on Farmington River, Conn., in the Massaco sachemdom. Mattabesec, on the site of Middletown, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Mattacomacok, near Rainbow in the town of Windsor, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Mattianock, at the mouth of Farmington River in the Poquonock sachemdom.
Menunketuck, at Guilford, Conn., in the Menunketuck sachemdom.
Meshapock, near Middlebury, Conn., in the Paugussett sachemdom.
Mioonktuck, near New Haven, Conn., in the Quinnipiac sachemdom.
Namaroake, on Connecticut River in the town of East Windsor, Conn., in the Podunk sachemdom.
Naubuc, near Glastonbury, Conn., in the Podunk sachemdom.
Naugatuck, near Naugatuck, Conn., in the Paugussett sachemdom.
Newashe, at the mouth of Scantic River, in the Podunk sachemdom.
Nochpeem, in the southern part of Dutchess County.
Noroaton, at the mouth of Noroton River, in the Siwanoy sachemdom.
Norwauke, at Norwalk, Conn., in the Siwanoy sachemdom.
Ossingsing, at the site of Ossining, N. Y.
Pahquioke, near Danbury, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom.
Pashesauke, on Lyndes Neck at the mouth of the Connecticut River in the Hammonassett sachemdom.
Pasquasheck, probably on the bank of Hudson River in Dutchess County.
Pataquasak, near Essex Post Office, Conn., in the Hammonassett sachemdom.
Pattaquonk, near Chester, Conn., in the Hammonassett sachemdom.
Paugusset, on the bank of Housatonic River about 1 mile above Derby, Conn., in the Paugusset sachemdom.
Pauquaunuch, in Stratford Township, Fairfield County, Paugusset sachemdom, apparently the same town as Pisquheege.
Pequabuck, near Bristol, Conn., in the Tunxis sachemdom.
Pisquheege, near Stratford, Fairfield County, in the Paugusset sachemdom.
Pocilaug, on Long Island Sound near Westbrook, Conn., in the Hammonassett sachemdom.
Pocowset, on Connecticut River opposite Middletown, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Podunk, at the mouth of Podunk River, Conn., in the Podunk sachemdom.
Pomeraug, near Woodbury, Conn., in the Paugussett sachemdom.
Poningo, near Rye, N. Y., in the Siwanoy sachemdom.
Poquannuc, near Poquonock in Hartford County, Conn., in the Poquonock sachemdom.
Potatuck, the name of one or two towns on or near Potatuck River, in the town of Newtown, Fairfield County, Conn., in the Paugusset sachemdom.
Pyquag, near Wethersfield, Conn., in the Wangunk sachemdom.
Quinnipiac, on Quinnipiac River north of New Haven, Conn., in the Quinnipiac sachemdom.
Ramapo, near Ridgefield, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom.
Sackhoes, on the site of Peekskill, N. Y., in the Kitchawank sachemdom.
Saugatuck, at the mouth of Saugatuck River, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom.
Scanticook, on Scantic River near its junction with Broad Brook, Hartford County, Conn., in the Podunk sachemdom.
Senasqua, at the mouth of Croton River, in the Kitchawank sachemdom.
Shippan, near Stamford, Conn., in the Siwanoy sachemdom.
Sioascauk, near Greenwich, Conn., in the Siwanoy sachemdom.
Squantuck, on the Housatonic River, above Derby, Conn., in the Paugussett sachemdom.
Suckiauk, near W. Hartford, Conn., in the Sicaog sachemdom.
Titicus, near Titicus in the town of Ridgefield, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom.
Totoket, near Totoket in the town of N. Branford, New Haven County, Conn., in the Quinnipiac sachemdom.
Tunxis, in the bend of Farmington River near Farmington, Conn., in the Tunxis sachemdom.
Turkey Hill, near Derby, Conn., in the Paugussett sachemdom, perhaps given under another name.
Unkawa, between Danbury and Bethel, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom. Weantinock, near Fairfield, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom.
Wecquaesgeek, at Dobbs Ferry, in the Wecquaesgeek sachemdom.
Weataug, near Weatogue in the town of Simsbury, Conn., in the Massaco sachemdom.
Wepowaug, near Milford, Conn., in the Paugusset sachemdom.
Werawaug, near Danbury, Conn., in the Tankiteke sachemdom.
Woodtick, near Woodtick in the town of Wolcott, New Haven County, Conn., in the Tunxis sachemdom.
Woronock, near Milford, Conn., in the Paugusset sachemdom, evidently another name for Wepowaug.

History

The Wappinger were found by Henry Hudson in 1609 in occupancy of the lands above mentioned. The Connecticut bands gradually sold their territory and joined the Indians at Scaticook and Stockbridge. The western bands suffered heavily in war with the Dutch, 1640-45, but continued to occupy a tract along the coast in Westchester County until 1756, when most of those who were left joined the Nanticoke at Chenango, Broome County, N. Y., and were finally merged, along with them, into the Delaware. Some joined the Moravian and Stockbridge Indians while a few were still living in Dutchess County in 1774, and a few mixed-bloods live now on Housatonic River below Kent. These belong to the old Scaticook settlement founded by a Pequot Indian named Mauwehu or Mahwee, and settled mainly by individuals of the Paugusset, Unkawa, and Potatuck towns of the Paugusset sachemdom.

Population

Mooney (1928) estimates the population of the New York divisions of Wappinger at about 3,000 in 1600, and places that of the various Connecticut bands at 1,750, a total of 4,750. The war with the Dutch is said to have cost the western bands 1,600, but we have no estimates of their population at a later date, except as parts of the Stockbridge, Brotherton, and Iroquois Indians, and a few mixed-bloods at Scaticook, Conn., a few miles below Kent.

Connection in which they have become noted

The Wappinger bands were among those particularly engaged in the manufacture of siwan or wampum. They occupied much of the mainland territory of the present Greater New York but not Manhattan Island. Wappingers Falls in Dutchess County, N. Y., preserves the name.

Additional Resources

• New Your Indian Tribes

• Iroquois History of the Aborgines

• New York Indian Honored War Dead, World War II

• New York Indians Wounded in Action, World War II

• Champlain's Expedition of 1615 Against the Onondaga

Notes About the Book:

Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output.

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