Wappinger Towns and Villages

     <b><a>Kitchawak</a></b> (perhaps akin to        Chippewa <i>Kichŭchǐwǐnk </i>       'at the great niybtaub.' (W. Jones). <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Apparently a band or small tribe, or, as Ruttenber        designates it, a "chieftaincy" of the Wappinger confederacy, formerly        residing on the east bank of the Hudson in what is now Westchester County,        N.Y. Their territory is believed to have extended from Croton river to        Anthony's Nose.&nbsp; Their principal village, Kitchawank, in 1650,        appears to have been about the mouth of the Croton, though one authority        (N.Y. Doc. Col. Hist., xiii, 24, 2882) locates it at Sleepy Hollow.&nbsp;        They also had a village at Peekskill which they called Sackhoes.&nbsp;        Their fort, or "castle," which stood at the mouth of Croton river, has        been represented as one of the most formidable and ancient of the Indian        fortresses south of the Highlands.&nbsp; Its exact situation, according to        Ruttenber, was at the neck of Teller's, called Senasqua.&nbsp; The        Kitchawank were a party to the treaty of peace made with the Dutch, Aug.        30, 1645.</p>       <p><b><a>       Mattabesec</a></b> (from massa-seguēs-et, 'at a [relatively] great rivulet        or brook. Trumbull). An important Algonquian tribe of Connecticut,        formerly occupying both banks of Connecticut river from Wethersfield to        Middletown or to the coast and extending westward indefinitely. The        Wongunk, Pyquaug, and Montowese Indians were a part of this tribe.        According to Ruttenber they were a part of the Wappinger, and perhaps        occupied the original territory front which colonies went out to overrun        the country as far as Hudson river. The same author says their        jurisdiction extended over all southwest Connecticut, including the        Mahackeno, Uncowa, Paugusset, Wepawaug, Quinnipiac, Montowese, Sukiang,        and Tunxis. </p>       <p><br /><b><a>Manhattan</a></b> ('the hill island,' or 'the        island of hills,' from manah 'island', -alin ` hill.'-Tooker). A tribe of        the Wappinger confederacy that occupied Manhattan island. and the east        bank of Hudson river and shore of Long Island spund, in Westchester        county, N. Y. Early Dutch writers applied the name also to people of        neighboring Wappinger tribes. The Manhattan had their principal village,        Nappeckamack, where Yonkers now stands, and their territory stretched to        Bronx river. From their fort, Nipinichsen, on the north bank of Spuyten        Duyvil creek, they sallied out in two canoes to attack Hendrik Hudson when        he returned down-the river in 1609. Manhattan island contained several        villages which they used only for hunting and fishing. One was Sapohanikan.        The island was bought from them by Peter Minuit on May 6, 1626, for 60        guilders' worth of trinkets (Martha J. Lamb, Hist. City of N. Y., 1, 53,        1877). Their other lands were disposed of by later sales.        See Ruttenber, Ind. Tribes Hudson R.. 77, 1872.</p>                      <p>The books presented are for their historical                    value only and are not the opinions of the Webmasters of the                    site.<br /><br /><i>Handbook of American Indians, 1906</i></p>                        <p><a href="/">           Index of Tribes or Nations</a>