Mythologies of the Canarsee Tribe

December 21, 2024

The Canarsee (also Canarse and Canarsie) were a band of Munsee-speaking Lenape who inhabited the westernmost end of Long Island at the time the Dutch colonized New Amsterdam in the 1620s and 1630s. They are credited with selling the island of Manhattan to the Dutch, even though they only occupied its lower reaches, with the balance the seasonal hunting grounds of the Wecquaesgeek of the Wappinger people to the north. The Canarsee were among the peoples who were conflated with other Long Island bands into a group called the Metoac, an aggregation which failed to recognize their linguistic differences and varying tribal affinities. As was common practice early in the days of white European colonisation of North America, a people came to be associated with a place, with its name displacing theirs among the colonies and those associated with them, such as explorers, mapmakers, trading company superiors who sponsored many of the early settlements, and officials in the colonizers' mother country in Europe. This was the case of the "Canarsee" people, whose name, to the extent they identified with one, is lost in history. It is the "Canarse" [sic], who only utilized the very southern end of Manhattan island, the Manhattoes, as a hunting ground, who are credited with selling Peter Minuit the entirety of the island for $24 in 1639. A confusion of possession on the part of the Canarsees who failed to tell the Dutch that the balance of island was the hunting ground of the Wecquaesgeek, a Wappinger band of southwest Westchester County. Red Hook Lane, a Canarsee path thru the marshland was in colonial times the main trail from Brooklyn Heights to Red Hook. The Red Hook Lane Heritage Trail in Red Hook marks in a zig-zag fashion where the old indian trail was to Cypress Tree Island. It begins at the Red Hook Lane Arresick.

Canarsee Indians. Formerly one of the leading tribes on Long Island, New York, occupying most of what is now Kings County and the shores of Jamaica Bay, with their center near Flatlands. According to Ruttenber they were subject to or connected with the Montauk; however, is doubtful, as the Indians of the west end of the island appear to have been paying tribute, at the time of the Dutch settlement of New York, to the Iroquois. Their principal village, of the same name, was probably as Canarsee, near Flatlands, in addition to which they had others at Maspeth and apparently at Hempstead. They are important chiefly from the fact that the site of the city of Brooklyn was obtained from them. Having asserted their independence of the Mohawk, after the appearance of the Dutch, they were attacked by that tribe and nearly exterminated. They also suffered considerably during the war of the Long Island tribes with the Dutch. The last one of them died about 1800.

Canarsee (kənär´sē), Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They occupied the western part of Long Island, N.Y., and sold the site of Brooklyn to the Dutch. They paid tribute to the Mohawk, and when they stopped paying and defied the Mohawk, they were almost destroyed. Eventually, the Canarsee ceased to exist as a distinct group.

The Canarsie tribe, also known as the “Canarsees,” were a Native American group who originally inhabited the area around the Canarsie Bay in present-day Brooklyn, New York City. They were part of the Lenape, or Delaware, language family, which encompassed a broader Indigenous population in the Northeast region of North America. Their name, “Canarsie,” is believed to have derived from the Lenape word “Cannarsee,” meaning “at the narrows” or “place of the narrows,” referring to the geographical location of their settlement, where the East River meets the Atlantic Ocean. These waters provided them with abundant food, shelter, and a vital connection to the surrounding environment. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Canarsie people have occupied the area for centuries, possibly even millennia. Their ancestors were skilled hunters and gatherers, relying on the natural resources available to them, including fish, shellfish, deer, and wild plants. They lived in villages consisting of longhouses, large structures made of wood and bark, which provided shelter and communal living spaces. Their lives were deeply connected to the natural rhythms of the land. They developed an intricate understanding of the local ecosystem, and their traditions and rituals reflected their harmonious relationship with the environment. The Canarsie people held a deep respect for the Earth, recognizing its vital role in sustaining their existence. The Canarsie tribe was organized into a hierarchical society, with a chief or sachem leading each village. The sachem, a position typically inherited through lineage, made decisions about the village’s affairs, including land use, hunting, and intertribal relations. They also served as spiritual leaders, responsible for maintaining the tribe’s traditions and ceremonies. The Canarsie people, like many other Native American groups, held a strong emphasis on community and interdependence. They shared resources, worked together for the common good, and valued cooperation and mutual respect.