Metoac

A modern map showing Long Island and most of New York City highlighted in green with locations and tribal exonyms^[1][2]

A modern map broadly showing language areas in the Mid-Atlantic region at the time of European contact in the 17th century^[1][2]

Metoac was a term erroneously used to describe Native Americans on Long Island in New York state, in the belief that various bands on the island comprised distinct tribes. The amateur anthropologist and U.S. Congressman Silas Wood published a book in the 19th century mistakenly claiming that several American Indian tribes were distinct to Long Island, New York. He collectively called them the Metoac. Scholars now understand that these historic peoples were part of two major cultural groups: the Lenape and the Wappinger-Wangunk-Quinnipiac peoples, both part of the Algonquian languages family.

Modern scientific scholarship has shown that Native American peoples on the island belonged to two major language and cultural groups among the Algonquian peoples who occupied Atlantic coastal areas from Canada through the American South. The bands in the western part of Long Island were related to those Lenape who had previously settled in the territory East of the Hudson river, and were related to peoples in what is now western Connecticut. Those to the east were more related culturally and linguistically to the Algonquian tribes of New England across Long Island Sound, such as the Pequot.^[1][2] Wood (and earlier colonial settlers) often confused Indian place names, by which the bands were known, as the names for different "tribes" living there.

Wood may have derived his collective term from metau-hok, the Algonquian word for the rough periwinkle,^[3] which played an important role in the economy of the region before and after the arrival of Europeans. Dutch colonists, some from New Netherland, were the primary European settlers in the early colonial era. The eastern part of the island was colonized by English settlers from southern New England. Indigenous populations declined significantly within a few decades of European contact, due to new infectious diseases to which they had no immunity.

Many of the place names given by the Lenape and Pequot populations are still in use today. The Shinnecock Indian Nation, based in part of what is now Southampton, New York in Suffolk County, has gained federal recognition as a tribe and has a reservation there.

Languages

The Native American population on Long Island has been estimated at 10,000 at the time of first contact.^[4][5] They spoke two languages within the Algonquian language group, reflecting their different connections to mainland peoples.^[6] Tribes in the west and in the central part of Long Island were in close relationship with Lenape, who occupied the territory on the western shore of the Hudson River and Wappinger, who lived on the eastern shore. This group of "Metoac" spoke one of the R-dialects, close to the language of Wappinger. The bands who lived in and around what is now New York City were under very strong cultural influence of the Lenape. Due to multiple and continuing contacts with speakers of L-dialects (Unami and Munsee), their language acquired certain features typical of the Lenape language. Finally, those Indians who lived on the east end of the island were related to the Pequot of eastern Connecticut, and they spoke a Y-dialect of the Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language.^[2]

European colonization

European colonization of the region began in the 1620s, with Dutch colonists settling around the lower Hudson and western Long Island. From the north, the New England Confederation exerted influence on eastern Long Island and along its north shore. The western portion (including what are now the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens) were under the jurisdiction of New Netherland.

This separation between zones of Dutch and English influence was formalized in their Treaty of Hartford in 1650, which set a border running south from Oyster Bay. The Native Americans on Long Island played an important role in the trade economy; shells harvested there were fashioned into small beads to create sewant, or wampum ("wampompeag" - shortened later by the English). These were used to decorate ceremonial wear and were the most highly prized.

Displacement

The Pequot War (1634–1638) in southern New England and Kieft's War (1643–1645) in the New York metropolitan area were two major conflicts between the indigenous peoples and the colonists. Exposure to new Eurasian infectious diseases, such as measles and smallpox, dramatically reduced the numbers of Native Americans on Long Island. In addition, some Native American settlements on Long Island migrated away under pressure from European encroachment. By 1659, their population was reduced to less than 500.

After the American Revolutionary War, their numbers were reduced to 162 people by 1788. By this time, Samson Occom had persuaded many survivors to join the Brothertown Indians in western upstate New York, where the Oneida people of the Iroquois Confederacy shared their reservation for several years.

Exonyms

For generations, colonists mistakenly used the place names as exonyms for peoples, thinking they referred to distinct tribes. Among the many locations on Long Island used by the native peoples, 19th-century American publications identified the following thirteen as "tribes" on Long Island:^[7][8]

State and federal recognition

Modern map showing linguistic groups, including areas where modern reservations are located

At the end of 2009, the administration of President Barack Obama announced the Shinnecock Indian Nation had met the federal criteria for recognition as a tribe.^[10] The Shinnecock were recognized by the United States government in October 2010 after a more than 30-year effort, which included suing the Department of Interior.^[11] The Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, George T. Skibine, issued the final determination of the tribe's recognized status on June 13, 2010.^[12]

New York State has recognized the Shinnecock, based at Shinnecock Reservation near Southampton and the Unkechaugi. The latter's Poospatuck Reservation at Mastic is the smallest Indian reservation in the state. The Montaukett, a group around Montauk, is seeking both state and federal recognition.

References