Katonah was a Lenape

sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...

who led parts of two bands of

Wappinger The Wappinger () were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutches ...

in what is today the far southeastern part of mainland New York State and southwestern Connecticut: the Wiechquaeskeck in the

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, Stamford areas of Connecticut, and the Ramapo inhabiting that of today’s Bedford, New York. Some believe the Ramapo Sachemdom - which later relocated across the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

in both New York and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

(for whom today’s town of

Ramapo, New York Ramapo is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It was originally formed as New Hampstead, in 1791, and became Ramapo in 1828."Ramapo", in Peter R. Eisenstadt and Laura-Eve Moss (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of New York State'. Syr ...

, and the

Ramapo Mountains The Ramapo Mountains are a forested chain of the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York, in the United States. They range in height from in New Jersey, and in New York. Several parks and forest preserves en ...

of New Jersey are named) - was part of the

Tankiteke The Wappinger () were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutche ...

chieftaincy of the Wappinger (itself effectively a league or confederation of a dozen or so bands, sovereign to itself but linguistically at least a Lenape people). The land of today’s town of Bedford was purchased from Chief Katonah.

Biography

Katonah was the sachem of the condensed remnants of a

people called the Ramapo (whose descendants today, largely in New Jersey, are known as the

Ramapough Mountain Indians The Ramapough Lenape Nation is a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey. They were previously named the Ramapough Mountain Indians (also spelled Ramapo), also known as the Ramapough Lenape Nation or Ramapough Lunaape Munsee Delaware Nation. They ...

. He lived in the area in the late seventeenth century. Records show that in 1708 the Ridgefield settlers petitioned the colonial General Assembly at Hartford to remove the Ramapo. Katonah sold the Ramapo lands of 20,000 acres for 100 Pounds Sterling to the "Proprietors of Ridgefield". His name appears on land deeds up to 1743. The Remnant tribe of the Ramapo scattered to the north and west. Chief Katonah was the son of Onox (the elder) and the grandson of Ponus, Sachem of the Rippowams. Katonah was the successor to Powahay, his brother. Katonah had a brother named Onox and a son named Papiag who also signed land deeds. His uncle, Tapgow, son of Ponus, signed many land deeds in northern New Jersey including the Schuyler Patent or the Ramapo Tract Deed in 1710 in northern New Jersey. Katonah was married to Cantitoe, sometimes known as Mustato, said to be of the Pompton tribe.Duncombe, Frances Riker. "Chapter 1: Explorers, Settlers, Indians." Katonah: the History of a New York Village and Its People. Salem, MA: Higginson Book, 1997. 1-13. Print. Their daughter married Samuel Mohawk alias Chickens Warrups. Indiantrails1625

Legend has it that Katonah died of grief after his wife and son were killed by lightning. He is said to be buried with them in Katonah's Wood, off

New York State Route 22 New York State Route 22 (NY 22) is a north–south state highway that parallels the eastern border of the U.S. state of New York, from the outskirts of New York City to the hamlet of Mooers in Clinton County near the Canadian border ...

. William Will's poem ''Katonah'' describes him laid beneath a giant boulder and the others under two smaller immediately adjacent boulders.

Legacy

The hamlet of

Katonah, New York Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,679 at the 2010 census. History Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an ...

, located within Bedford, is named for Chief Katonah. In 2007, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia applied for a trademark on the Katonah name for a line of furniture. Members of the Ramapough Lenape Nation joined forces with local residents to oppose it.

References

External links

How Katonah Got Its Name

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katonah (Native American leader) Native American leaders People from New York (state) 17th-century Native Americans 18th-century Native Americans Lenape people