Penhawitz was
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 ...
of the
Canarsee
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 M ...
band of
Munsee
The Munsee (or Minsi or Muncee) or mə́n'si·w ( del, Monsiyok)Online Lenape Talking Dictionary, "Munsee Indians"Link/ref> are a subtribe of the Lenape, originally constituting one of the three great divisions of that nation and dwelling along t ...
in the 1630s and 1640s, and cultivated a relationship with the government of
New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
. He was the first Long Island sachem known to the Dutch, and was based in modern Brooklyn.
Penhawitz, along with fellow Canarsee Kakapetteyno, facilitated the
"purchase" of
Flatlands, Brooklyn
Flatlands is a neighborhood in the southeast part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The current neighborhood borders are roughly defined by the Bay Ridge Branch to the north, Avenue U to the south, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Fla ...
by
Andries Hudde
Andries Hudde (1608–1663) was a landowner and colonial official of New Netherland.
Early life and New Amsterdam
Andries Hudde was born in Kampen, Overijssel in the Netherlands in 1608 to Hendrick Hudde (himself son of the local burgomaster ...
and
Wolfert Gerritse in 1636. His group's
longhouse
A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America.
Many were built from timber and often rep ...
at modern
Canarsie, Brooklyn
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...
was labeled ''Keskachaue'' on the 1639
Manatus Map
The Manatus Map is a 1639 city map of New Amsterdam and other New Netherland settlements surrounding New York Harbor, with pictorial elements, and bearing the title '' on the North River''. Drafted during the period of Willem Kieft's directorsh ...
(the westernmost field sold to the Dutch was ''Keskateuw)''; with increasing Dutch encroachment, it does not appear on later maps. In 1640, Penhawitz alerted his colonial allies to an
English expedition to Long Island that had torn down the copper
Dutch Republic Lion
The Dutch Republic Lion (also known as States Lion) was the badge of the Union of Utrecht, the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, and a precursor of the current coat of arms of the Kingdom the Netherlands.
Background
There are three ...
off of a tree, and they foiled the occupation
After the initial massacres of Native Americans that began
Kieft's War
Kieft's War (1643–1645), also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between the colonial province of New Netherland and the Wappinger and Lenape Indians in what is now New York and New Jersey. It is named for Director-General of New Nethe ...
, he invited
David Pietersz. de Vries to come to
Rockaway for a negotiation with many Long Island Native leaders. Described at this time as one-eyed, Penhawitz joined De Vries on his return to
Fort Amsterdam
Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. It was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of the colony of New Netherland and subsequently the ...
to sign a peace treaty, which did not hold. His son
Tackapausha
Tackapausha -- also spelled as Tackapousha -- was a Lenape sachem, a successor of Penhawitz (his mother's brother, an important father-like figure in the Algonquian matrilineal kinship system). Tackapousha represented a broad coalition of Munsee-sp ...
succeeded him during his lifetime, and Penhawitz's later life is not recorded.
In popular culture
A fictionalized version of Penhawitz appears in the 2008 children's fantasy novel ''
Gods of Manhattan
''Gods of Manhattan'' is a 2008 children's novel by Scott Mebus. The book was first released on April 17, 2008 through Dutton Penguin and follows a young boy that has discovered a city that runs parallel to Manhattan.
Synopsis
The book follows Ro ...
'' and its sequels.
See also
*
Oratam
Oratam (or Oritani/Oratamin) was sagamore, or sachem, of the Hackensack Indians living in northeastern New Jersey during the period of early European colonization in the 17th century. Documentation shows that he lived an unusually long life (almo ...
*
Wampage
Wampage I (), also called Anhōōke and later John White, was a Sagamore (or chieftain) of the Siwanoy Native Americans, who resided in the area now known as the Bronx and Westchester County, New York. He was involved in the murder of Anne Hutc ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penhawitz
Native American leaders
Lenape people
17th-century Native Americans
People of New Netherland
People from Canarsie, Brooklyn
History of Brooklyn
Kieft's War