Lenape
The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada.
The Lenape's historica ...
group whose territory was on the
Passaic River
The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...
Indian Tribes of Hudson's River; Ruttenber, E.M.; Hope Farm Press, 3rd ed, 2001, in northern New Jersey. They spoke the same dialect ( Unami) and shared the same totem (turtle) as the neighboring Hackensack, Tappan and Rumachenanck (later called the Haverstraw).
It may mean ''a place in a rapid stream where fishing is done with a net''.
Alternatively, ''at the lamprey stream'' from contemporary ''axkwaakahnung'' (spellings include Achquakanonk, Acquackanonk) Lastly it may mean ''where gum blocks were made for pounding corn''.
''Ackquekenon'' was spelling used by European explorer Jasper Danckaerts in 1679.
Part of the territory which they inhabited came into the possession of the Surveyor General of
New Netherland
New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...
Jacques Cortelyou, some "12,000 morgens at Aquackanonk on the Passaic, purchased by himself and associates of the Indians." A deed for the land (for Hans Didereck and others) is dated March 25, 1676. It was first settled in 1678 by Dutch traders, who in 1693 formed a Dutch Reformed congregation.Lucas Litchenberg, ''De Nieuwe Wereld van Peter Stuyvesant: Nederlandse voetsporen in de Verenigde Staten'', , NUGI 470, Uitgeverij Balans, 1999Acquackanonk Township was incorporated in 1693. It was located in the northern part of Essex County,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. In 1837,
Passaic County
Passaic County ( or ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's eighth-most-populous county,
was created, incorporating this township and some portions of both
Bergen County
Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Essex County. When formed, the township included parts of present-day Clifton, Paterson and