• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Mohican

New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

September 5, 2023 by Peter Hess 3 Comments

First Dutch Church at Albany as it appears in several of the works of James EightsBy 1642, the number of inhabitants of Rensselaerwyck (spelled Rensselaerswijck in Dutch), at the time basically what is now Albany and Rensselaer Counties, had grown and Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer willingly complied with a requirement of the Dutch West India Company to secure a clergyman for a Dutch Church to conduct services for the settlers. [Read more…] about New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Algonquin, Arendt Van Curler, Beverwyck, Cultural History, Dutch History, Fort Nassau, Fort Orange, French History, Haudenosaunee, Hudson River, Indigenous History, Iroquois, Issac Jogues, Mohawk, Mohawk River, Mohican, New Amsterdam, New France, New Netherland, Religious History, Rensselaer County, Rensselaerswijck, Watervliet

Schodack Island Channel Restoration Planned

May 13, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Schodack Island Channel Restoration IllustrationWaterways at Schodack Island State Park, which sits off the eastern shore of the Hudson River just south of Albany, that were filled in a century ago will be restored under a project coordinated by the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to re-create 2.8 acres of natural habitat and improve the health of the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Schodack Island Channel Restoration Planned

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: American Shad, DEC, Hudson River, Hudson River Estuary Program, Mohican, Schodack Creek, Schodack Island State Park, State Parks

Saratoga Area Ethnohistoric Survey Nears Completion

July 18, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

saratoga national historic park courtesy wikimedia user UpstateNYerIn 2018, Saratoga National Historical Park received funding to produce an ethnohistorical study of the Saratoga area. Professor Karim Tiro from Xavier University was chosen to conduct the research and compile the report.

Dr. Tiro specializes in North American history during the colonial, revolutionary, and early national periods with a focus on the history of Native Americans, the War of 1812, and epidemics. [Read more…] about Saratoga Area Ethnohistoric Survey Nears Completion

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Abenaki, American Revolution, Archaeology, Battle of Saratoga, Indigenous History, Lenape - Munsee - Delaware, Military History, Mohawk, Mohican, National Park Service, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga National Park, War of 1812

The Albany Congress of 1754: Native People, Colonists & the Monarchy

January 26, 2022 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

Dec 1754 Map of the English Colonies (LOC)William Shirley was the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, appointed by the King of England. Shirley had been a British official in England serving on negotiating committees with French officials determining boundaries. This had led Shirley to a thorough dislike of the French.

He was very aggressive and had been a stalwart advocate of invading Canada and driving the French out of North America. Shirley had written a strong criticism of the New York Congress for its resistance to an invasion of Canada in 1748. He was upset when New Jersey and Rhode Island refused to cooperate in the invasion because they were not threatened. [Read more…] about The Albany Congress of 1754: Native People, Colonists & the Monarchy

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Albany, Albany Plan of Union, American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, Canajoharie, Colonial History, Connecticut, French And Indian War, French History, George Clinton, Haudenosaunee, Hendrick Theyanoguin, Indigenous History, James DeLancey, Kayaderosseras Creek, Lenape, Maryland, Massachusetts, Military History, Mohawk, Mohawk Valley, Mohican, New France, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Northwest Territory, Oswego, Pennsylvania, Political History, Rhode Island, Saratoga County, Schaghticoke, Stockbridge Indians, Virginia, West Canada Creek, William Johnson

Colonial Conflict, Native People, Anti-Catholicism & The Burning of Schenectady

January 12, 2022 by Peter Hess 5 Comments

In 1652, New Netherland Director General Peter Stuyvesant declared that Fort Orange and everything around it, including the village outside the fort, often called Oranje after the fort, was independent of the ownership of the Van Rensselaer family. He named the small mostly Dutch village “Beverwyck.”

Possibly at the urging of the Van Rensselaers, their earlier manager Arendt Van Curler (Corlear) began planning the construction of a new village. [Read more…] about Colonial Conflict, Native People, Anti-Catholicism & The Burning of Schenectady

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City Tagged With: Abenaki, Albany, Albany County, Arendt Van Curler, Canada, Catholicism, Dutch History, Early American History, Esopus Wars, Fort Crailio, Fort Frederick, Fort Orange, fur trade, https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/tags/fort-frederick/, Hudson River, Indigenous History, Iroquois, Jacob Leisler, King Philips War, Massachusetts, Military History, Mohawk, Mohawk River, Mohican, New France, New Netherland, Peter Schuyler, Peter Stuyvesant, Political History, Religious History, Rensselaer, Rensselaer County, Schenectady, Schenectady County, Van Rensselaers

Dutch, Mohawk & Mohican Fur Trade

November 29, 2021 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

Castle Island and Fort Orange 1629After a 1627 conflict, when the Dutch sided with the Mahicans against the Mohawks, the relationship between the first settlers and the Indigenous People was relatively peaceful and cooperative.

This was due in part to the fact that the Patroon had purchased the land from them and also due to the business relationship established between local Indigenous People and the fur traders. [Read more…] about Dutch, Mohawk & Mohican Fur Trade

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany, Dutch History, Fort Orange, fur trade, hunting, Indigenous History, Iroquois, Mohawk, Mohican, Native American History, New Netherland, Rensselaerswijck, trapping

Early Settlers at Albany: The Founding of Rensselaerswyck

November 23, 2021 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

New Netherland map published by Nicolaes Visscher II (1649–1702)In 1620, the English Puritans landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts and the following year the Dutch West India Company was chartered and given the exclusive right to conduct trade in New Netherland.

In 1624, eight families joined the Dutch traders at Albany arriving on the ship New Netherland captained by Cornelis May.

These settlers built homes and cultivated farms; they also constructed Fort Oranje (Fort Orange) on the west bank of the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Early Settlers at Albany: The Founding of Rensselaerswyck

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Colonialism, Columbia County, Dutch History, Fort Orange, fur trade, Hudson River, Indigenous History, Mohawk, Mohican, New Netherland, Rensselaer County, Rensselaerswijck, Transportation History, Van Rensselaers

Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany

November 22, 2021 by Peter Hess 6 Comments

Map of New Netherland and New England, with north to the rightIn 1565, the Spanish settled 600 soldiers and civilians at St. Augustine, Florida. In 1607, the English established their first settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, but after a series of floods, Jamestown was abandoned in 1699. Today Jamestown is a national park and archaeological site.

In 1602, the States General of The Netherlands granted a charter to a powerful group of Dutch merchants creating the Dutch East India Company and giving them the exclusive right to develop and conduct trade with the markets in the Far East which included the Spice Islands and China. Soon, these merchants began bringing exotic silk, clothing, ceramics, teas and spices back to the Netherlands. In their travels, the Dutch ship captains discovered the continent of Australia and named it “New Holland.” [Read more…] about Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, beavers, Colonialism, Delaware River, Dutch History, Fort Nassau, fur trade, Henry Hudson, Hudson River, Imperialism, Indigenous History, Maritime History, Mohawk, Mohican, New Netherland, small mammals

Caniskek: The Meeting of Worlds in Athens NY

July 21, 2015 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

entranceImagine it is 1665. The place is the wilderness along the banks of the river whose “waters flow both ways.” The native inhabitants are the Mohicans, the newcomers wishing to settle and trade are the Dutch. Exactly 350 years ago a deed was signed for the land the Mohicans called Caniskek, a place that would change forever and evolve into the present day town called Athens, New York. [Read more…] about Caniskek: The Meeting of Worlds in Athens NY

Filed Under: History, New Exhibits Tagged With: Athens, Cultural History, Indigenous History, Mohican, Native American History

Indian Basketry of the Northeastern Woodlands

April 11, 2015 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

image001(14)With hundreds of vivid and detailed color photographs and an easy narrative style enlivened by historical vignettes, Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh and William A. Turnbaugh bring overdue appreciation to a centuries-old Native American basketmaking tradition in the Northeast in Indian Basketry of the Northeastern Woodlands (Schiffer Publishing, 2014).

The authors explore the full range of vintage Indian woodsplint and sweetgrass basketry in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, from practical “work” baskets made for domestic use to whimsical “fancy” wares that appealed to Victorian tourists. [Read more…] about Indian Basketry of the Northeastern Woodlands

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Algonquin, Cultural History, Indigenous History, Iroquois, Material Culture, Mohican, Native American History

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

PayPal, CashApp $NewYorkAlmanack orVenmo @John-Warren-363
Subscribe to New York Almanack

Recent Comments

  • John DiNuzzo on Benedict Arnold Program Set for Lake George Village
  • Gene Porter on Benedict Arnold Program Set for Lake George Village
  • Gene Porter on The Road to Ticonderoga: The Campaign of 1758 in the Champlain Valley
  • James S. Kaplan on Abraham Lincoln’s First Thanksgivings
  • Peter Brownsey on Lake Champlain Basin Program Seeks Proposals for Education and Organizational Capacity Initiatives
  • Rebecca Rector on Obstinate Becky Jones: At Home in Ludlow Jail
  • Arlene Steinberg on Check for Spotted Lanternflies
  • Arlene Steinberg on Check for Spotted Lanternflies
  • Eric new Braverman MD on NYC Evacuation Day Celebration Set for November 25th
  • Wally Elton on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: Some History

Recent New York Books

Whites of Their Eyes
Radicals and Rogues: The Women Who Made New York Modern
Road to Ticonderoga Campaign 1758 Champlain Valley
Birds of Happiness Aren’t Blue
The mayflower Rebecca Fraser
deep history
The Trials of Madame Restell
Made in New York by Frank Vizard
God Save Benedict Arnold by Jack Kelly
By The Shores of Solon Pond

Secondary Sidebar

It's That Time of YearWe Can't Publish Without Your Support

New York Almanack delivers to you each day.

We receive no public funds - we're supported only by readers like you.

If you enjoy reading the Almanack - if you find yourself more informed or entertained, please donate now at

Rally.org, via PayPal, CashApp $NewYorkAlmanack, Venmo @John-Warren-363

Or send a check to:

New York Almanack
7269 State Route 9
Chestertown, NY 12817

*Donations are not tax deductible.

Give Now

Don't Show Me This Message Again.