History, Natural History & the Arts
From Homeland to New Land: A History of the Mahican Indians, 1600-1830 (University of Nebraska Press, 2013), is by William A. Starna, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the State University of New York College at Oneonta.
This history of the Mahicans begins with the appearance of Europeans on the Hudson River in 1609 and ends with the removal of these Native peoples to Wisconsin in the 1830s. [Read more…] about William Starna’s History of the Mahican
Michael Leroy Oberg’s new book Professional Indian: The American Odyseey of Eleazer Williams (2015, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press) follows Eleazer Williams on his odyssey across the early American republic and through the shifting spheres of the Iroquois – Haudenosaunee in an era of dispossession.
Oberg describes Williams as a “professional Indian,” who cultivated many political interests and personas in order to survive during a time of shrinking options for native peoples. [Read more…] about Eleazer Williams: Professional Indian
Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, is one of the largest dams east of the Mississippi River. It is located within the Allegheny National Forest and its impounded waters reach nearly to Salamanca, NY, on the Allegany Reservation of the Seneca Nation in Cattaraugus County.
The dam has cast a long shadow on Seneca life since World War II. The project, formally dedicated in 1966, broke the Treaty of Canandaigua of 1794, flooded about 10,000 acres of Seneca lands in New York and Pennsylvania, and forced the relocation of hundreds of tribal members. [Read more…] about The Shadow of Kinzua: The Seneca Since World War II
What was music like in Early America? How did different early Americans — Native Americans, African Americans, and White Americans — integrate and use music in their daily lives? This episode of Ben Franklin’s World is the first of a 5-episode series about music in Early America.
The exploration begins with music in Native America. Chad Hamill, an ethnomusicologist who studies Native American and Indigenous music, guides Liz through Native North America’s musical landscapes before European colonization. [Read more…] about Music and Song in Native North America
More than 1,520 funerary objects and cultural artifacts were returned to the Oneida Indian Nation from the collections of Colgate University’s Longyear Museum of Anthropology on November 9th.
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires federally funded institutions to return remains and cultural items. [Read more…] about 1,500 Artifacts Returned To Oneida Indian Nation By Museum
In spite of his involvement and investment, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer never visited his new patroonship Rensselaerswyck; it was managed by his agent, and cousin, Arendt van Curler, commissioner general of the colony of New Netherland.
The second patroon, Johannes Van Rensselaer (1625–1662) succeeded his father after his father’s death in 1643 but also never came to America. He governed through an agent, Brant van Slichtenhorst. [Read more…] about Rensselaerswyck, Beverwyck & Schenectady: The Stuyvesant, Van Rensselaer and Van Slichtenhorst Conflict
After 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
The Museum Association of New York has announced a call for proposals for their 2022 NYS Museums Conference, “Envisioning Our Museums for the Seventh Generation,” set for April 9th through 12th, 2022, in Corning, NY. [Read more…] about 2022 NYS Museums Conference Call for Proposals
Have you ever considered early American cities as places where Native Americans lived, worked, and visited?
Native Americans often visited early American cities and port towns, especially the towns and cities that dotted the Atlantic seaboard of British North America.
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History, Colin Calloway, an award-winning historian and a Professor History and Native American Studies at Dartmouth College, joins us to investigate Native American experiences in early American cities with details from his book, The Chiefs Now In This City: Indians and the Urban Frontier in Early America (Oxford University Press, 2021). [Read more…] about Native Americans in Early American Cities
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
The new book Paths to the Past: History Hikes through the Hudson River Valley, Catskills, Berkshires, Taconics, Saratoga & Capital Region (Black Dome Press, 2021) by Russell Dunn & Barbara Delaney, with foreword by Mark King, Executive Director, Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy, looks at thirty-one guided hikes and walks that explore the rich variety of landscapes in eastern upstate New York that offer still-visible evidence of the area’s history from prehistoric Native American settlements to abandoned 20th-century industries. [Read more…] about A New Guide To History Hikes In Eastern New York and Western Mass
To understand the early American history of North America, we need to investigate and understand North America as an Indigenous space. A place where Native American populations, politics, religion, and trade networks prevailed for centuries before and after the arrival of Europeans and enslaved Africans. [Read more…] about The Blackfeet: A History Podcast
A sculpture of Brigadier General Peter Gansevoort stands in a city park named in his honor at Rome, Oneida County, NY. This bronze, dedicated November 8, 1906, was created by Emilio F. Piatti. It presents the General in dress uniform grasping his sword and holding what is perhaps one of the most impactful tools (or weapons) ever devised – an accurate map. [Read more…] about General Peter Gansevoort’s Map
The Red Jacket Peace Medal, an object of cultural patrimony under federal law, has been returned to the Seneca Nation by The Buffalo History Museum.
The medal, considered to be of central importance by many in the Nation, was gifted to Seneca Chief Red Jacket by President George Washington in 1792 to commemorate discussions that culminated in the Treaty of Canandaigua of 1794, in which the Seneca Nation played a crucial role. The medal was meant to be a symbol of peace, friendship, and enduring relationships among the United States and the Six Nations. [Read more…] about Red Jacket Peace Medal Returned to Seneca Nation by Buffalo Museum
When the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, millions of Native American women still could not vote. The U.S. government did not recognize them as citizens. And if U.S. citizenship required renouncing tribal sovereignty, many Native women didn’t want it. But early-twentieth-century writer, composer, and activist Zitkála-Šá was determined to fight for both. [Read more…] about Layered Citizenship: Amended Podcast’s Final Episode
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
Ray E. Phillips’s new novel Laughing Rain and Awakens Corn: Look-the-Same Girls in the Land of the Cloud-Splitter (Self-Published, 2021) looks at how life in early America is experienced by twin girls, Laughing Rain and Awakens Corn from a Mohawk clan in an Adirondack village. [Read more…] about New Novel From Ray Phillips Tells Story of Native Twins
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 is deeply rooted in early American history. In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Claudio Saunt, author of the book Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory (W.W. Norton, 2020), joins us to discuss the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and how Native Americans in the southeastern part of the United States were removed from their homelands and resettled in areas of southeastern Kansas and Oklahoma. [Read more…] about History of the Indian Removal Act of 1830
Who is Isaac Jogues? Before we address this question, we should acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land when I write this article – the Iroquois Confederacy and the Algonquians – and pay our respect to their elders’ past, present and emerging. [Read more…] about Isaac Jogues: Man On A Mission
New York’s Finger Lakes Region was well known to many Revolutionary War veterans as a place of both strife and potential. Strife because of conflict with Indigenous people, and great potential for lush productive farmland.
Soldiers witnessed both ends of the spectrum first-hand. [Read more…] about Colonial Canandaigua In War And Peace
Long-term plans for the Johnson Hall State Historic Site call for enhancements to more fully describe the historic role that the Mohawk and other Native peoples played in colonial-era New York. [Read more…] about State Parks Plans To Expand Native Legacy At Johnson Hall
When the English colonists arrived at Patuxet 400 years ago, they arrived at a confusing time. The World of the Wampanoag people had changed in the wake of a destabilizing epidemic.
This episode of Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History is part of a two-episode series about the World of the Wampanoag. In Episode 290, we investigated the life, cultures, and trade of the Wampanoag and their neighbors, the Narragansett, up to December 16, 1620, the day the Mayflower made its way into Plymouth Harbor. [Read more…] about World of the Wampanoag: 1620 and Beyond
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