The Wappinger Indians

Then curiosity struck me about her town of Wappinger Falls, NY, and I clicked on the history of the place. An excellent site came up called First Nations Index Page, and an article with the Wappinger history by Lee Sultzman.  I discovered Elsie’s town is named for the Wappinger Indian tribe. What a sad story! After their first contact with white men, they formed a loose confederation with two other tribes, the Paugussett and Mattabesic but eventually, they were scattered to the four winds.

The Wappinger tribe numbered about 8000 members living in 30 villages when they first came in contact with Europeans along the Hudson River about 1610. Eventually they were reduced to about 1000 survivors.  The primary source of their death was white man’s diseases, and the savage conflicts with Dutch soldiers and the extreme cruelties to them under Director Kieft. Their prospects improved when Peter Styvesant became governor of New Amsterdam. At one point a Wappinger sachem, named Daniel Nimham, actually sailed to London and sued for the return of tribal land. He didn’t win the suit, but it made the settlers back in New York sit up and take notice.

Years later Wappingers fought on the American side in the Revolution in the Battles of Bunker Hill, White Plains, Saratoga, and Barren Hill, and it didn't even bring them a return of any of their traditional tribal land or citizenship in the new United States. 

 In the 1990s people known to carry the Wappinger blood-line were known to live near Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Kent and Trumbell, Connecticut, and among the Brotherton Indians in Wisconsin. Many disappeared as they were absorbed into other tribes in Connecticut, northern New York, New Jersey and Canada.  

One thing I learned is that the general Indian article that I meant to write is not possible. To keep articles at 500 to 750 words, a topic like this one has to be written one small part at a time.

For more history about the Indians in the Hudson River area, I urge you to look up First Nations Index. Thanks Elsie, for leading me to the great website that inspired this article. I hope you won't mind my encroaching on your territory. I think you said your family came to this area in historical times. Maybe you have more to add to the story.