Lenape Country: The Untold Story of Jersey City
Jersey City's extensive, storied history is incomplete without sharing the stories of its original inhabitants - The Lenni-Lenape Indians.
The groups of indigenous people that had existed long before our arrival deserve their rightful place in accounts of our nation’s history. These were not 'virgin lands waiting to be filled’ as they were described by European settlers and writers of the time, but rather a place that large groups of Native Americans had made their home long before any foreigners crossed the Atlantic.
While the historical implications of Christopher Columbus's arrival and those before him continue to be an emotionally charged topic of much discussion, the consequential recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day has inspired many of us to learn more about the people that once exclusively called this land their home.
“Present day Jersey City was once covered by dense forests and dreary marshes tenanted only by wild beasts and scattered bands of savages. The original inhabitants of this territory were a branch of the Lenni-Lenape nation of Indians.”
The Lenape were typically of medium stature, well built, and strong. Most had dark eyes and coarse black hair, of which the men wore only a single tuft or scalp-lock.
Paleo Indians
Over 11,000 years ago, a vast range of tribes along the Hudson River’s coast, known as the Paleo Indians, marked the beginning of the story of civilization in the area. They were the first people that entered and inhabited the Americas. Archeological findings of the area paint a much different picture of our community - a land of glaciers and distant shorelines - than the city that it is today. As the terrain of what is now Jersey city transitioned, so did the Paleo-Indians. They developed more complex societies that existed as separate tribes with individual characteristics unique to each of their localities. Even as they continued to adopt new and varied dialects of different languages, they were united in their understanding of themselves as a single people.
The Lenape Culture
It is believed that Native Americans from the area that eventually became New York City and Jersey City lived in small-scale communities supported by hunting, fishing, and gathering. They engaged in a modest material culture that contrasted with some of the 'richer' tribes found further inland, known by the western tribes as Wapenachki,—"People of the Rising of the Sun."
Ethnology has taught us that these Native American tribes were accurate in computing time. With their astronomical knowledge, they defined the start and end of a year’s cycle with the first moon after the February moon. They used this method for agriculture: the time for planting was calculated by the rising of a constellation of ‘a mythical great horned beast' (Taurus) in a certain quarter. Individuals also kept track of their years of life by adding a black bead of wampum to a belt at the start of every year’s cycle.
The tribes also had some defining spiritual elements in their cultures. They regarded their dreams with great significance, and took interpretations of them seriously. Some individuals claimed to have visions that foretold events of the future. They also believed in reincarnation into elements of nature after death and that the pure in heart would have the ability to recall their former lives.
Family units resided together in wigwams, which were wattled huts with a rounded roof of thatch made from corn leaves, sweet flag, or tree bark. Family lineage was passed down by the women in the family, young men were sent away from their birth tribe. Built in groups, these communities of wigwams were encircled with rows of trees planted as protection, which functioned as a means of barricading themselves from other tribes.
Discovery & Early Settlement - Bergen County and Jersey City
Early accounts of first the interactions between foreign settlers and the Lenni-Lenape describe them as a noble spirited, mild-mannered, and hospitable people. They were said to have dressed in deer skin clothing, beautifully embroidered with wampum beads and dyed porcupine quills, created with artistic skills that were passed down for generations.
One account describes them as the following:
The Lenni-Lenape were ‘Indians of wild animals’ that painted and stained their bodies. They lived in villages, with each family unit occupying a single wigwam. These dwellings were only temporary structures, and the villages were continually moved from place to place for a variety of reasons. They had a rude kind of tribal government, and their religion was a form of fire or sun worship. Though hospitable and friendly, they rarely forgot or forgave an injury and were cruel and relentless in seeking vengeance on their foes. They were, however, much more peaceful than most of their neighboring tribes.
17th-Century Discovery
The Lenape tribe was once the largest and most powerful Native American tribe in New Jersey. Also known as the Delaware Indians, the Lenape are believed to have been named after a place called "Len-API," which means "here we come again" in their language. They are also known as the Lenni-Lenape, which translates to “original people.” They were first discovered by Dutch explorers, who called them "The Wild Men of the Woods" for their hunting and living habits. They called the area they inhabited “Lenapehoking,” translating to “the land where we dwell.” The Dutch settlers called the land “Gershok,” and later renamed it to "Jersey.”
Early Relationships with Europeans
The explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano recorded the first encounter of foreigners with the Lenape tribe in 1524. His ship entered the lower New York bay and he was greeted by local Lenape members who arrived by canoes. Later on, English writer William Penn described the beauty of the American landscape with detailed observations of the natives he encountered. He was also the first to document their cultural, social, and economic relations. He had speculated that the Native Americans were 'descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel’ based on his observations of alleged physical similarities to Jews and the similarities of their language to Hebrew. This was a notion that the Church of Latter-Day Saints later perpetuated in more modern times.
“On September 4th and 5th, they encountered native people: This day (September 4), the people of the Country came aboard us, seeming very glad of our coming, and brought Greene Tobacco and gave us of it for Knives and Beads. They go in Deere skins loose, well dressed. They have yellow Copper. They desire Clothes and are very civil. They have a great Maize or Indian Wheat store, of which they make good Bread...”
European Settlement
It is unclear exactly how the purchases of native lands in the Americas by European settlers came to be. Perhaps it was a miscommunication resulting from language barriers, or a misunderstanding of land rights. Additionally, negotiations were only participated in by a few specific tribes - the majority of the surrounding tribes that inhabited the area were excluded. Regardless, the end result was that Europeans were buying land from natives, but the Lenni-Lenape were essentially deceived into thinking they were entering into defense alliances with their own farming, hunting, and fishing rights.
One instance of land taken from natives is one of the most significant events in Bergen Square’s history. It occurred in September 1655, when Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Netherland, convened a meeting with representatives of the Lenni-Lenape at Pavonia in what is now Jersey City. This meeting resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Pavonia, which granted Dutch settlers land on Manhattan Island and along the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers.
The End of the Lenape in New Jersey
Soon after the settlement of foreigners in their lands, the once-isolated native tribes of the Americas had been exposed to the devastating effects of European viruses and diseases. The illnesses brought over by the foreign inhabitants spread like wildfire amongst the Native Americans. This was because they simply did not carry the same antibodies that Europeans had developed from exposure to illnesses over many generations. Once a tribe with a robust population of 6,500-8,000 people, it is believed that the Lenni-Lenape fell to less than half of its original size over 100 years of assimilation with the foreign pioneers.
Throughout the thousands of years that Native Americans had inhabited the lands of the Americas, their lands continuously thrived. However, the onslaught of new world immigrants severely impacted the flora and fauna that was flourishing prior to their arrival.
Lastly, wrongful discrimination against Native Americans by foreign settlers contributed to their unfortunate downfall. Not only were their lands and rights stripped away from them, but a series of provoked or unprovoked massacres, raids, and reprisals had severe negative impacts on their people.
Today
While Native Americans have wrongfully been diminished into a minority so small that they now make up less than 2% of the population of the United States, the contributions they made to the development of our country will be significant and visible for generations to come. Now, on Indigenous Peoples' Day, we all remember and honor those whose who roamed the land that is now Jersey City and the rest of the Americas.
Lenni-Lenape Historic Society
There are currently over 200,000 people who identify as being part of the Lenape Nation.
In an attempt to preserve and share what they believed to be an under-appreciated history, area individuals formed The Lenape Country Historical Society in 2006. Their vision was to develop an organization dedicated to documenting and preserving the history of local Lenni-Lenape Native Americans and their ancestors and other significant people and events related to this area of Hudson County. To date, their society has grown into a non-profit organization with over 1,200 members featured in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, News 12 Hudson Valley, WNYC Radio, and Time Warner Cable News Jersey City.
The Native Areas of Today’s Jersey City
Arresick or Arressechhonk - A former tidal island and site of the first ferry landing for the patroonship Pavonia, Arresick can be translated as “burial ground.” The island has been absorbed by landfill and is now part of the Paulus Hook neighborhood of Jersey City.
Caven Point - A settlement at Minkakwa on the west shore of the Upper New York Bay that lied between the settlements of Pamrapo and Communipaw, and was part of Pavonia. The name Caven is an anglicisation of the Dutch word Kewan, which in turn was a "Batavianized" derivative of an Algonquian word meaning peninsula. The area is now a part of Liberty State Park in Jersey City, after having served as a large railyard, train station, and ferry terminal for many years.
Communipaw - The site of the summer encampment and council fire of the Hackensack tribe. The name’s complete meaning has been lost. Some suggest it is derived from the Lenape words gamunk, meaning on the other side of the river, and pe-auke, meaning water-land or big landing-place.
Harsimus - The meaning of the name is not clear, but it possibly refers to “Crow's Marsh.” The site of a seasonal Hackensack encampment and one of the first "bouweries" built by Dutch settlers at Pavonia.
Greenville - A settlement known as Pamrapo or Mingakwe by the Lenni-Lenape tribe.
