Lenape Connections

The tribe that populated the Warwick area at the time of European colonization were the Minsi, or Munsee, northernmost branch of the Lenapes. Two of the main villages in our town were Mistucky, (eastern side of Rt. 94 and according to early maps, slightly south of the Welling homestead, somewhat towards the mountain) and Quampium, which was at the northern end of Greenwood Lake (now flooded, as the lake was enlarged). There are oral traditions of other sites and exhanges between the colonists and the natives.

Recently we had occasion to try to hunt up the home of the original Wawayanda Indian Deed, given March 5, 1702/3, in order to get the signature of the local chief, Chuckhass. On a microfilm reel at the Goshen Public Library is what appears to be a contemporary copy of the deed, with what appears to be the traced signatures (possibly original). Subsequently the Tate Collection yielded a photocopy of what must be the original document, but alas no note was made of its location-- the signature for Chuckhass is a near match:

In this (copy) document the name appears to be spelled "Cheeckhass", but on the photocopy from the Tate collection, it appears more like the traditional rendering via oral tradition, "Chuckhass". Likely the name's sound was in between, and so rendered differently.

The entire deed can be seen at:
http://www.albertwisnerlibrary.org/~wisner/Factsandhistory/History/Curriculum%20Powerpoint/WawayandaPatentIndianDeed.jpg


On Sept. 23 there will be a great celebration of the opening of the Black Creek historic site in Vernon which has become one of the most significant Lenape heritage site. It is off Maple Grange Rd.. A wonderful website has been done by the Vernon Historical Society:

http://www.vernonhistoricalsociety.com/Black%20Creek%20Site.html

It will be a rare chance for guided tours and nearby celebrations by the Nanticoke Lenape tribe.