The Indians of Manhattan Island and Vicinity (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from The Indians of Manhattan Island and Vicinity There is no subject which makes a more forceful appeal to the student, the historian, or even the general reader, than that of the native inhabitants of what is now Greater New York, yet there is no subject upon which it is more difficult to obtain information, for our Colonial ancestors have left us but few accounts of their observations, and these are in tomes that are rare and difficult of access. The aborigines themselves have so nearly passed into oblivion, that no help can be obtained from their scattered and degenerate remnants in exile in the west, so that we must turn to two sources for our knowledge, the writings of the first white settlers, already mentioned, and the archaeological remains, the imperishable objects of stone, clay, bone and antler, which the vanished red men have left behind them on their ancient dwelling places. The writings of the Colonists tell us that in appearance the Manhattans and their neighbors were tall and well-built, with black hair and eyes and not unpleasing faces. Their disposition is noted as mild, except when aroused, when they are said to have been very greedy of vengeance. The men shaved their heads, or rather burned off their hair with hot stones, leaving often a standing roach of stiff black hair two or three inches high and as many broad, running from the forehead to the nape of the neck, and the lock which hung from the crown was generally allowed to grow much longer. This was the famous scalplock, which the warrior cultivated in defiance of the enemy, who might take it if he could. Sometimes they wore a roach of red dyed deer hair, exactly similar to those worn by the Sauk, Fox, Menomini, and other tribes of the Central West today. Our Indians did not wear the feather war-bonnet so characteristic of the Sioux and other tribes of the Great Plains, and which is now always placed upon the Indians in the conventional drawings picturing the sale of Manhattan Island. The Manhattans and their neighbors, unlike the Indians west and north of them, wore no shirts or coats. Instead, they covered the upper parts of their bodies with robes made of dressed deer leather, of wolf, wildcat, or bear fur, or of the shimmering feathers of the wild turkey, neatly attached to a netted fabric. So closely and carefully were these feathers applied that they are said to have shed the rain. The men also wore loin cloths or breechelouts of dressed leather, and leggings and moccasins of the same material. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.