Cliff Matias on the Tragedy of Native Americans

I don’t think often New Yorkers recognize or are cognizant of the fact that the indigenous people that once called this city home no longer exist. They’re a people. So I think when we look at like Indians, or when we say the term Indians, people – it’s easy to throw everyone into one sum. -Cliff Matias

The Lenape population had severely declined by the 1630s because of diseases of European origin such as smallpox, typhus, measles, and diphtheria. Mohawks and Mohicans were also hostile toward the Lenapes, being that they were a rival for the fur trade, and led raids against them in 1628.[i] In addition, Europeans depleted resources such as crops and lumber, and more violence erupted since the natives were introduced to alcohol and advanced weapons such as guns. It is important to note that although trade brought goods that made life easier for the Lenapes, other goods also caused their demise.

Kieft’s War against the Indians almost cost the collapse of the colony. It turned out to be devastating for the Native Americans living in Brooklyn, including the Flatbush-Flatlands area. Many colonists were dissatisfied with William Kieft, the governor of New Netherland from 1637 to 1647, and his narcissistic governing policies. He drove the fledgling colony into war when he demanded payment from the Lenape Indians on the grounds that the West India Company provided them “protection” from other tribes (though this was hardly true). When the Lenapes refused, Kieft used military intervention, leading to a bloody war in 1643 with eleven major Lenape groups. Hundreds of Lenapes were killed and many others taken as prisoners before the war ended in 1645.[ii]

Conflicts with other powerful tribes also posed a major hazard to the Native Americans who lived in the Flatbush area. The Canarsie and Rockaway tribes also fought each other. The Canarsie tribe was attacked by Indians from both sides of the North River (the southernmost part of the Hudson River), and the leadership of the tribe succumbed to the sachem of the Rockaway tribe.

[i] Ruth Gudinas, “Origin & Early Mohican History.” Mohican Nation. http://www.mohican-nsn.gov/Departments/Library-Museum/Mohican_History/origin-and-early.htm (Accessed April 20, 2015).

[ii] Walter Giersbach, “Governor Kieft’s Personal War.” Military History Online. http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/indianwars/articles/kieftswar.aspx (Accessed April 22, 2015).