What the sale of Manhattan doesn't tell us about Native Americans | T.M. Rives | TEDxGowanus
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the obscured history of New York City's indigenous roots, challenging the conventional narrative of Manhattan's purchase. It scrutinizes the city's symbols, like the misunderstood 'sinister' figure on the city seal, and the misrepresentation of Native Americans, exemplified by the erroneous use of a Plains Indian war bonnet. The speaker also addresses the misconception of the Dutch buying Manhattan for mere trinkets, clarifying the Lenape's use of wampum as a form of 'quasi money.' The talk advocates for a deeper understanding of the Lenape's sophisticated culture and their harmonious relationship with nature, urging a reevaluation of the city's historical narratives.
Takeaways
- π½ New York City has few places named after the original inhabitants, with 'Gowanus' being one of the few remnants of Native American heritage.
- ποΈ The meaning behind the name 'Gowanus' is unclear, reflecting the broader uncertainty surrounding the history and culture of the Native Americans who lived in the area for thousands of years before European arrival.
- π€ A common myth is that the Dutch purchased Manhattan from Native Americans for a few trinkets, but the concept of money and the nature of the transaction were very different for the Lenape people.
- π The official seal of New York City features a sailor and a Native American, but the supposed names 'Dexter' and 'Sinister' are actually Latin terms for 'right' and 'left', not actual names.
- π Historical records often misrepresent or oversimplify the interactions between Native Americans and European settlers, such as the Dutch.
- 𧡠Wampum, often referred to as beads in historical accounts, was a form of 'quasi money' used by the Lenape for trade but had a different cultural significance than modern currency.
- πΏ The Lenape were skilled in managing their environment, using resources sustainably and had a deep spiritual connection to nature, which contrasted with European perspectives.
- π¨ Misrepresentations of Native American culture persist in art and monuments, such as the inaccurate depiction of a Native American in a war bonnet on the U.S. penny.
- ποΈ The term 'lowbrow', which implies a lack of sophistication, has its roots in the false belief that the physical characteristics of Native Americans, such as a less prominent forehead, indicated a lower level of intelligence.
- π The Lenape had a rich and complex culture with beliefs and stories that are worth exploring and understanding, rather than perpetuating simplified or incorrect narratives.
Q & A
What is the significance of the name 'Gowanus' in New York City?
-The name 'Gowanus' is one of the few place names in New York City that is derived from the original inhabitants, the Native Americans. However, the exact meaning of 'Gowanus' remains unclear, with theories suggesting it might be named after a chief, trees, or water, reflecting the uncertainty and the 'fuzzy' understanding of the city's indigenous history.
How does the speaker describe the Native Americans' interaction with the Europeans upon their arrival?
-The speaker describes the Native Americans as being very cheerful, eager, and helpful towards the Europeans. They were depicted as coming towards the Europeans with great shouts of admiration and showing them where to land safely, which was seen as being 'too cheerful' by some, like the first pastor of New York.
What is the foundation myth of New York City involving the Native Americans and the Dutch?
-The foundation myth involves the Dutch leader supposedly purchasing the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans for a handful of beads, which is a simplified and often misinterpreted story. The actual historical record consists of just one sentence in a letter from 1626, without any mention of beads or a formal deed of sale.
What is the meaning behind the terms 'Dexter' and 'Sinister' in the context of the New York City seal?
-In the context of the New York City seal, 'Dexter' and 'Sinister' are Latin terms for 'right' and 'left,' respectively, and do not refer to the moral characteristics of the figures depicted. However, they have been mistakenly interpreted as the names of the sailor and the Native American, with 'Sinister' being wrongly associated with the Native American figure.
Why does the speaker mention 'wampum' and how is it related to the story of Manhattan's purchase?
-Wampum refers to the beads that are often mistakenly considered as the currency used by the Dutch to purchase Manhattan. The speaker clarifies that wampum, while valuable and used for trading, was not money in the conventional sense but rather 'quasi money,' highlighting the misunderstanding of the transaction's nature.
What is the irony the speaker points out regarding the Native American's portrayal in the city's narrative?
-The irony highlighted by the speaker is the stereotype of the Native American as shortsighted for 'selling' Manhattan for a few trinkets, which contrasts with the reality of their sophisticated culture and understanding of the land, as well as the actual value of the items exchanged.
How does the speaker describe the Lenape people's relationship with nature?
-The Lenape people are described as having a deep connection with nature, practicing sustainable farming techniques, and holding spiritual beliefs that respected the environment and its creatures, such as believing in a spirit that calmed animals before they were hunted.
What is the significance of the term 'Shu anak' as mentioned in the script?
-The term 'Shu anak' is what the Lenape called Europeans, meaning 'the salty people' or 'ocean voyagers.' It reflects the Lenape's perception of Europeans as seafarers and is the first description of the Lenape by a European explorer.
Why does the speaker criticize the use of a Plains Indian war bonnet on the Native American figure in the city seal?
-The speaker criticizes the use of a Plains Indian war bonnet because it is an inaccurate representation of the local Native Americans' attire. The bonnet is a symbol of power and respect from a different cultural context, thousands of miles away, and its use in the seal is a fashion mistake that perpetuates a stereotype.
What does the speaker suggest is the value of understanding the Lenape culture and correcting misconceptions?
-The speaker suggests that understanding the Lenape culture and correcting misconceptions is valuable because it provides a more accurate and respectful view of the indigenous people's history and contributions. It challenges the biases and stereotypes ingrained in the city's narrative and encourages a deeper appreciation for the complexity of the Lenape's society.
Outlines
π½ Exploring the Origins of New York's Name and Symbols
The speaker begins by discussing the scarcity of places in New York City named after the original inhabitants, mentioning Gowanus as one of the few exceptions. The etymology of 'Gowanus' remains unclear, with theories ranging from a Native American chief to geographical features. The talk then shifts to the broader context of New York City, using the name's ambiguity as a starting point to delve into the city's history and identity. A flagpole in Battery Park is highlighted, referencing the popular myth of the Dutch purchasing Manhattan for trinkets. The city's seal is also discussed, with a focus on the depiction of a sailor and a Native American, mistakenly referred to as 'Dexter' and 'Sinister' in popular belief. The speaker clarifies that these are Latin terms for 'right' and 'left,' not names, and critiques the stereotyped representation of the Native American figure. The talk touches on the early interactions between Europeans and the Lenape tribe, noting the Lenape's initial friendliness and the Dutch's perception of them as 'salty people.' The speaker also addresses the Dutch pastor's negative view of the Lenape, contrasting it with the Dutch traders' more positive impressions. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the Dutch view of the Lenape as taller, fitter, and with better teeth, and their belief in a different creation story, which influenced their relationship with nature.
π Debunking Myths: The Exchange for Manhattan and the Misrepresentation of Native Americans
In this paragraph, the speaker challenges the popular narrative of the Dutch acquiring Manhattan for a mere 60 guilders' worth of trinkets. The state historian's claim is questioned based on the lack of concrete evidence, such as a deed of sale or specific mention of beads and trinkets, in a 1626 letter by colonists. The speaker then explores the concept of wampum, which was a form of valuable beads used by the Lenape but not considered money. The speaker interviews an expert to understand that wampum was 'quasi money,' valuable for trade but not a currency. The paragraph also addresses the irony and bias in the city's perception of the Native Americans' shortsightedness in the supposed 'sale' of Manhattan. The speaker uses examples of statues in Central Park, including one of Shakespeare and another of an 'Indian hunter,' to illustrate the contrast in how intelligence and civilization were represented. The paragraph concludes with a call to reevaluate and appreciate the Lenape's sophisticated way of life, their engineering skills in land management, and their spiritual beliefs, which were misunderstood and misrepresented by the colonists.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Gowanus
π‘Lenape
π‘Dexter and Sinister
π‘Wampum
π‘Phrenology
π‘Shu anak
π‘Historical Erasure
π‘Cultural Misrepresentation
π‘Quasi Money
π‘Irony
π‘Phrenologist
Highlights
The original names of New York places are mostly lost, with only a few like Gowanus remaining.
The meaning behind the name 'Gowanus' is unclear, with theories ranging from a chief's name to trees or water.
Native Americans inhabited the area for thousands of years before European arrival, but their culture has been largely paved over.
The talk uses the confusion around the name 'Gowanus' to explore broader issues of New York City's history.
The flagpole in the battery and the purchase of Manhattan are part of New York's foundation myth.
The official seal of New York City features a sailor and an Indian, but their names 'Dexter' and 'Sinister' are misinterpretations.
The Lenape called Europeans 'Shu anak' or 'salty people', reflecting their ocean voyager status.
Early interactions between the Lenape and Europeans were characterized by cheerfulness and eagerness from the Lenape.
The Dutch were impressed by the Lenape's height, fitness, and dental health compared to Europeans.
The Lenape had a different worldview, believing they grew from the earth like plants, unlike the European belief in divine creation.
The Indian on the city seal is depicted wearing a Plains Indian war bonnet, which is anachronistic and geographically incorrect.
The story of the Dutch purchasing Manhattan for trinkets is based on a single sentence in a 1626 letter, not a deed of sale.
Wampum, the beads mentioned in the letter, were not money but had value and were used in trade.
The idea of the shortsighted Indian giving away Manhattan for trinkets is a bias ingrained in New York's history.
The term 'lowbrow' has historical roots in the belief that a high forehead indicated intelligence, contrasting with the Lenape.
The Lenape were skilled engineers and maximizers, practicing sustainable farming and land management.
The Lenape's spiritual beliefs included a spirit that rode through the forest on a stag and a Milky Way trail to the afterlife.
Encouraging a deeper understanding of the Lenape and challenging the perpetuation of stereotypes is essential for a more accurate historical perspective.
Transcripts
there are almost no places in New York
City that are named after the original
New Yorkers you've pretty much just got
these and Gowanus so we have the name
but the why is very fuzzy nobody knows
what go honest means named after a chief
you know after some trees and then after
the water nobody knows nobody knows yet
Native Americans were here for thousands
of years before the Europeans showed up
and just basically meant an entire world
has been paved over now so this talk
isn't about that lost culture per se and
it isn't about Gowanus specifically it
takes the confusion behind the name and
uses it as a starting point to explore
something that is city wide essentially
it's about this now this is a flagpole
in the battery and if people know one
story about the LA the Lynott Bay
Indians it's the one that you see
depicted here the leader of the Dutch
buys the island of Manhattan for a
handful of beads from some half-naked
guy so these two are the stars of our
foundation myth another ones that are
represented more or less on the city
seal do you recognize the official seal
I love this you because you do even if
you don't how about now
that's right these two other guys who
tell you if there are rats in your
restaurant or an acceptable number of
rats so you know them and if you've read
a book on New York history you may know
also that they have names now when they
drafted the official seal they came up
with an official description of it and
if you're a riot or a researcher and you
want info on the symbols of New York
City this is the book you read and
here's a line there to represent the
unity between the Native Americans and
the colonists Dexter a sailor his arm
cetera et cetera description of Dexter
and sinister and I an Indian of
Manhattan so you got desc Dexter a nice
sturdy name for a sturdy chap and
sinister this shady satanic name for the
Indian now you see this printed in
guides and you can see this in Wikipedia
and the funny thing is these aren't
names some of you probably know this is
just Latin for left and right this is
the way that you talk about heraldry
like this and by the way it's reversed
because it's from the perspective of the
seal so Dexter a sailor on the right a
sailor and on the left and Indian it's
just a coincidence of word order that
people accept that the Native American
has this terrible name what was his name
nobody knows how about this what did the
Lenape call Europeans now this we do
know they call them the Shu anak the
salty people ocean voyagers this is the
very first description of Lana pay by a
European explorer they came towards us
very cheerfully making great shouts of
admiration showing us where we might
come to land most safely with our boat
now this cheerfulness and eagerness and
and helpfulness is something that you
see repeated in a lot of the early
descriptions in fact they were a little
bit too cheerful for some people the
first pastor of New York complained that
the Lenape used to come to his services
and smoke tobacco and laugh says they
are entirely savage and wild he said
uncivil and as stupid as garden poles
I'm not sure what a garden pole is but I
love this idea of Indians laughing in
church now settle down savages because
if you don't believe in our God you know
you will be tortured forever in hell
because he loves you so much and I'll
stop laughing quit calling me salty so
the the preacher went on to add that
they are as treacherous as they are tall
now think about that for a second the
Dutch didn't make a lot of effort to
understand the benefit but they were
impressed they were on average taller
fitter and had better teeth in Europeans
and incidentally they didn't believe
that they were created by the finger of
God to have dominion over the earth but
that they grew from the earth just like
any plants now imagine how that might
influence the way that you feel about
nature so we know a little bit more
about the guy in the left but let's look
again there are a couple of interesting
details here look let's look what he's
wearing now that's a headdress in fact
it's a war bonnet it makes him kind of a
cartoon Indian I mean a war bonnet is
what you put on a Native American where
you don't have any really clear idea of
what a Native American looks like but
it's a real thing it's a symbol of power
and respect and it was worn by a guy
like this a Plains Indian a thousand
miles away now I don't want to make too
much of this fashion mistake I mean I
wouldn't go around collecting
inappropriate representations of
headdresses and New York symbols and
statutes because that would be obsessive
you know and a little bit sad but I do
want to include this just to show you
that it goes beyond New York now this is
a u.s. penny and what is up with this
lady what happened was there was a
delegation of Plains Indians to the
Capitol and the daughter of the engraver
of the US Mint begged the Chiefs to wear
one of the war bonnets and finally he
said ok and the engraver said that's
great and this is the result true story
so what about these beads now in this
book that we saw earlier the state
historian of New York no less says it
very clearly the Dutch got Manhattan
from the Indians by giving them trinkets
valued at 60 guilders or 24 dollars now
this is true all we have of this
exchange is one letter written in 1626
by colonists in fact it's one sentence
from one letter no deed of sale no
mention of beads and trinkets it goes
like this our people are in good spirit
and they live in peace they have
purchased the island of Manhattan from
the savages for the value of 60 guilders
now there's a huge problem talking about
guilders or dollars or whatever
here because the Lenape didn't really
share our notion of money I mean money
is just a convention that everybody
agrees on and I wanted to know more
about this so I asked the the expert at
the numismatic Society here in the city
and he pulled this out of the vault for
me now this is read the real thing it's
wampum it's the beads everybody is
talking about and he said listen you
drill it from clam shell and you polish
it and it's hard to make but it's
valuable but not money you can use it to
trade things and it's wrapped up in
symbols but it's not money and the fact
is it has its own curious category it's
called quasi money and we don't get it
because we can't that system is paved
over so what about what all of this
implies and this is the aspect that
titillates the ironists the most it's
the shortsightedness of the Indian who
gave away his birthright the whole
island of Manhattan which is now you
know some of those expensive square feet
in the galaxy for a handful of junk I
mean the knob a guy took because
evidently villain ah pay weren't you
know this is a bias that's baked into
the city if you go into Central Park you
can see this wow this is Shakespeare by
John Quincy Adams ward and when they
unveiled it the presenter said come down
to the phrenologist of the present day
and they tell you of the visible
indications of his invention his
sympathy his wit if you know what
phrenology is then you understand what
he's getting at here with visible
indications phrenology was this crackpot
theory that your character is echoed in
the shapes of your skull it was big
business in New York in the 19th century
and what we're meant to remark in
Shakespeare is the perfect dome of his
high genius forehead the higher the
better
so if Shakespeare is maximum genius it's
one of the startling little facts of
this city that we have just a few yards
away the perfect contrasting example and
perfect because everything else is equal
it's bronze it's the same scale it's
also by John Quincy Adams ward and it's
this Indian hunter okay now here things
get very revealing this whole idea of
high forehead means intelligent
now that's we know that that's garbage
that's history but it has given us terms
that we still use today a lot of real
estate in the forehead high brow
smartypants the opposite primitive
unsophisticated dull lowbrow now where
the Lenape doll a warrior could shoot
six arrows by the time a Dutchman could
reload a musket now you know more than
one guy found that out the hard way what
would you do with a cat sail well they
ate the roots made diapers from the
Tufts and rope from the leaves they were
maximizers they were engineers they
would farm in one place burn another to
enrich the soil and live in a third and
over the generations they had burned and
rejuvenated and Bertie rejuvenated about
90% of Manhattan by the time the Dutch
showed up not dull different they
believed in a spirit that rode through
the forest on a stag and his job was to
calm the animals of the terror of being
killed for food now imagine the culture
that produces that they believe that the
Milky Way was a trail to the afterlife
and every star was the footprint of a
ghost now these things are worth
imagining and they don't take a lot of
effort to learn about I think so much
better than just taking the same tired
idea and passing it on to the next guy I
mean it's worth considering the name of
this neighborhood this rarity and trying
to pierce through it even if it's a
blurry image at a totally different
world it's worth knowing that this is
the wrong headdress it's worth knowing
that this isn't money and it's worth
knowing that nobody can tell you this
guy's real name thank you
you
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