Getting Started on the New York Indians

The map below was taken from the Languages of the Americas website.
Please see the post which introduces this excellent resource.

You may also want to read what they have to say about their historical maps.

The push to remove New York Indians to what is now Wisconsin and then west of the Mississippi is a topic I want to address in future posts. Who moved, who stayed, and what happened along the way all goes to make up a huge and significant piece of American history.

But first...

I have a document called the "New York Indian Historical Timeline." I must have originally found it in pdf or "Word" format on the web, because there is no URL on the bottom of the page...and no author's name to be found anywhere (I wonder if it was a group project). It is a little bit sloppy, I question some of the dates and numbers. Nevertheless, I believe the ones I've chosen to share with you are correct (arguably oversimplified, but that comes with the timeline format). I guess I cannot really call this a "Top Ten" list because some of these events were truly devastating, so here's my "Chosen List of Ten" from 1650 to 1750:

1. 1653: Iroquois practically exterminate the Erie.
2. 1654-1657: Smallpox epidemic.
3. 1664: Mohawks make peace with the Mohicans.
4. 1675-1676: King Philip's War, virtual extermination of the Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Narragansett.
5. 1676: Over 200 enslaved Indians sold in the Caribbean.
6. 1689-1696: Many Delawares killed in King William's War.
7. 1737: The "Walking Purchase," sons of William Penn cheat Delawares out of 1200 square miles - while the Iroquois support the British.
8. 1740: Mohegans become members of David Jewett's Congregational church.
9. 1744-1748: King George's War
10. 1744: Presbyterian missionaries David and John Brainerd begin proselytizing among the Delaware.