Montaukett

The Montaukett or Montauk people are an Algonquian-speaking Native American culture from the eastern end of Long Island, New York. Historically, they are related in language and ethnicity to the Pequot and Narragansett peoples who live across Long Island Sound in what is now Connecticut and Rhode Island. Relics and ruins of their settlements are visible at Theodore Roosevelt County Park, just east of the village of Montauk, New York. While descendants of this tribe still live among the neighboring tribes in the region, the Montaukett are not a New York State recognized tribe yet (though efforts towards recognition are being made).

Montaukett
Indian Field by Little Reed Pond
Regions with significant populations
United States (Long Island)
Languages
English, formerly Mohegan-Pequot
Religion
Christianity, Native
Related ethnic groups
Shinnecock, Pequot, and Narragansett

Important fact to understand

Recognition does not define whether an indigenous culture exists. Rather it defines whether members of that culture are eligible to have their own tribal government according to US laws.(see Tribal sovereignty in the United States for more information)

Culture and language

Montauk people historically spoke the Mohegan-Pequot language, also known as the Algonquian Y-dialect, similar to their New England neighbors, the Pequot and the Narragansett. Native Americans living on Long Island are often known in colonial writings by the place name of their geographic territories, such as the Montauk and the Shinnecock, which may or may not be the same as their name for themselves. European colonists tended to mistakenly assume that the different bands they encountered were different tribes, even in cases where the bands clearly shared the same culture and language.[1] The Native Americans of the east end of the Island shared a common culture with each other and with other groups along most of the northern shore of what is now called Long Island Sound.

Those in the western part of Long Island were Lenape groups, culturally and linguistically distinct and related to a people who lived in a large territory extending from western Connecticut through the lower Hudson River Valley into New Jersey, parts of eastern Pennsylvania and the northern shore of Delaware.

The Montaukett divided their roles to obtain and process foods. The Montaukett "were farmers and fishermen." While the men fished and hunted whales, the "women would harvest corn, squash and beans."[2] The men hunted whales by using their dugout canoes, made by hollowing out large trees.[2]

History
Montaukett and their neighbors, circa 1600

The pre-colonial Montaukett derived great wealth from the wampompeag (or wampum) available on Long Island. Before the Montaukett obtained metal awls from the Europeans, the Montaukett artisans would make "disk-shaped beads from quahog shells...used for trade and for tribute payments" with the nearby tribes.[3] Since the wampum became desired for trade and payment by Native Americans and the English and Dutch colonial powers, the Montaukett were raided and made politically subject by more powerful New England tribes, who demanded tribute or just stole the wampum. Infectious diseases brought by the Europeans, such as smallpox, to which the natives had no natural immunity, combined with intertribal warfare, resulted in great population losses, similar to that suffered by other Native American groups. Cockenoe a Montaukett captured during the Pequot War in 1637, worked with John Eliot in Boston in the 1640s to translate the first parts of the Eliot Indian Bible, before returning to Long Island.

Montaukett graves in Montauk. The only recognizable grave is that of Stephen Talkhouse.

Mohegan missionary and preacher, Samson Occom, formed the Brothertown group along with members of the neighboring Shinnecock band. They moved from Long Island to escape colonial encroachment, to Oneida County, New York. Later most of the people relocated to Wisconsin. Today they are part of the Brothertown Indians movement.

Many Montaukett remained in the area around Montauk, chiefly because the land was often considered inaccessible. At the end of the 19th century, the most notable Montaukett was Stephen Talkhouse (Stephen Taukus "Talkhouse" Pharaoh). He was known to walk 30 to 50 miles round-trip per day from Montauk to East Hampton or Sag Harbor. Various stones on his routes, part of the present-day Paumanok Path hiking trail, have been marked with this account. P.T. Barnum featured Pharaoh as "The Last King of the Montauks", despite his being neither a king nor the last Montauk.[4]

In 1879, an extension of the Long Island Rail Road was constructed to Montauk. Arthur W. Benson began buying up land in the area with an eye to future development. In the court battles that ensued, the Montaukett lost their legal status and right to compensation. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, African Americans and Indians intermarried. This led racist individuals of that time to deny recognition to the Montaukett people. However, those individuals did not understand that being indigenous is an issue of cultural identity not ancestry.[5] The entirety of Montauk was sold in 1890 to Arthur W. Benson "subject to the rights of the Montauk tribe of indians," noting that a few members and their families survived. In 1906 New York State passed legislation to enable the Montaukett to establish land claims through colonial deeds from 1660 through 1702. The 1686 Dongan Patent allowed the Montauk Proprietors to purchase the remaining unpurchased lands between the ponds and east of Lake Wyandanee (Lake Montauk), a purchase that was made in 1687. In the early 20th century, the Montauk filed a land claims case under the 1906 legislation; and was denied. However, they never lost their cohesiveness as part of the greater Lenape/Algonquin people.[6]

Montauketts today

The Montauk tribe is not federally recognized by the United States. That means the Montauks don't have reservations or their own governments. (There have been efforts to get one in the recent past).[7] Many Montauk descendants today live in Wisconsin with the Brotherton Mohegans. But there are still communities of Montauk people living in New York. Montauk history is interesting and important, but the Montauks are still here as a people today. Today, there are people of Shinnecock heritage living among other tribes such as the Montauk, Pequot, and Mohegan tribes—and vice versa. Like other Native Americans in the United States, the Shinnecock Indian tribe has its own reservation. Reservations are lands that belong to an Indian tribe and are under their control. The Shinnecock tribe has its own government, laws, police, and other services, just like a small country. But the Shinnecocks are also US citizens and must obey American law. There are around 1000 Shinnecock tribal members today. See Shinnecock Reservation for more information.[8]

Notable Montauk people
  • Olivia Ward Bush (1869–1944), African American-Montaukett author, poet, and journalist[9]
  • Cockenoe, early translator for the Eliot Indian Bible, the first Bible printed in America
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See also

Notes
  1. Strong, John A. We Are Still Here: The Algonquian Peoples of Long Island Today, 2nd edition. New York: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, June 1998. ISBN 978-1-55787-152-7
  2. Redish, Laura. "Montauk Indian Fact Sheet". Native Languages of the Americas. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  3. "Montauk". Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Houghton Mifflin. Credo Reference. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  4. Laskin, David (1989-08-27). "History at the Tip of Long Island". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  5. "Land and Identity - IndiVisible - African-Native American Lives in the Americas". americanindian.si.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  6. "Facts for Kids: Montauk Indians (Montauks, Montauketts, Metoacs)". www.bigorrin.org. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  7. "Montaukett". On This Site. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  8. "Facts for Kids: Shinnecock Indians (Shinnecocks)". www.bigorrin.org. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  9. "Olivia Ward Bush: 1869–1944", New York State Hall of Governors, Retrieved 9 July 2012.

Further reading
  • Strong, John A. The Montaukett Indians of Eastern Long Island (Iroquois and Their Neighbors). New York: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, June 1998. ISBN 0-8156-2883-8.
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