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What is NAIHRV
The Native American Institute of the Hudson River Valley is a voluntary organization associated with Native Americans, educators, students, and interested community groups. The purpose of the Institute is to promote awareness of the First Nations of America and particularly those Native Americans, who lived in what is now New York State and the surrounding areas, with emphasis on the Northeastern Algonquian peoples.

The Institute will support and carry out research and educational activities promoting awareness of Native American culture and experience. The intention of the Institute and its members is to research and disseminate accurate information and historical fact concerning the European encounter with the First Nations and the history of these nations before and after that encounter.

The Institute is not a political entity, and will not engage in public controversy, nor support or lend its name to any form of political activity or advocacy. Although it is possible that information or historical data developed by the Institute may be made available or be used by an advocacy or political organization, however, this in no way implies endorsement of a particular cause by the Native American Institute.

The Institute will remain true to its mission of doing research, providing education, increasing awareness, and discerning historical truth.

Call for papers:

TENTH MOHICAN/ALGONQUIAN PEOPLE'S SEMINAR
April 17, 2010
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY

The Native American Institute of the Hudson River Valley and The New York State Museum invite you to submit a paper or other presentation to be given at the 10th Mohican/Algonquian Peoples Seminar held at the NYS Museum in Albany. Topics can be any aspect of Northeastern Native American culture from prehistory to present. Presentations are allotted 20 minutes speaking time.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit a one page abstract that includes a brief biographical sketch and notes any special scheduling and/ or equipment needs. For presentations other than traditional papers, please describe content and media that will be used to make the presentation. Deadline for abstract submission is January 30, 2010.

The Selection Committee, made up of Board members, will notify presenters no later than February 15, 2010. The final paper should meet common publication standards. Publication of accepted papers is expected through the Office of Publication of the NYS Museum. The paper should be foot noted “author-date” style; sources are cited in the text in parentheses by author’s last name and date, with a reference to a list of books or sources at the end of the paper. Also, a disc containing the article, bibliography, illustrations (referred to as figure 1, figure 2 etc.) and captions for the illustrations should be submitted to the Board at the Seminar.

Send abstracts to:

Native American Institute of the Hudson River Valley (NAIHRV)
c/o Mariann Mantzouris
PO Box 327
Sand Lake, NY 12153

Email : marimantz@aol.com Telephone: 518-369-8116

Location of New York State Museum:
Cultural Education Center of the Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY
On Madison Avenue, across the Plaza from the State Capitol Building.

Calendar of Events

September 12
Fort Crailo Harvest Faire Saturday, 11am – 4pm
Crailo State Historic Site (Saratoga/Capital District Region)
A festive event inspired by 17th and 18th agricultural fairs held at Crailo.
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/sites/info

September 20
Mohican Indian Sites in Lansingburgh 1-4. 2 mi. Moderate hiking. Slide presentation on Native sites in and around Lansingburgh. A driving and hiking tour to 5 sites is included: There will be no more than 2 miles of hiking but some of it involves climbing over rough ground so appropriate footwear is recommended. Meet at the Melville House, 114th Street & First Avenue in Lansinburgh Limited to 40 persons. Pre-register by 9/19: (518) 235-4041; wbroder2@nycap.rr.com.

September 26
Festival at Corning Preserve

We have been invited by the Stockbridg e Munsee Mohican Tribe to join them and set up a NAIHRV area!!! More details coming!!!

From the HALF MOON:
Arrival ceremony (Sept. 22) and Festival (Sept. 26) with public tours of Half Moon in Albany, NY. A grand festival will be on Saturday, September 26, in the Corning Preserve, with the Half Moon open for tours, and public displays by the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans and 17th century European re-enactors. Join the fun from noon to 6PM, on the waterfront in the Corning Preserve.

Oct. 3 & 4
Saratoga Native American Festival at SPAC, by the Ndakinna Education Center
Link to the festival

2009 Events

Come Join Us!


Membership:

There are five categories of membership. Membership is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

The categories include:
1. Individual Active Membership – Any person interested in the purposes of the institute shall be eligible for membership.

2. Family Membership – Any family groups interested in the purposes of the institute shall be eligible for membership.

3. Institutional Membership – Any organization, board, school, library or business/firm interested in the objectives of the institute shall be eligible for membership.

4. Contributing and Sustaining Membership – A person, group or firm offering special support to the objectives of the institute shall be eligible for membership.

5. Honorary Membership – Honorary membership may be conferred upon any person whose activities have contributed to the objectives of the agency. Honorary members shall be elected by a three-fourths vote of the members present at the annual meeting.

Select Membership Option:
__ Individual active membership: $20.00
__ Family membership: $40.00
__ Institutional membership: $50.00
__ Contributing and Sustaining membership:
A one time 5 year minimum
commitment of $200.00 – renewable)

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Interest: (Check One)
__ Library committee
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Hello Friends of NAIHRV

Welcome to our first online Newsletter. I wish to thank our editor Lion Miles for the superb job he has done. I think you will find the articles by Larry Thetford, Tom Lake and Lion Miles to be enlightening. Please send any questions or comments you may have about the articles. We welcome dialogue. Here at NAIHRV we are getting ready for the April 4 Seminar at the New York State Museum. Mark your calendars! We will be sending a notice with the Seminar registration form in two weeks. Can you believe it will be Seminar Number 8?

Be well and stay warm. Many thanks to all of you.

-Mariann Mantzouris

NEWSLETTER
OF THE
NATIVE AMERICAN INSTITUTE
OF THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY

News Briefs

Lisa Little Wolf Lectures In Housatonic

On February 7th our board member, Lisa Little Wolf, Northern Cheyenne, read native stories and displayed artifacts and regalia to a receptive audience of children at the Ramsdell Public Library in Housatonic, Great Barrington, Mass.Scheduled for an hour, the program was so popular that it turned into a threehour question and answer period on Native ways.


Lisa Little Wolf

The Mohican Tribe Today

by Sherry White
Tribal Cultural Preservation Officer

This is the first Did You Know information on the Mohican Tribe. As I travel around the United States, I have learned that people think the Mohican Tribe is dead and gone. This theory seems to be based on the movie and book, "The Last of The Mohicans". To help dissolve this idea I plan to put facts about the Mohican Tribe in each newsletter.

The Mohican Tribe now lives in Bowler Wisconsin. We have been on this reservation since 1856. Our tribe has 1,579 people enrolled. This means that they must prove that they have at least ¼ Mohican blood to be considered a member of the tribe. Of the 1,579 people, 566 members live on the Mohican Reservation.

Our reservation sits on 23,026 acres, 16,863 trust and 6,163 fee land. These acres are located in the two townships of Bartelme and Red Springs. To see more about our reservation you may log on to our web site at Mohican.com.


The Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation in Wisconsin

The Mohican Tribe Today

by Larry Thetford

Corn

What do you think of when you hear the word corn? Corn flakes, corn soup, corn curls, corn fritters on the cob, cream corn, bourbon, corn syrup (oil), popcorn ???

Corn is one of the world's three leading food crops, along with rice and wheat, and a major crop on all the continents. The scientific name is Zea mays and it is known throughout the rest of the world as maize. Here in the Northeast it was generally called Indian corn or Turkish wheat.

The native people of Peru are credited with its domestication and development from wild grasses. The most accepted theory is that the ancestral plant was the wild grass teosinte, still called "Madre de maiz" (mother of maize).


Teosinte Grass

However, a converse theory exists that corn actually predates teosinte. The earliest dated maize plants in Peru are only about 2000 years old but samples from the Tehuacán caves in Mexico are radiocarbon dated at 7000 years. Native peoples developed many different types of corn, from short-season varieties for the north country to taller long-season plants up to 20 feet high in the south, and maize spread throughout North America.


Mohican Village, circa 1635

The importance of this crop to early native people was quite dramatic. It changed their lifestyle from that of nomadic hunters to large sedentary populations like the Anasazis of the Southwest, the Hopewell mound builders of the central river valleys, and the Northeast tribes in large stockaded villages. In Central America huge city centers grew up among the Toltecs, Zapotecs, Aztecs and Mayas. Centers like Cahokia near St. Louis developed sophisticated arts and sciences; the Mayan calendar was so accurate that it differed from our modern calendar only by minutes.


Cahokia Mounds, circa 1100 A.D.

The downside of such centralized populations was the dependency on crop production and storage. When production declined because of drought, plant diseases, war, insect pests, etc., it was disastrous for the people. Today it is still not known what caused the sudden disappearance of the Anasazis at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, the mound builders of Ohio, and some of the earthlodge villages in the West.

It is widely suspected that a major, prolonged disruption of crop production was the chief cause of the decline of these cultures. During the American Revolution, General John Sullivan was ordered by George Washington to bring those Iroquois tribes sympathetic to the British cause to their knees by burning all their cornfields and storage supplies. The Iroquois name for Washington was Ha-no-da-ga'-ne-ars, meaning "Town Destroyer."

Corn provided much more than food. The Senecas used a solution from corn ashes to treat children for intestinal worms. Corncobs were useful as scrubbing tools. Corn silk became a diaper absorbent and dolls and ritual masks were made from cornhusks. So there you have a plant that the Native Americans domesticated and cultivated to become a major economic force throughout the world.

An Important New Study of Mohicans


By Lion Miles

To Live Upon Hope: Mohicans and Missionaries in the Eighteenth-Century Northeast. By Rachel Wheeler. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2008. 315 pages. $45.00.)

Rachel Wheeler, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and longtime student of Mohican history, has written a major study of the Mohican religious experience in the eighteenth century. Using little known manuscripts in the Moravian Archives, the Jonathan Edwards Papers, and Massachusetts Archives, Professor Wheeler has produced a fascinating and unique examination of the mission stations in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Shekomeko (Pine Plains), New York. She compares the different methods used by the Congregational ministers, John Sergeant and Jonathan Edwards, in Stockbridge, and the various Moravian missionaries in Shekomeko.

Wheeler's history is a major work and should remain as the definitive study of the Mohican mission experience for many years to come. Demonstrating clearly and eloquently that the Mohicans did not rely on hope alone to survive in a changing world, she shows that they acted and adapted. When asked in 1834 what he thought had preserved the Stockbridge Indians from destruction, Chief John Metoxen in Wisconsin replied, "when I think about that I always think it must be God, and because he had some true Christians there."


Ebenezer Maunnauseet's Writing Practice forJonathan Edwards at Stockbridge, 1750s
"He who lives upon Hope may dy of Disappointment"

"The Indians at Stockbridge ... are of the Mohekon tribe ... formerly this tribe was numerous and powerful -- hath ever been held in great veneration by the Delawares and Shawanese, especially the latter, with whom it hath long had alliances ... This people have at all times been friendly to the Americans ... declared they would join with the United States, and assist them against Great Britain."
(Rev. John Sergeant to the Continental Congress, August 1776)

New Board Officers

Welcome to the new officers of our Board of Directors:

  • Mariann Mantzouris, Director
  • Kevin Fuerst, Vice-Director
  • Chris Layman, Secretary
  • Larry Thetford, Treasurer
  • Lisa Little Wolf
  • Terry D'Amour
  • Sherry White
  • Dave Cornelius
    Our thanks go to former Board members for their service: Emerson Martin, Judy Harris, Mary O'Brien, and Steve Comer.

    Lenox Pow Wow

    The NAIHRV manned a table at the 3rd Annual Rock, Rattle & Drum Pow Wow at the Eastover Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, from August 30 to September 1. Entertainment was provided by Grammy winning performers, Bill Miller, Mohican, and Indigenous, Lakota.

    Mariann Mantzouris and Bill Miller at the Lenox Pow Wow

    Fort Crailo

    The NAIHRV table at Fort Crailo's Harvest Festival on September 13 was well received by the public. We sold T-shirts, books, hats, and native-made crafts and products. Fort Crailo is a 17th century Dutch house on the Hudson River in Rensselaer, N.Y.


    Lindenwald

    On September 20, a delegation of 14 representatives from the Mohican Reservation in Wisconsin participated in the annual Harvest Day at Lindenwald, former President Martin Van Buren's home in Kinderhook, N.Y. Tribal Vice President Greg Miller spoke the day before and Council Member Shannon Holsey spoke at the celebration itself. The Mohican members gave presentations at local schools, demonstrated native dancing and drumming, and spoke about Mohican harvesting methods. Several NAIHRV board members met with the tribal visitors to discuss our purpose and goals. A good working relationship was established and we look forward to supporting each other in future research and projects.

    Jessica Mohawk dancing at Lindenwald.

    Hudson 400

    Mariann Mantzouris, Tom Lake, and Lion Miles attended the first meeting of the Hudson 400 Committee in Albany on September 16, in preparation for the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in 1609 and the planned celebration of 2009.

    Research Meeting

    Larry Thetford hosted an NAIHRV research meeting at his home in Upper Red Hook, N.Y., on October 19 and took members through his extensive collection of native artifacts. There are very few collections of so many Indian projectile points and other objects in Mohican country as compiled and catalogued by Larry.

    Projectile Points in Larry Thetford's Collection.

    Shad Fest

    The Annual Shad Fest took place at the Corning Riverfront Preserve in Albany on May 19 and we had good attendance. Tom Lake prepared shad smoked, pickled, and plank-baked. Lisa Littlewolf demonstrated a traditional woman's buckskin dance.



    ANNOUNCING THE 8TH ANNUAL
    MOHICAN-ALGONQUIAN PEOPLE'S SEMINAR
    NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM IN ALBANY
    APRIL 4, 2009

    There will be a line-up of Mohican scholars as speakers, followed by a buffet dinner at the Museum. Stay tuned for more information coming soon.

    Membership Application

    Join the Native American Institute of the Hudson River Valley (NAIHRV) and enjoy the benefits of scholarly research on the history and culture of the first people of the Hudson Valley, discounts on their publications, regular newsletters, annual journals, and announcements of events.

    Individual Membership $20.00
    Family Membership $40.00
    Institutional Membership $50.00
    Lifetime Membership $200.00

    For further information, you may contact
    Mariann Mantzouris
    P.O. Box 327
    Sand Lake, NY 12153
    E-mail: marimantz at aol.com
    Phone: (518) 369-8116.



    The Craft Corner

    by Larry Thetford

    The Celt (Axe)

    I am sure that at some time or other, most of you have been to a museum and observed that prehistoric peoples made some fantastic stone ax heads. Some are so large that it looks as though it would take two men to lift them and some are quite tiny. Some have a full groove for hafting a handle and some have only a three-quarter groove. Most have a single sharpened bit and some have a double bit.
    Full Grooved 3/4 Grooved        Celts & Gouges

    Then there is the prehistoric stone tool with a bit, no groove and both sides having a decreasing angle from the bit. Most people think of these as hand scrapers, but in fact they are called celts. These were a primitive form of the ax and were hafted with a wood handle in a different manner than the grooved axes. The handle was a single piece of wood with an expanded end and an elongated hole. The narrow end of the celt was inserted into this hole so the more one pounded with it, the tighter the wedge in the hole became. This was simple, effective and very strong.


    Celt hafted with a wood handle

    Wood handle with a hole

    These celts were generally made from hardstone cobbles and only rarely from flint. They were rough shaped with the pecking method using a separate hammerstone, then highly polished with an abrading stone. If made with a longitudinal groove, they were called gouges, just like today's gouge chisel. If the bit had an expansion in the depth measurement, then it would serve as a wedge.
    These tools undoubtedly had multiple uses, including the shaping of dugout canoes, scraping charcoal away from tree felling, splitting wood for shafts and handles, hollowing out logs for food containers, and making wood splints for baskets. The next time you hear someone in a museum say, "oh, look at the stone scraper," you can correct them and impress them with your knowledge of the celt.

    The Language Corner

    by Lion Miles

    The Bible in the Mohican Language

    The Mohican phrase for the Christian Bible was WAUNEHK WSOHEKUN, usually translated as "the good book" or "the good writings." However, on analysis, the root of the word WSOHEKUN is the verb "to paint," since the tribe had no word for "letters" or "writing." In other words, they saw European writing as a painting of the letters. Thus, the Bible to them was really "the good painting."

    In addition, the word HKEETHWAUKUN was usually translated as "reading." But the root of this word is the verb "to count," since the Mohicans had nothing to "read" in the European sense. They counted the letters.

    In conclusion, the expression "to read the Bible" would actually translate as "to count the good painting."

    The "Hudson 400" Celebration

    by Tom Lake
    Hudson Valley archaeologists travel back in time as they learn about Native American cultures that have been here for millennia. Excavating sites allows them to stand on the living floors of ancient people. Holding a potsherd or a spear point that was sculpted by human hands long ago connects us to this legacy.

    The first Native People arrived in the Hudson Valley about 11,000 years ago. This is a tentative date because of the loss of many old sites along the coast and up the Hudson River due to modern development and sea level rise. Evidence of an earlier arrival may be lost.

    Replica of Henry Hudson's Half Moon


    When Henry Hudson entered the estuary in September 1609, the Native Americans he encountered were Algonquian speakers of several tribes, engaged in sophisticated societies within complex cultures. Using an oral tradition of stories and ceremonial rituals, they knew exactly who they were and from where they had come. Unlike the Europeans, they were far less concerned with the future, and more content with the present, the seasons of the year, and their relationship with the land. By the 17th century, the Native People of the Hudson Valley had a fully developed economy and a far-reaching trade network.

    In 2009 we will commemorate the 400th anniversary of Hudson's voyage. It would be fair to remember that his vessel, the Half Moon, sailed into the midst of a thriving, self-sustaining, healthy and vigorous Native population, people who truly were the founders of the land.

    The Story of the Naked Bear

    by Lion Miles
    Genuine prehistoric Mohican legends are hard to identify in the white man's literature but one is found in the papers of Rev. John Heckewelder, the Moravian missionary who labored among the tribes for forty years. We already know the details of the story of the Celestial Bear. The Mohican version of that tale recounts the pursuit of a bear by seven hunters who followed their prey into the heavens and were transformed into the seven stars of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major or Great Bear). They began the chase in the Spring, held it all Summer, wounded the bear in the Fall, and killed it in the Winter. The blood of the bear turned the leaves red in the Fall, its fat made the snow in the Winter, and then melted in the Summer to form the sap in the trees.

    Related to this legend is Heckewelder's story of the "Big Naked Bear," found in the missionary's papers at the New-York Historical Society and printed in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. The Mohicans called this animal "Ahamagachktiât Mecehquá," meaning "great terrible naked bear." To the Unami it was "Yagesho" or "naked bear," and to the Seneca it was "Ganiagwaihegowa" or "The Great Mythic Bear Monster." This animal was probably not mythical at all and resembled the prehistoric creature known as the Short-Faced Bear (see Tom Lake's account below). It was very ferocious, larger than the largest bear, and had a huge head with a fearful look. Its toes had claws "near as long as an Indian's finger" and they "spread very wide." Its body was almost bare of hair except for the head, neck, and hind parts of its legs. (The Seneca version says it had no hair at all.)

    For years Yagesho had destroyed many Indians, particularly women and children out gathering nuts and roots or working in the fields. It would search for the tracks or scent of hunters and run them down, the only escape being to plunge into a river or lake and swim away. When the beast could not pursue, it would make such a roar that every Indian hearing it would tremble. Finally, the women became so afraid to go out to work that the men assembled to decide on a plan to kill the animal.

    Now it happened that Yagesho, the Naked Bear, lived on Lake Champlain in Mohican territory. A resolute party of hunters, well armed with bows, arrows, and spears, headed for the lake and stationed themselves on a high rock, flat on top with steep perpendicular sides. The hunters spent several days atop the rock, making various animal cries and imitating the voices of children in an attempt to lure the animal there. Failing to decoy the beast, a party lowered themselves down the side of the rock by means of Indian ladders and reconnoitered the ground. They found fresh tracks and hastily returned to the rock with the beast in full pursuit.

    The hunters cut off Yagesho's head and carried it in triumph to their village on the Hudson River, where they set it on a pole for public viewing. Word of this soon spread among the neighboring tribes and many Indians came to exalt the victors for their warlike deed. The Mohican Nation, famous for its hunting and warrior traditions, ever after claimed the honor of killing the last Naked Bear.

    Rev. Heckewelder reported in 1797 that the history of the Naked Bear was a common subject among the Indians when they were out hunting in the woods. He also heard them say to their children when they cried: "Hush! the naked bear will hear you, and devour you." Old Indians assured the minister that the story was true, according to the recollections of their forefathers.

    The Giant Short-Faced Bear

    by Tom Lake
    By all accounts, the giant short-faced bear (Arcotodus simus), described by Harvard paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1879, is believed to have been the largest bear ever. They were an ancient species having been common in Pleistocene North America as long ago as 800,000 years. (The Pleistocene, a geologic epoch, began about two million years ago and ended ten thousand years ago).


    The giant short-faced bear would have been easily distinguishable on the landscape by its short face, long legs, broad muzzle, and massive jaws. These bears were six feet high at the shoulder but reached ten feet when standing. Despite weighing as much as 1800 pounds, their physiology suggests that they were fast afoot, much faster than modern-day bears. They were consummate carnivores and may have been the largest land predator during the last Ice Age in North America.

    There is tantalizing evidence that the giant short-faced bear, like the mammoth and mastodont, crossed paths both temporally and spatially, if only for a brief time, with the first native people in the Northeast -- one heading to oblivion, the other to dominance.

    In Texas and Colorado, they have been found in association with Clovis culture artifacts, including fluted points dating 12,600-12,700 years B.P. (before present). In the Northeast, short-faced bear remains have been recovered in Pennsylvania, not far from the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, a major Clovis site. Archaeologists at Meadowcroft have recovered basketry and cordage which have been radiocarbon dated to 12,800 years ago, while the lowest levels of the site have been firmly dated to 14,500 years B.P.

    No giant short-faced bear remains have been found in New York State. However, sea level rise and modern development have destroyed many interior and upland late Pleistocene sites. In addition, the regional climate at the time would have encouraged their presence in New York, perhaps as late as the oldest known Paleoindian sites.

    While current radiocarbon dating of recovered remains suggests that extinction may have occurred about 12,000 years ago, given the time-depth and reach of Native American oral traditions, it would be of little surprise if such stories included legends of encounters with the incredible giant short-faced bear.

    Reference: Kurtén, Bjorn, and Elaine Anderson. Pleistocene Mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1980.



    • Contact Information

    For comments, questions, article submissions and news/events please contact:

    Mariann Mantzourismarimantz@aol.com
    Sherry WhiteSherry.White@mohican-nsn.gov
    Lisa Little WolfLlittlewolf2@aol.com
    Kevin Fuerstkevomaryf@aol.com
    Larry Thetfordthetfordl@webjogger.net

    HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
    October 1 – 7, 2009

    <<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

    After a month of exploring the estuary, meeting the Native People from Munsee to Mohican, Henry Hudson and the Half Moon left the river, traveling through the Narrows before midday on October 4, 1609. This would lead to the beginning of a long-term European presence in the Hudson Valley while at the same time lead to the eventual demise of the Native population.

    <<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

    10/1 - Newcomb, HRM 302: we awoke to snow on the ground this morning. Not much, but it was still coming down. Large leaves and flower heads had a dusting of white, as did the firewood logs out in the driveway. The High Peaks of the Adirondacks were quite pretty as they rose from the cauldron of fog that engulfed most of the wilderness area, and the morning sun glinting from their white shoulders. - Ellen Rathbone

    <<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

    10/1 - Haverstraw Bay, HRM 35: When the wind and tide were favorable, the Half Moon continued to run down river toward the sea. You can sense from Juet’s log that the crew was eager to make way:

    “The first of October, faire weather, the wind variable betweene the West and the North. In the morning we weighed at seven of the clocke with the ebbe, and got downe below the Mountayne, which was seven leagues. Then it fell calme and the floud was come, and wee anchored at twelve of the clocke.”

    [The Half Moon probably emerged out of the deep water and looming rock faces of the Hudson Highlands at Dunderberg Mountain. Seven leagues (about 21 miles) would have had them sailing out of the Highlands and into the upper end of Haverstraw Bay.]

    “The people of the Mountaynes came aboord us, wondering at our ship and weapons. We bought some small skinnes of them for Trifles. This after-noone, one Canoe kept hanging under our sterne with one man in it, which we could not keepe from thence, who got up by our Rudder to the Cabin window, and stole out my Pillow, and two Shirts, and two Bandeleeres. Our Masters Mate shot at him, and strooke him on the brest, and killed him. Whereupon all the rest fled away, some in their Canoes, and so leapt out of them into the water. We manned our Boat, and got our things againe. Then one of them that swamme got hold of our Boat, thinking to overthrow it. But our Cooke tooke a Sword and cut off one of his hands, and he was drowned. By this time the ebbe was come, and we weighed and got down two leagues, by that time it was darke. So we anchored in foure fathomes water, and rode well.”

    [According to Robert Juet, one of the Indians climbed on board, stole some personal property, and was shot and killed. In what sounds like escalating violence a second Indian had his hand cut off and likely drowned. Using the ebb tide to continue down river, Hudson anchored for the night in the vicinity of Croton Point. Tom Lake.]

    10/2 - Red Oaks Mill, Town of Poughkeepsie, HRM 74: We were surprised to see two lightning bugs outside this evening. One was flying about, the other hovering for awhile above the grass. I never knew them to be out so late in the year, but these two little stalwarts of summer were still hanging in there. - Donna Lenhart, Bill Lenhart

    10/2 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67.5: A small buck and a larger doe gracefully stepped their way through a hayfield. Downwind, less than a hundred feet away sitting in the knee-high grass was a coyote, ears erect, with the face of an angel, and visions of grandeur - a timeless scene. - Tom Lake

    10/2 - Bear Mountain, HRM 46: Shortly after rounding the Bear Mountain circle and heading south on the parkway, I saw a very healthy looking coyote feeding on a road kill. It didn't seem the least bit bothered by the traffic. I rarely see one that’s not in high gear. What a beautiful animal. - Marty Otter

    10/2 - Verplanck, HRM 40.5: A short walk from where the sloop Clearwater docks is a large tidal pond. On a clear morning, five of the crew went there to do some seining. Our net is 25 feet long and 4 feet deep, and when we walked it up onto the shore we had three dozen pumpkinseed sunfish. We were also delighted to find some young-of-the-year American shad that had made a temporary stop on their way to the sea. - Brian A. Mohan

    10/2 - Englewood, NJ, HRM 13.5: The theatre was in the air: the skies were empty one minute; a dozen osprey were climbing the spiral staircase above the Palisades the next. For close to an hour I watched a peregrine falcon patrol a mile of the cliff tops, shooting high then diving at a dizzying speed into the canopy below. It was an equal opportunity harasser: it took on a red-tailed hawk, a raven, and an osprey. The falcon drove at flank speed to the middle of the river to intercept another peregrine, and an amazing air battle ensued. The second falcon retreated down river. It was a wonderful morning for my class. - Christopher Letts

    10/2 - Spuyten Duyvil, HRM 13.5: Playing the tides to their advantage, the Half Moon rode “seven leagues” down river (about 21 miles) to an area near the north end of Manhattan Island before the current turned to flood and made further progress difficult. Apparently word of the incident upriver had reached the tribes of the lower estuary. Juet’s log was full of detail:

    “The second, faire weather. At breake of day wee weighed, the wind being at North-west, and got downe seven leagues; then the floud was come strong, so we anchored. Then came one of the Savages that swamme away from us at our going up the River with many other, thinking to betray us. But wee perceived their intent, and suffered none of them to enter our ship. Whereupon two Canoes full of men, with their Bowes and Arrowes shot at us after our sterne: in recompence whereof we discharged sixe Muskets, and killed two or three of them. Then above an hundred of them came to a point of Land to shoot at us. There I shot a Falcon at them and killed two of them: whereupon the rest fled into the Woods. Yet they manned off another Canoe with nine or ten men, which came to meet us. So I shot at it also a Falcon, and shot it through, and killed one of them. Then our men with their Muskets killed three or foure more of them.”

    [According to Juet’s log, Hudson and his crew killed between eight and ten Indians, likely Lenape or Munsee. The distinction is probably less important than the tragedy of the conflict. In retrospect, it is easy to see where this confrontation foreshadowed European-Native American relations for the next several hundred years.]

    “So they went their way, within a while after, wee got downe two leagues beyond that place, and anchored in a Bay, cleere from all danger of them on the other side of the River, where we saw a very good piece of ground: and hard by it there was a Cliffe, that looked of the colour of a white greene, as though it were either Copper, or Silver myne: and I thinke it to be one of them, the Trees that grow upon it. For they be all burned, and the other places are greene as grasse, it is on that side of the River that is called Manna-hata. There we saw no people to trouble us: and rode quietly all night; but had much wind and raine.”

    [The Bay of safe anchorage was probably the Upper Bay of New York Harbor, within site of the Narrows and the open ocean about fifteen miles distant. The “Cliffe” they saw may have been the Palisades, thick diabase sills on the west side of the river from Fort Lee north to Hi Tor. Tom Lake.]

    10/2: Sandy Hook, NJ: A flock of a couple of hundred tree swallows were chowing down on bayberries behind the sand dune line this afternoon, when a fast-moving sharp-shinned hawk came blasting through. The flock scattered and then returned to feeding a few minutes later. - Dery Bennett

    10/3 - Columbia County, HRM 118: One has to wonder if the moose tracks that were found at the Roeliff Jansen Park today belong to the same moose that was spotted in Germantown last week. Was the Germantown moose trying to make its way to the Berkshires by way of the Roeliff Jansenkill? The Roeliff-Jansen Kill is one of the largest freshwater tributaries emptying into the Hudson River estuary. Its headwaters begin in western Massachusetts and it spills into New York State near Hillsdale through Columbia County, then Dutchess County, and back again through Columbia County on its journey to the Hudson River in Germantown. - Fran Martino

    10/3 - Croton Point, HRM 35: The morning dawned damp and foggy. Skies over the beach at Croton Point were gray and dismal after a night of rainfall. The scene was quiet and peaceful, with four double-crested cormorants flapping their wings as they crossed the silvery surface of the river. Later we spotted a northern harrier hunting over the top of the landfill. - Dorothy Ferguson, Bob Ferguson

    10/3 - Croton Bay, HRM 34: The Boyz at the Bridge were still catching bluefish to ten pounds, as well as catching and releasing striped bass in the five-to-eight pound range. - Christopher Letts

    10/3 - Upper Bay, New York Harbor: Bad weather delayed the Half Moon’s departure. They struggled setting the anchor in the face of strong winds on the soft bottom finally holding fast on the west side of the Bay near Hoboken. Juet’s comments were concise:

    “The third, was very stormie; the wind at East North-east. In the morning, in a gust of wind and raine, our Anchor came home, and we drove on ground, but it was Ozie. Then as we were about to have out an Anchor, the wind came to the North North-west, and drove us off againe. Then we shot an Anchor, and let it fall in foure fathomes water, and weighed the other. Wee had much wind and raine, with thicke weather: so we roade still all night.”

    10/4 - Poughkeepsie, HRM 76: As soon as I got out on the Walkway Over the Hudson bridge I saw a monarch fluttering nearby above a railing. I had seen only two or three all summer. When I lost sight of it, I hoped it had gone down under the bridge, but it soon reappeared, moving higher as it crossed above the heads of the happy multitude of walkers and bike riders. With a touch of heartache, I watched until it was a black speck heading southeast, and wished it well. Then I resumed my glorious bike ride on a glorious day. - Kathryn Paulsen

    10/4 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: A full moon seems more interesting when it has dark, brooding clouds to drift behind and then emerge to light up the sky. This was a spectacular Harvest Moon and the patchwork of clouds gave it a Gothic touch. Near midnight the coyotes began, maybe a half-dozen, baying at the moon. Like London’s “Call of the Wild,” it gave me chills, until the neighborhood dogs broke the spell. - Tom Lake

    [The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs nearest the autumnal equinox (9/22). Usually the full moon of September (9/4) qualifies, but this year it was the full moon of October (10/4). Tom Lake.]

    10/4 - Verplanck, HRM 40.5: On a beautiful warm and sunny autumn day, one of our two butterfly bushes had very garish and loud light purple blooms, while the other had a much more reserved dark purple. The loud one was a butterfly magnet hosting at least 8-12 monarchs every time I looked at it while the somber, dark-colored bush was virtually ignored. - Pat Korn

    10/4 - The Narrows to the Lower Bay, New York Harbor: From Juet’s account, it appears that a nor’easter had passed, trailing a classic autumn cold front, and clearing winds turned to the north-northwest providing good sailing weather. Juet describes their tedious effort to avoid shoal waters:

    “The fourth, was faire weather, and the wind at North Northwest, wee weighed and came out of the River, into which we had runne so farre. Within a while after, wee came out also of the great mouth of the great River, that runneth up to the North-west, borrowing upon the Norther side of the same, thinking to have deepe water: for wee had sounded a great way with our Boat at our first going in, and found seven, six and five fathomes. So we came out that way, but we were deceived, for we had but eight foot and an halfe water: and so to three, five, three, and two fathomes and a halfe. And then three, foure, five, sixe, seven, eight, nine and ten fathomes. And by twelve of the clocke we were cleere of all the Inlet. Then we tooke in our Boat, and set our mayne-sayle and sprit-sayle, and our top-sayles, and steered away East South-east, and South-east by East off into the mayne sea: and the Land on the Souther side of the Bay or Inlet, did beare at noone West and by South foure leagues from us.

    [The Half Moon cleared the Narrows by midday and sailed out into the Lower Bay of New York Harbor. From Juet’s log you can sense some relief at having made it safely into open water. At the same time, you can also sense their genuine respect for the river and a bit of melancholy at having to leave. Tom Lake]

    10/5 - Town of Niskayuna, Schenectady County, HRM 157: I had a group of students from Hillside School in a park near the Mohawk River on a cold and windy day. A teacher noticed a walking clump of mud and when I looked, I saw the clump blink. It was a tiny snapping turtle still sporting an egg tooth and yolk sack. It seemed too small and late in the year to be leaving the nest, so I went looking. I found the nest dug up in the dog park. I hope the little guys make it. - Dee Strnisa

    10/5 - Beacon, HRM 61: On a usual autumn day, watching a lone monarch butterfly tack along a treeline of cottonwoods, catching a favorable breeze, wings teetering like a little vulture, would hardly qualify as a “defining” Almanac moment. Except this fall, with such a dearth of butterflies, even one forces us to take notice. - Tom Lake

    10/5 - Croton Point, HRM 35: Flocks of grackles and blue jays came through, as well as a wave of warblers. Yesterday’s kestrels had moved on and the raptors of the day were sharp-shinned hawks, three in the first half hour of my walk. - Christopher Letts

    10/5 - New York Bight: As the Half Moon headed east-northeast, the continent of North American faded to the west. With the incredible diversity of life and culture they had found inland along the river now behind them, Juet’s final entry in the ship’s log was very much to the point:

    “The fift, was faire weather, and the wind variable betweene the North and the East. Wee held on our course South-east by East. At noone I observed and found our height to bee 39 degrees, 30 minutes. Our Compasse varied sixe degrees to the West. We continued our course toward England, without seeing any Land by the way, all the rest of this moneth of October: And on the seventh day of November, stilo novo, being Saturday: by the Grace of God we safely arrived in the Range of Dartmouth in Dovenshire, in the yeere 1609.”

    [Addendum: In 1610, Henry Hudson returned to North America aboard the English ship Discovery still seeking a northwest passage to the Orient. By June he reached the Hudson Strait, a tidal reach that connects the Atlantic Ocean with Hudson Bay between Baffin Island and the northern coast of Quebec. Hudson encountered massive icebergs but continued on to James Bay where the Discovery became frozen in the winter ice. Conditions were difficult: it was extremely cold and the food was very limited. The crew requested that they return home but Hudson refused, deciding to continue his quest. This led the crew to mutiny and on June 11, 2011, Hudson was cast adrift in a small boat together with his son John and eight loyal crew members. They were never heard from again and their fate remains a mystery. The Discovery returned to London where the mutineers were never punished and no attempt was ever made to search for Henry Hudson. Tom Lake.]

    10/6 - Croton Point, HRM 35: Well before sunrise on this calm, clear, and cool morning, I watched a flock of migrating Canada geese cross the face of the near-full moon. A rising spiral of raptors - three harriers and a Cooper’s hawk - seemed to climb to the moon. - Christopher Letts

    10/6 - Ossining, HRM 33: I looked out my second story window to enjoy this gorgeous fall day. At that level I am near the top of a large mimosa tree right outside the window. How surprised I was to see a beautiful black-and-white warbler as it flitted along the trunk and among the branches of the tree, apparently in search of insects. Its stunning black and white stripes and white breast were clearly visible as it flew in and out of the tree, each time landing close to my window. - Dorothy Ferguson

    10/7 Milan, HRM 90: The day started with a black bear lying in my back yard snacking on the sunflower seeds from the bird feeder he was holding in his paws, not twenty feet from my back door. I went out and yelled at him but he wouldn’t move. - Marty Otter

    10/7 Clinton Corners, HRM 75 : This evening on my way home on Salt Point Turnpike, just west of the Taconic Parkway, I sighted a bald eagle soaring off to the south. The white head and white tail caught the sun as he turned. - Marty Otter

    10/7 - Town off Wappinger, HRM 67: A serious cold front passed over dropping more than an inch of rain in less than an hour. Dry and windy air followed with gusts to 40 mph. By midday it sounded like hunting season, but instead of shotgun blasts I was hearing trees snapping in the wind. - Tom Lake

    <<<<< FALL 2009 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

    Saturday October 17, 2009, 3:00 – 5:00 PM
    Fishing the River at Norrie: Public seining and angling, equipment provided.
    Norrie Point Environmental Center, Staatsburg [Dutchess County]. Information: 845-889-4745 x108.

    Thursday, November 5, 2009, 7:30 – 8:30pm
    Tivoli Bays Talks: The Hudson: A Natural and Cultural History, Fran Dunwell.
    Tivoli Bays Visitor Center, Tivoli [Dutchess County]. For more information: 845-889-4745 x105.

    Thursday, December 3, 2009, 7:30-8:30pm
    Tivoli Bays Talks: Reading the River: Hudson River Real-time Data, Alene Onion .
    Tivoli Bays Visitor Center, Tivoli [Dutchess County]. For more information: 845-889-4745 x105.

    Thursday, February 4, 2010, 7:30 – 8:30pm
    Tivoli Bays Talks: Transforming History: The Story of a Saw Kill Mill, Ruth Oja.
    Tivoli Bays Visitor Center, Tivoli [Dutchess County]. For more information: 845-889-4745 x105

    <<<<< HUDSON RIVER MILES >>>>>

    The Hudson is measured north from Hudson River Mile 0 at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. The George Washington Bridge is at HRM 12, the Tappan Zee 28, Bear Mountain 47, Beacon-Newburgh 62, Mid-Hudson 75, Kingston-Rhinecliff 95, Rip Van Winkle 114, and the Federal Dam at Troy, the head of tidewater, at 153. Entries from points east and west in the watershed reference the corresponding river mile on the mainstem.

    <<<<< TO CONTRIBUTE YOUR OBSERVATIONS OR TO SUBSCRIBE >>>>>

    Share your observations by e-mailing them to trlake7@aol.com by 9:00 pm on the Monday previous to publication. See something really special? Give us a call at (845)297-8935.

    The Hudson River E-Almanac is compiled and edited by Tom Lake and emailed weekly by DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program. To sign up to receive the E-Almanac (or to unsubscribe), send an email message to hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us and write E-Almanac in the subject line.

    Weekly issues are archived at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/25611.html . The DEC website's search engine can find species, locations, and other data in the archives.

    Conservationist magazine brings nature to your door. Discover New York State Conservationist - the award-winning, advertisement-free magazine focusing on New York State's great outdoors and natural resources. Conservationist features stunning photography, informative articles and around-the-state coverage. For a free, no-obligation issue go to http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/conservationist.html

    <<<<< USEFUL LINKS >>>>>

    National Ocean Service 2009 tide predictions are online at http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tides09/. Tidal current predictions for 2009 are at http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents09/.

    Information on the movements of the salt front in the Hudson estuary is presented by the U.S. Geological Survey: http://ny.water.usgs.gov/projects/dialer_plots/saltfront.html.

    For real-time information on Hudson River weather and water conditions from six monitoring stations, visit the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System website at www.hrecos.org.

    Information about the Hudson River Estuary Program is available on DEC's website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4920.html.

    Copies of past issues of the Hudson River Almanac, Volumes II-VIII, are available for purchase from the publisher, Purple Mountain Press, (800) 325-2665, or email purple@catskill.net.