Keskeskick and the First Land Deals

What do historical records reveal about local Lenape people and their dealings with colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries?

People have been living in our part of The Bronx for thousands of years but the oldest records we have about the area are from the 17th century, less than 400 years ago.  For this reason, historic documents only reveal a limited amount of information about the history of local indigenous people.  But despite this limitation, documents from the colonial period are one of the only sources of Lenape names for people and places in the neighborhood.  And they also provide insights into the relationship between the colonists and the Native population even if they were written exclusively from a European perspective.  Taking another look at these early records, we see that some of the stories often repeated by local historians are in need of revision.

Join us at Van Cortlandt House Museum for a presentation by local historian, Nick Dembowski, who will show and discuss the earliest written records related to Kingsbridge, Riverdale, and Spuyten Duyvil.  The presentation will take place both in-person and on Zoom on November 20th at Van Cortlandt House Museum at 6:00 PM.

To attend over Zoom, please register on Eventbrite here.

The Kingsbridge Historical Society’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.