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The other day someone mentioned to me the story of the Dutch buying Manhattan for $24 worth of trade beads. I’m sure most people know the story. Here is just one of the many sites (and this one should know better) that perpetuate the myth.
The story IS a myth. For something closer to the truth, check out this site (which includes sources). It turns out that the original inhabitants of Manhattan were the Weckquaesgeeks who lived somewhere north of the Dutch colony. They were not especially happy about the Dutch living on Manhattan, but they lived far enough away that the Dutch were able to live peacefully there for a year or more. When things seemed to be getting a little nervous, the Dutch decided to head off a possible alliance between the Weckquaesgeeks and the neighbouring Canarsies who lived on Long Island, where present-day Brooklyn is now. So:
The purchase also made allies of the Canarsies, who otherwise might have joined with the Weckquaesgeeks, the Indians who lived on Manhattan and owned most of it. The Netherlanders didn’t try to buy off the Weckquaesgeeks, a more difficult task since they knew, loved, and made their homes on Manhattan. Instead, they waited as a succession of inter-Indian wars, some instigated by the Dutch, and a series of epidemics weakened the Weckquaesgeeks. Then in the 1640s, with the aid of the Canarsies and other Native Americans on Long Island, the Dutch exterminated most of the Weckquaesgeeks.
I mention this story because there is a disturbing trend currently in British Columbia and Canada generally for not giving First Nations credit for being able to develop and run our own governments, economies and communities. From the federal government’s First Nations governance Act (pretty unpopular in Indian Country) to the provincial government’s recent referendum on treaty negotiations (see my own analysis), there is a pervasive mistrust in Canadian culture of the capabilities of First Nations people and communities. When I hear stories like the selling of Manhattan it reminds me that this sentiment is deeply embedded in the story of the “New World.”
So the next time you hear the myth of Manhattan, do us all a favour and give the Weckquaesgeeks some credit. The truth is always more complicated than it seems.
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