Navesink; A Historical Novel
1613 Too Many Visitors
They were no longer called Ghost canoes. They were now called ships and all the tribes around the Bay and up the Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk River had seen them. These were no ghosts; they were men with pale skin when they took off their clothes. Many now had composed songs about these visitors. After Nutimus had been the first local human to have slain another human with a steel ax, such axes and knives were being traded between tribes.
Some tribes had learned some of the white man’s language and began collecting as many beaver pelts as they could find to trade for more steel, pots, and beads.
Pytechay had heard about the ships and the trade, and had seen the ships travel past Sandy Hook, but had little contact with the men from those ships.
Nutimus joined Pytechay at his perch. He had brought a pipe to share. The Bay, Sandy Hook, and the Ocean spread out in front of them.
“There goes another,” Nutimus said pointing north with the pipe, “I sure would like to trade with them.”
“Not many beavers here, and I think the attack on Hudson’s sloop may keep them away from this side of the Bay. Maybe we can trade beans, corn and dried fish before they depart. Our corn and beans are better than the food up the river. We have the menhaden to feed the three sisters.”
“I would like more steel. I am worried it will make the northern tribes too powerful.” Nutimus paused to consider, “If they have steel and we do not, we cannot defend ourselves. Who knows, maybe they will even trade for guns. That would really be a problem. We just don’t know enough about them. Ever thought about becoming a traveler again?”
“Not really, I’ve come to like my perch.”
“You don’t mean that, Pytechay. You want to compose better songs and Navoo has been a great student who needs traveling as you did when you were young. You must have been thinking about it.”
“You are correct, I have been thinking about it. We need to learn the white skins’ language and ways. We need to go north and see if we can meet up with some ships and do some trading. And most of all spend time with them. How many beaver pelts do we have, and can we find more to carry north?”
“Maybe there are more with the families up the Navesink?”
“That means we first have to travel up the Navesink to trade for more pelts there. With what?”
“Hmm, that is going to be difficult. We have much family there, but we do not have much they would need. Pytechay, I think we will have to go up there and talk to the families and maybe you can convince them of our concerns. If we can convince them it is in our common interest to learn more about the white skins, maybe we can combine our pelts and impress the white skins with our trade.”
Pytechay stood up, “Well, we’d better get going. The sooner we get going, the sooner I can rest at my perch again.”
The next morning a large canoe with Nutimus, Pytechay, Allaquippa, Navoo and six rowers headed up the Navesink to confer with the river families. The Raven family village was only few miles up the north branch on the south shore. When Nutimus explained the purpose of their visit, their chief sent messengers to the surrounding villages. The next day representatives of all the families on the river gathered at the Raven village. In total there were representatives of eight villages, each of which presently lived along the tidal estuary and most controlling a smaller river that flowed into the Navesink North and South branches.
It was a beautiful day in late summer. The families had gotten some idea of the purpose of the conference and settled down to business quickly. Since the issue related to business, Auntie Allaquippa took control of the discussion. Auntie was well known among the tribes as being an extremely insightful and clever trader, with the additional distinction of being the first to trade with the white humans.
Auntie Allaquipa was about 50 years old, and while the wrinkles in her skin showed her age, she had a lean, ageless and tough grace that by itself was intimidating, and once she took control of the conversation, there were few people who would challenge her. Everything she did appeared easier for her than for others. She had born seven healthy children as easily as others cooked a meal. All her kids were healthy, strong and well behaved, two of which were with her as rowers on this trip. She had survived three husbands, the first had died young of disease, and the second was struck by lightning. The last husband she’d kicked out of her wigwam, though nobody knew why for that husband left the village and was never seen again. All of this occurred without her ever shedding a tear or changing her routine of getting up early and having total control of her life in the most efficient manner. Auntie Allaquippa was so efficient, she did not even like being addressed by her formal name. If someone addressed her as Auntie Alliquippa she would immediately respond, “Call me Quippa”.
When Nutimus asked her to join him and Pytechay for the conference, he had barely raised the subject and her actions showed she had spent more time thinking about the problem than he and Pytechay combined. Quippa who took charge of putting the delegation together and to select gifts and tokens for the other families.
After gifts and pleasantries had been exchanged between the elders, Nutimus turned to Quippa, who minced no words: “Dear brothers and sisters, we have a problem. The white men are trading with the tribes to the north, but rarely stop where we live. We know they are mostly interested in furs and especially beaver pelts. We have everything we need, and do not need to trade with the white men, but they bring steel which is so much stronger than copper and makes for stronger and sharper knives and axes. Some of you have seen Nutimus’ ax; for those of you who have not seen it yet, he has brought it and will show you. The white men also have guns which can kill better at a distance than our arrows and spears. The white men do not appear to be interested in conquering us, preferring to trade pelts for steel tools and perhaps even guns with the tribes to the North. If those tribes decide to dominate us, we will not be able to defend ourselves as well as we did in the past. We need to establish our own relationship with the white men. We need to convince them to come to our end of the Bay to trade with us and make sure we have sufficient steel to show the tribes to the North that we can take care of ourselves.”
Quippa paused as there a general murmur of agreement came from among the chiefs. Noone said anything though and Quippa went on: “We need to travel to Mana-hatta where the white men keep their ships and offer to trade with them. I also think we need to learn their language. I propose we pool our beaver pelts and other trade and take our largest canoe to Mana-hatta to make ourselves better known to the white men. If we can, we shall leave one or more of our youngsters as an emissary with the white men, to learn their language and more of their ways. We can bring one or more representatives from each family, who in turn can report back to each family. We have collected 12 beaver pelts; the more we have, the better. What can you all contribute?”
Quippa’s summary resulted in rapid consensus, and the various families soon were providing estimates of the number of beaver pelts and other trade items they could secure and suggestions for crew on the trade mission. The plan was quickly further developed and all were to meet at the Nutimus’ beach in three days.
The tide pretty much flushed a satisfied crew back to their village.
Nutimus was laying back in the canoe, while the others paddled rather lazily. He was trailing one foot in the water. “Good work Quippa. Who will lead the mission for us?”
Quippa had her back to Nutimus. She lifted her paddle and turned around raising an eyebrow “Who else but me?”
Nutimus gestured in the direction of Pytechay, who was facing aft from nearer the bow. “He is a traveler, maybe him?”
“I’ll come, but will not lead. I will be a good team member. Fear is a great motivator and I am afraid of Quippa.” Some of the paddlers chuckled, though Quippa’s sons did not. There were not afraid; they simply had heard that joke too often.
Quippa ignored the joke and kept looking at Nutimus. Nutimus made a submissive wave towards Quippa: “Quippa will you please lead the mission?”
Quippa turned forward and resumed paddling, addressing Pytechay: “So at the very least there will be three from our family, Pytechay, Navoo and me, and we will fill out the canoe with others from our family depending on available space.”
Navoo was thrilled. He had hoped and even expected to be able to join the mission and now Quippa made it a certainty. This put him ahead of all his peers. He, a shaman’s student, would go on an important mission before any who aspired to be a warrior. He had been a half-outcast among his peers because he had been the one to tell the truth to Nutimus about the attack on the small ghost canoe. The others felt that had resulted in Orechton’s death.
He shuddered at the memory of Nutimus coming to find them after they had hidden in the marshes for a few days. Nutimus had arrived with three other adults and beached their canoe at the far end of the beach. He had walked up to the party ashore, and all had stood up including Orechton. Nutimus had walked over to Orechton, and in one move pulled out the ax hung at his waist and smashed it into Orechton’s neck right above his shoulders. It did not quite take Orechton’s head off but he fell down like a tree struck by lightning and did not stir by the time he hit the ground. Nobody else stirred. He turned to Cholena and simply stared at her. Cholena took out her copper knife, stared at it for a second and with a single stroke cut her own throat. She sank to her knees and fell forward, her blood spreading on the sandy beach. Nutimus turned about and walked back with his men to their canoe and paddled off. Not a word was ever spoken about the incident.
Quippa addressed Navoo, “Navoo, be aware that means we may leave you behind with the white men to study with them and to learn their language. Are you willing to do that?”
Navoo would have to get his parents’ approval, but if Quippa wanted him, he was sure they would approve, “I am, Auntie.”
“It is Quippa,” she reminded him. Little else was said until they returned to the village.
Four days later the largest bay canoe was outfitted for the mission. It was packed with trade, supplies and some weapons. The tide would be favorable before sunrise and carry them to the tip of the peninsula after which the tide would turn and carry them through the narrows into the upper bay right to Manhattan. If the wind or weather turned against them, they would hold at the peninsula, but they had twelve strong paddlers from the various families, and with Quippa. Pytechay and Navoo pitching in, it would be possible to reach Manhattan by the end of day. The other families had provided almost one hundred beaver pelts, which was expected to be an impressive supply, but would be difficult to repeat in future missions because the Navesink watershed was not that large. There were many creeks that ran into the Navesink, but most were short which limited the number of beavers that they could sustain. Beaver fur had always been desired and over the ages this kept the supply limited in the Navesink area. Unlike Lenape families along longer rivers with larger watersheds, the families along the Navesink were rather isolated and did not have the ability to attract trade from a large hinterland.
Quippa was satisfied with the crew. She had been able to make the final selections and only met light resistance when someone was excluded. Because Quippa never involved herself in arguments, protests simply fell on her deaf ears. There were two women among the paddlers, and she was certain they were just as tough and capable as the men. One of the women was married to one of the male paddlers. The other woman she knew by reputation and had met a few times herself. She was the great granddaughter of Weenjipahkihelexkwe and Pinna and lived at the upper reaches of the north branch of the Navesink. She too was named Weenjipahkihelexkwe, but was generally called Pahki. She was a strong and strikingly beautiful young women and not yet married. Quippa had kept her eye on her and certainly would not mind having her as a daughter in law. Pahki was a natural traveler and had occasionally visited the Nutimus family, often on her own. She was clearly excited to be part of this mission. Quippa had intended to bring one of her sons, but because so many families were participating, she could not fit more than three members of Nutimus clan in the crew, and she and Pytechay were in agreement that Navoo be part of the crew.
When she felt the tide was just right, about one hour before dawn, she roused the crew and they pushed off with little ceremony. There was a light fog which obscured the sky and very little wind. Once they cleared the beach and all were settled in, Pytechay sang the long version of his ghost canoe song which provided a steady paddling cadence to the crew in the dark. Quippa had taken the stern and what little chop there was allowed her to maintain course to the north. Once Pytechay finished his song, the crew stopped paddling for a moment to allow them to listen for waves to judge their distance to the peninsula. Pytechay next told Navoo to sing the song of the Navesink families. A few times he took over to provide Navoo with some corrections but they were only small details and in general he was satisfied.
The Peninsula became visible in the rising sun and the fog started to clear to a nice sunny day. Once they cleared the Peninsula, they reduced their pace to wait for the incoming tide. Most ate and drank a little and some peed or pooped over the side. To seaward there were a few whales and a large school of dolphins passed out of the bay into the ocean. One of the paddlers grabbed a fishing spear and very quickly caught a sizeable blackfish that somehow had decided that the canoe would have made a nice shelter.
The slow paddle still advanced them towards the narrows and they slid through at the start of the incoming tide. There were various villages along the shore and some people were up and about. They waved and there were some return waves. Some of the people ashore took a longer look trying to figure out where the canoe belonged, but nobody pulled out to investigate. They were now keeping a strong pace and it would have been difficult for a canoe to catch up anyway. Once they passed through the narrows they stayed in the middle of the bay and they arrived at the tip of Manhattan by early afternoon.
Three ships were anchored slightly to the east of the tip of Manhattan. Some white men were moving along the deck.
Quippa saw no advantage in addressing one or the other first, simply heading for the closest ship. A person noticed them approaching and walked aft. A moment later another man and what appeared to be a Lenape walked up to the rail. They were both middle aged men. The white man had a sober appearance. There was something unsettling about the Lenape’s body language.
Pytechay turned to Quippa, “Do you wish me to speak?” Quippa nodded her agreement.
Pytechay spoke to the man on the rail and said: “Captain Hudson?”
The man at the rail turned to the Lenape next to him and said a few words in a language the people in the canoe did not understand.
The Lenape turned to the people in the canoe: “My name is Hanrapen and I speak the language of these white men. The person next to me is Meneer Block, he is in charge of this ship. Were you calling him Captain Hudson?”
“I was asking for Captain Hudson, he was our guest five winters ago when the ships first appeared in the Bay.” Hanrapen turned back to Meneer Block and had another brief exchange.
“So you are a Navesink?”
“Yes.”
“Henry Hudson never returned here. Do you have trade?”
“Yes, we do, but we would like to learn the white man’s language too.”
“What trade do you have?”
“Beaver pelts, more than 100”
“What do you want to trade for?”
Pytechay quickly glanced to Quippa, “Steel? Cooking pots?”
Quippa took over, “We represent a number of different families, and also want to make arrangements for some young people to stay with you for a time to learn your language.”
Hanrapen pointed at Pakhi and said: “I’ll take her.”
Pakhi did not visibly react, but hoped that Quippa would refuse the offer. She did not like the way Hanrapen looked at her.
“I doubt her husband would let her go by herself,” and she pointed to Navoo.
Now it was Navoo’s turn to keep a straight face. “Well,” he thought, smiling kindly at Pahki, “I don’t mind if I do.”
Meneer Block had been watching the exchange and said something to Hanrapen, to which he responded with a few sentences. Meneer Block had another short answer and Hanrapen turned back to Pytechay, almost purposely ignoring Quippa.
“Meneer Block would like you to come aboard to further discuss trade”
Pytechay, Quippa, Pahki and Navoo boarded the vessel and they all found a place to sit on main deck just forward of the master’s cabin. Pytechay and Quippa were reasonably comfortable, having been aboard a ship before, but Pahki and Navoo could not stop looking around at all the mysterious things they were seeing.
Meneer Block had a crewmember bring out some bread, meats and beer. The Navesinks liked the bread and meats but did not like the beer and only took a few sips. Hanrapen drank his beer quickly and poured himself some more from the pitcher.
Meneer Block now appeared to sharply direct Hanrapen in his interpretation and interrupted Hanrapen if he seemed to elaborate his translations. Gradually it appeared that Block became aware of what the Navesinks hoped to achieve. It appeared that Block wanted to retain Navoo and Pakhi free of charge as his servants and to learn the language he spoke, and for him to learn more of their language, and he would purchase the beaver pelts for twelve steel knives. Navoo and Pahki would serve until he would leave, which would be in about three moons.
Quippa was not sure this was the best price she could fetch, and felt she needed to see if other ships would offer a better price. The twelve knives would allow each family to get one knife, but that would leave three knives to be apportioned among the families and while some tribes contributed more pelts than others, she was not sure how she could fairly reimburse each tribe with the remaining three knives. She needed more of smaller value to get it to work. She also wanted to see if the other ships had Lenape translators who made her less uncomfortable than Hanrapen. Block seemed reasonably trustworthy and the way that Block directed Hanrapen in his translations made her think that Block did not entirely trust Hanrapen either. Hanrapen was definitely disappointed that he would be joined by a couple rather than just by Pakhi. Quippa needed time to think and speak with her companions, but would Block retract his offer if she went to the other vessels?
She decided she would simply ask him. And she did it in very short sentences and interrupted Hanrapen if his translations became too long. It was quite difficult and time consuming, but Block remained patient and she realized that Block also understood some Lenape, at least enough to apparently keep Hanrapen on track. Quippa managed to get her concerns across and Block seemed to take no offense, even adding a fairly large amount of beads and mirrors to the price of twelve knives. Quippa realized that beads and mirrors apparently were not as valuable as knives to the white men.
Meneer Block got up and waved the Navesinks to the other ships indicating that he had no problem with them checking prices on the other ships. He offered that Hanrapen could join them as translator but she politely declined, to which Mr. Block again seemed to take no offense. He smiled and went into his cabin.
Hanrapen walked them to the canoe and told Pytechay that he was wasting his time since the other vessels had no translators as good as him and they would not offer more for their pelts.
Pytechay said nothing more than thanking Hanrapen and kindly waved goodbye to him when he was back in the canoe.
Once they were out of hearing distance of Mr. Block’s ship, the other Navesinks started to pepper the negotiating team with questions. Quippa pointed the canoe to a small beach nearby. They pulled the canoe ashore and sat in the sand. It was now more comfortable for Quippa to provide a status report. The other Navesinks had little to add when she was done. She then turned her attention to Pahki and Navoo: “Do you think you can stay with the white men for three moons and pretend to be married? I would prefer to have two people study the white men and I think it will be safer to have you presented as a married couple.”
Pahki looked at Navoo: “Do I have to sleep with him?”
“What do you think?” Quippa replied.
Pahki took a longer look. He was not bad looking in an average way and she did like his apparent intelligence and eagerness to learn. She too wanted to learn and if this was her path to learning more, it certainly could be worse, and maybe it would turn out better than she was expecting right now. Tightlipped Pahki said “I am in.”
Navoo had not moved. He had some experience with girls but not with a young woman like Pahki. It was strange to be regarded like a piece of meat, but still he was hoping with all of his fluttering heart that she would agree. When she did, his heart felt like it was thumping out of his chest.
Meanwhile, all the other single rowers in the team felt their hearts sink. They had all taken notice of Pahki and all had wanted a chance to get closer to her, and now lost one of their most important motivations during this trip.
After a few seconds Navoo finally managed to formulate a response: “I am in too”, which made everybody laugh out loud and broke the tension.
Quippa turned to the women in the party, ‘We will talk among ourselves for a little, and then we will see if we can get a better trade at the other ships.”
She grabbed Pahki by the arm and followed by the other woman they moved further down the beach.
Pytechay went to get some food from the canoe. “We might as well have a bite to eat, I suppose their conversation will take some time. Let’s roast that blackfish. You have anything you want to ask me, Navoo?”
The two conversations were remarkably similar, and also mostly useless in preparing Pahki and Navoo for their unexpected mission.
Their trading overtures to the other two ships did not result in any better offers as far as the price for the pelts was concerned. One of the ships had no translator aboard, and they could not quite explain that they wanted to have one or more of their people to remain to learn the white men’s language. The other ship had a translator who looked like no other human they had ever seen. He was very dark skinned and had a flat nose and the strangest black hair. He introduced himself as Juan, but did not speak the language well, Quippa could explain what they were trying to do and Juan brought out the Captain to continue the discussions. The Captain was very different from Captain Block. He never introduced himself, simply offered 10 knives for the pelts and walked away. Juan appeared to be frustrated and seemed to apologize for his Captain’s behavior.
When they returned to Block’s ship, Block was waiting for them and waved them aboard. The knives and other trade were displayed on a piece of old canvas on deck and the pelts were brought aboard. Block took possession of the pelts and one of his crew members bundled up the knives and trade in the piece of canvas strung together with some twine.
While Hanrapen was watching the trade, he was not asked to translate. Pahki and Navoo had few possessions with them, those easily bundled up. Hanrapen took them to the tweendeck and showed them a spot they could call their own. He showed them a trunk and told them they could store their possessions in it. In total their possessions barely covered the bottom of the trunk.
When they returned to deck, Block reached out his hand to Pytechay and Quippa and they took his hand. He turned to Hanrapen, and Hanrapen translated that he looked forward to trading more pelts and that he would return Pahki and Navoo to the Navesink on his outbound leg in about three moons.
So ended the first Navesink trade mission with the White Men.
When the team returned, Quippa managed to distribute the trade between the families with relatively little acrimony. The late summer proceeded peacefully, with families hunting beavers which they hoped to trade when Pahki and Navoo were returned to the village by Meneer Block.
When the time came for Pahki and Navoo to return, there was no sign of Meneer Block’s ship, but soon after, a sloop appeared carrying Pahki and Navoo and a small crew of white men.
Once the sloop was beached, the entire village gathered to find out why they had returned in the small boat instead of Mr. Block’s ship.
It was a cool and drizzly day and Pahki and Navoo and the crew were invited into Nutimus’ wigwam. Quippa and Pytechay joined them and food was served. Other village members crowded into the wigwam to be first to learn about the state of affairs, and those who could not fit inside, were crowded around the door and window openings.
Pahki took the lead in getting everyone up to date:
“Meneer Block is a good leader. He treated us well and we have learned a lot. We both are learning to discuss matters with Meneer Block and their crew in their language. We also have been teaching Meneer Block and his crew some of our language. Their language is called Nederlands and they come from a large tribe in a land that is as much as three moons sailing from our land. Their land is different from ours. Their homes are made from stone and their land is flat and wet. They get wood from other lands that they carry in their ships to their land where they build more ships and also make the steel and their guns. The crew has drawn pictures of things in their country and it all seems so different. They ride on animals that are the size of moose and elks and those animals also pull boxes on things they call wielen. Wielen are large versions of the things that make the large guns on the ships roll on deck.
The crew has shown us thing about the large world. They tell us that the moon and the land are actually large orbs like very large pumpkins. But so large that we are smaller than the smallest ants on that giant pumpkin. Navoo and I often talk about it at night, but maybe we have not understood them properly. It is all a very strange. Humans on the bottom of the globe do not fall off, but humans do not have sticky feet like ants. Meneer Block told us that the pumpkin we are on, he calls it Aarde, rotates and that is why we see the sun in the East in the morning and see it set in the West at night. Strangely, he explained it with a drawing of the sun and earth and the moon, and Navoo and I think it makes sense when we look at the way the moon changes from a disk to a sliver. He told us that other people have sailed all around the Aarde and returned to the same place. It is all so strange, but they also learn a lot from us. There are many things they do not know, such as about our fishes and animals and foods. They do love the oysters as much as we do and they tell me they have them in their land too, but not as many and not as tasty. They have beavers too, but not as many as we have, and they value them very highly.
They can draw pictures on very thin skins they call papier the way we can draw in the sand. Even stranger, if Navoo and I understand correctly, they draw small figures like strings of ants on the papier and the way they draw it allows them to later find the words on the papier. Just like Pytechay and Navoo maintain the history of their tribe they have piles of this papier that records histories.”
Pahki realized the crowd was now really confused and looked at Navoo.
He collected his thoughts for a moment. “It is a symbolism like certain symbols that we use to decorate some of our objects and clothing with. The symbols mean something, but it is very complicated. Once Meneer Block gave me a piece of papier with these symbols on it and told me to take it to one of the other ships. Captain Block told me what it said in case I lost it. It was quite a long message and I am sure I would not have remembered it all if I had lost the piece of papier. It was just a small piece of papier, but the captain of the other ship understood the whole message from the piece of papier. He then wrote his own message and told me to give it to Meneer Block. When I returned he read the message to me and tried to show me how the message was hidden in the scribblings. I don’t think it is magic, but I think it will take as long to learn as it takes to learn to shoot bow and arrow well, or to burn a good canoe.”
“Do these white men believe in the Gods?” Pytechay asked.
Pahki took over from Navoo, “They do and it is somehow related to those piles of papier. They have one of those piles and it seems to be more holy than the other piles. Navoo and I figured out that every seven days Meneer Block takes it out and the crew gathers and he speaks from it for a long time. They also sing together. But they sing often, but only read from the special pile once every seven days. They call those piles boeken and the special one is called bijbel. The bijbel deals with their special God he is called Jesus and the crew tried to explain things about him to us. I am still not quite sure what it is about. They sing a lot but it is a different style than our songs. They taught us some songs, but a few of the songs Meneer Block said we should not sing. They may be dishonorable.”
Pahki started singing in Nederlands and Navoo joined in right away. The two younger crew men started laughing, but the older crew member said: “Nee, Nee, Nee, Pahki, Stop!” and Pahki stopped while smiling mischievously.
Quippa interrupted Navoo before he could start on a new subject, “But what are you two doing here?”
“That is also a long story,” Pahki answered.
“Before you tell us that”, Nutimus interrupted her, “Please tell us about our guests”, gesturing to the three white crew members that were with them.
Pahki formally introduced them to Chief Nutimus speaking both Nederlands and Lenapi. “This is Meneer Cornelius Janszoon, the bootsman. He is an important person aboard Meneer Block’s ship and makes sure the crew works hard and divides the tasks. This is Guus and this is Piet they are called matrozen and do a lot of the work. It takes a lot of work to keep the ship ready.”
“Are they good men?” Nutimus asked.
Pahki nodded with conviction, “Yes, they have been very good to us. When I first started living aboard the ship, I think one of the other matrozen dishonored me. I am still not quite sure what it was, because he never touched me. I think he said something he should not have said. Possibly it had to do with him wanting to have sex with me. Meneer Janszoon lashed him down and whipped him till he bled, while everybody watched including Meneer Block. The ship is very much like one of our families; some people have more power than others and there are formal rituals.”
She paused for a moment. “But there are no women aboard, so it is more difficult for them. The men do try to go ashore to meet with the women of the families, but since they do not speak the language well, it often results in misunderstandings.”
“I am sure there are willing widows ashore”, Nutimus suggested.
“There are, but when the men sneak ashore their ability to speak the language is insufficient to make proper requests. Hanrapen, Meneer Block’s translator, tried to make arrangements, but it was clear that men in families ashore were getting paid to force women from other families to sleep with members of the crew and when Meneer Block found out, he told Hanrapen to leave the ship. Hanrapen then worked a little on the other ships, but he liked bier too much and often was not able to work. The ships have now all left, and he has gone back to his family further north along the river. Bier is what the white men often drink. We don’t like it much. If you drink too much you become confused and the next day you feel ill. The white men seem to be unaffected by it, but Hanrapen craves it.”
Now it was Pytechay’s turn, “We did not see Meneer Block’s ship leave, and he said he would stop at the village. Did he leave too?”
“No, that is why we are here”, Pahki answered. “His ship is named the Tyger. We are told it is a name for an animal that is like our puma, but larger and with stripes like some of our dogs. All ships have names. Ships use fire to cook like we do, and they have a special hearth, but a half moon ago there was a problem with the hearth and it set the ship on fire. The crew managed to get the fire out but the ship was too heavily damaged to sail to Nederland. After the fire they ran the ship ashore to take the undamaged cargo out. Most of his crew has gone to Nederland with the other ships and with Meneer Block’s undamaged cargo. Meneer Block and the rest of his crew are staying on Manhattan and with the help of the local families will build another smaller ship using some of the wood, the steel, and sails of the Tyger during the winter. He plans to build a smaller ship that he can use to further explore our shores. Navoo and I wanted to stay and help him and learn about shipbuilding, but Meneer Block did not want me to stay.”
She paused with a half-smile, “Navoo will stay with Meneer Block, there is still much to learn. I think Meneer Block wants to have as few women as possible around to reduce distractions. But I think it is mostly because I am with child and he said I should be with my own family until the child is born.”
Pytechay who was sitting next to Navoo, punched him hard in the arm, “You dog, you wasted not a second. I know of no one as lucky as you. An adventure like that and becoming a father with a wife as beautiful and smart as Pahki all in barely more than three moons!” There was general approval, joy, and well-wishing from the assembled crowd.
It was getting late and the weather was unsettled. “I suppose you will all stay the night and tomorrow Navoo will take his wife up the river. Will we use a canoe or will the small ship go up the river?” Nutimus asked.
Pahki turned to Meneer Janszoon and conversed for a few minutes in Nederlands.
“Meneer Janszoon would like to take us up the river. He would like to see my river and my home and meet my family, but maybe we can go together with a canoe too and have a larger visit with my family.”
Nutimus smiled and raised his hands, “Most certainly we will want to have a ceremony and Navoo’s parents should smoke a pipe with Pahki’s parents. It has all been so unusual. Let’s have a meal and provide sleeping arrangements for our guests.”
“I will sleep with Meneer Janszoon tonight” Quippa said matter-of-factly.
Nutimus raised an eyebrow, “Well Quippa, as usual, you are not one to hesitate.”
“He protected Pahki, he is not bad looking, so why not?”
“You want me to ask him?” Pahki said.
“Please do.”
With gestures and Pahki’s limited command of Nederlands, Meneer Janszoon became gradually aware of Quippa’s offer. He showed no shock or confusion, smiled kindly at Quippa and then had a rather lengthy further conversation with Pahki.
Pahki turned to Quippa: “I think he is honored, but he is married in Nederland, and in his tribe a married man only sleeps with the women he is married to. He says that Piet and Guus are not married.”
Quippa took the rejection coolly, and nodded to Meneer Janszoon, who nodded back again with a kind smile. She did not look at Piet and Guus, who had perked up when Pahki and Meneer Janszoon had their conversation. Quippa was practical, but also conscious of her status as a chief, and would not repeat her offer to the younger men. She looked at the crowd and made quick eye contact with a few of the women that she knew to be young widows or estranged from their husbands.
First one suggested she would like to sleep with Guus, and then another made the same offer for Piet. Quippa introduced the women to Pahki, who in turn introduced them to Guus and Piet. The women took a seat next to them and enjoyed the honor of joining the inner circle. The focus shifted to the evening meal and further stories from Pahki and Navoo about the Nederlanders.
The next morning was still cool with a stiff breeze from the north.
A large group of villagers had decided to join the sloop, embarking in three large canoes. All the villagers had expressed interest in riding in the sloop. In protected waters there was room for five or six additional passengers and there was some bickering about who would get to ride in the sloop. Chiefs and shamans came first, but Nutimus relieved the tension by promising to makes various exchanges during the trip such that everybody would get a chance. Meneer Janszoon needed no translation to understand the idea. The sail was raised and the sloop took off at a good clip. The canoes could keep up, but the sloop was under sail and moved without any effort by the occupants while the canoes had to be paddled hard to keep up.
Those aboard the sloop got great joy from waving to the paddlers and shouting encouragement while they made every effort to look as comfortable and restful as possible.
Piet and Guus laughed as happily as the others, while Meneer Janszoon at the tiller was taking careful mental notes about the river course and shallows. After a short run south, Pahki directed him into a branch of the estuary that ran almost due west behind the highlands. This river was nowhere near as large and majestic as the river Hudson had explored, but it was a truly beautiful river, actually a tidal estuary with highlands to the north and lower banks to the south. For the most parts the banks were clearly defined with only occasional marshes and there was easy shore access. In the first part of the west branch, he had to carefully read the water to stay in the channel and there were some tidal flats, but there was enough water to sail the sloop and he guessed a substantially larger vessel would be able to enter the river. Once they passed the flats, the river truly opened up and he saw a few villages along the shores. When they passed the villages, other canoes pulled out and they joined the parade. This was truly lovely land and water. It was well protected while still very close to the seashore, not swampy and it was much less rocky than the land a few miles further north. It would never be a major port which he was sure would soon be the case for the waters around Manhattan.
But it sure looked like a lovely place to live.
ENDNOTES
What is now the North River or the Hudson River was called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk River, the river that runs both ways. The fact that it is tidal up to Albany makes is a very easy river to navigate.
Word spread very quickly among the Dutch that there was good trade to be had along the Hudson. There was massive trade among the tribes and almost certainly there was competition among clans for trading dominance.
By 1613 a number of Dutch traders were working the region. One of those was Adrian Block who had commanded the Tyger with Janszoon as his mate or bosun. The Tyger did burn and Block decided to build a smaller vessel from the wreckage.
The involvement of the Navesinks is fictional, but culturally not unlikely. Women played a significant role in clan leadership, and enjoyed a significant level of freedom. It is easy to idealize native cultures, but it is even easier to underestimate native sophistication. For example, while Navesink children obviously did not receive formal education in math, due to the high levels of trade, Lenapes must have had a concept of numbers, counting and addition, and have intimate knowledge of economic principles related to resource limits and economic advantages. Lenapes were not economically unsophisticated and from their point of view they were making good deals, no worse than the Dutch. Undoubtedly, they developed strategies to gain economic advantage such as the apprenticing of Navoo and Pahki.
There is no record of the sexual invitations described in the story, but they are interpretations of the known sexual standards within the Lenape at the time under discussion.
Hanrapen is a fictitious character, but the other translator, Juan Rodrigues, is a historic figure.