Sapohanikan

Sapohanikan was a Lenape settlement of the Canarsee now located in close proximity to where Gansevoort Street meets Washington Street near the Hudson River in Manhattan.^[1][2] The people of the settlement were violently displaced under Dutch Governor Wouter van Twiller in the 1630s, who operated a tobacco plantation for the Dutch West India Company.^[3][4]

Map of Lower Manhattan from 1922 showing the location of Sapohanikan (shown in the upper left)

In the colony of New Netherland, the area that is now Greenwich Village was commonly referred to as Sapokanikan up until the beginnings of British rule.^[3][5] The area of the settlement was referred to in historical records as Sapohanikan in 1639, as Sappokanican in 1640, and as Sapokanikan and Saponickan in 1641.^[6]

Etymology

The settlement name may have been derived from the Lenape language word Awasopoakanichan "over against the pipe-making place," a remnant of the name Hopoakanhaking, "at the tobacco-pipe land."^[6] The name of Hoboken, New Jersey, which lies shore of the Hudson River opposite Sapohanikan, is derived from "Hopoghan Hackingh", the "land of the tobacco pipe", most likely to refer to the soapstone collected there to carve tobacco pipes.^[7][8][9]

History

Pre-colonial

Sapohanikan was one of at least eighty Lenape habitation sites that have since been identified by archaeologists in the area now occupied by the five boroughs of New York City. In this area also resided over two dozen planting fields as well as the pathways that interconnected these settlements. Nearby villages included Nechtanc to the southeast at the mouth of the East River and Konaande Kongh to the northwest.^[2][10]

The settlement was a cultivated fishing and planting site that could be found along an extensive series of paths leading west toward the banks of the Hudson River.^[2] The name derived from the Lenape word for tobacco, which was likely cultivated there, given that cultivated areas surrounded the settlement's immediate vicinity.^[1][2] Sapohanikan may have been seasonal and was possibly important for oyster harvesting.^[3]

Destruction

 

The village people were violently pushed out of the area by Dutch Governor of New Netherland William van Twiller.^[4]

In the early 1630s, Sapohanikan became increasingly encroached upon by the Dutch settlement of Noortwyck ("north village").^[1]

In 1633, the outskirts of Sapohanikan were transformed into a tobacco plantation by New Netherland Governor Wouter van Twiller, who titled it the Bossen Bouwerie ("the farm in the woods").^[11] Van Twiller was known as an "insatiable grabber of land from the Indians" who drove the residents of Sapohanikan out of the area with "intermittent, bloody warfare."^[4]

Van Twiller's plantation soon expanded to 300 acres, extending from Minetta Waters (now buried under Manhattan) to the Hudson River.^[4] The plantation was, in name, for the Dutch West India Company, but most of the profits were held by Van Twiller.^[12]

Van Twiller's Bossen Bouwerie grew its operations in the 1640s.^[11] The purchase and sale of land at this plantation between Dutch landowners being recorded several times in official records as the "plantation at Sapokanikan."^[13] Nearby Dutch farms were established in the area, neighboring the Bossen Bouwerie, such as the Farm of Coseyn in 1647, which was recorded as being situated along Sapokanikan wagon road.^[14]

In the 1670s, Noortwyck was officially renamed Greenwijk ("Pine District") after Yellis Mandeville purchased land in the area. In Mandeville's will, the region was recorded as Greenwich Village in 1696.^[15] The usage of Sapokanikan to refer to the area ceased with the growth of Greenwich under British rule. The fertile area around what had been Sapohanikan soon became the site of large estates.^[11]

Memorialization attempt

In 2001, there was a proposal to the Hudson River Park Trust to name a park at 14th street Sapohanikan.^[16] No formal recognition of the area as Sapohanikan Park was given. As of 2022, this park is referred to as the 14th Street Park on the Hudson River Park website.^[17]

The artist Beatriz Cortez is the creator of Sapohanikan Market, a monument at Gansevoort Market.^[18]

Popular culture

Joanna Newsom's album Divers (2015) features a song "Sapokanikan," which was the lead single from the album. The song speaks to the changing landscape of Manhattan and how this relates to memory over time. The song's music video on YouTube has reached over 4 million views.^[19][20]

References

1. Reid, David (2016). The brazen age : New York City and the American empire : politics, art, and bohemia (1st ed.). New York City and the American empire. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-394-57237-6. OCLC 907154934.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. Burrows, Edwin G. (1999). Gotham : a history of New York City to 1898. Mike Wallace. Oxford. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-585-36462-9. OCLC 47011419.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
3. Sanderson, Eric W. (2013). Mannahatta : a natural history of New York City (eBook). Markley Boyer. New York. ISBN 978-1-61312-573-1. OCLC 897840866.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. Barrett, William (1959). The New Guide to Greenwich Village. Corinth. p. 16.
5. Homberger, Eric (2002). New York City : a cultural and literary companion. Oxford: Signal Books. p. 107. ISBN 1-902669-42-8. OCLC 51444181.
6. Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico. Volume III, N to S. Frederick Webb Hodge. Scituate, MA: Digital Scanning. 2003. p. 464. ISBN 978-1-58218-755-6. OCLC 647873186.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
7. "The Abridged History of Hoboken" May 1, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Hoboken Museum, Accessed February 24, 2015.
8. Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names November 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed September 1, 2015.
9. Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 158. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed September 1, 2015.
10. Bolton, Reginald Pelham (1922). Indian paths in the great metropolis. Smithsonian Libraries. New York : Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
11. Tauber, Gilbert; Kaplan, Samuel (1968). The New York City Handbook: A Comprehensive, Practical Guide for Natives and Newcomers Living and Working in New York, to the Ins and Outs of the Five Boroughs' Assets, Systems, Neighborhoods, Services, and Opportunities. Doubleday. p. 466.
12. "Greenwich Village, when it was green and a village". The Bowery Boys: New York City History. 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
13. O'Callaghan, E. B. (1870). Index to Volumes One, Two and Three of Translations of Dutch Manuscripts: In the Office of the Secretary of the State of New York. Albany: Weed, Parsons, & Co. pp. 43, 48, 71, 84, 93.
14. van Winkle, Edward (1916). Manhattan, 1624-1639. p. 24.
15. Barsanti, Chris (2017). The handy New York City answer book. Detroit. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-57859-655-3. OCLC 976394246.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
16. "Folkies Sing a Different TuneFor Village's Chapel Buildin". Observer. 2001-02-12. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
17. "14th Street Park". Hudson River Park. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
18. "Sapohanikan Market". The High Line. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
19. "Joanna Newsom "Sapokanikan" (Official Video) - YouTube". Retrieved August 10, 2015 – via YouTube.
20. "Songs We Love: Joanna Newsom, 'Sapokanikan'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-12-17.