Navesink tribe facts for kids
The Navesink (also called Navisink) were a group of Lenape people. They lived in eastern New Jersey, near Sandy Hook and Mount Mitchill. This area is known today as the Raritan Bayshore.
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The Navesink people lived on a peninsula and the highlands south of it. They made their homes along cliffs and creeks. Many old tools and items from their time have been found in this area.
Their Home and Culture
The Navesink shared a special symbol called a totem, which was a turtle. They also spoke the same Unami dialect as their neighbors. These neighbors included the Raritan, Hackensack, and Tappan groups.
A dialect is a way of speaking a language that is a bit different from others. So, the Navesink, Raritan, Hackensack, and Tappan could all understand each other easily because they spoke the Unami dialect of the Lenape language.
Early European Encounters
Europeans first met the Navesink people in the 1500s and 1600s. These meetings were important moments in history.
Henry Hudson's Visit
The English sea captain Henry Hudson was one of the first Europeans to meet the Navesink. This happened on September 3, 1609. His ship, the Halve Maen, recorded the meeting in its journals. Sadly, when some of Hudson's crew went ashore, they were attacked by the Navesink. A crew member named John Colman was killed. He is believed to be buried at a place now called Coleman's Point in Keansburg, New Jersey.
Land Deals and New Settlements
Later, in November 1651, a man named Cornelius Van Werckhoven bought a piece of land called Nevesings. He was an investor in New Netherland, which was a Dutch colony.
By 1664, the Dutch colony of New Netherland was taken over by the British. At that time, the Navesink's leader, or sachem, was named Passachquon. In 1668, English settlers bought the entire peninsula from the Navesink Lenape. They named this land Portland Poynt.
Middletown Township, New Jersey is one of the oldest places where Europeans settled in New Jersey. It was officially formed on October 31, 1693.
