PORT CHESTER HISTORY

Port Chester is located in Lenapehoking — the “Land of the Lenape.” But what exactly does that mean? There is definitely some confusion over terms in our area! Mohawk, Mohican, Mohegan, Munsee — which is which?

Lenape is something of an umbrella term, including “Munsee” and “Unami.” Sometimes people use the word “Munsee” to refer to the Lenape because Munsee is a dialect group, also called huluixsuwaakan (native-land.ca). The same is true for “Unami.” “Mohican” is another dialect group of the Lenape.

“Mohegan” — which sounds a lot like “Mohican” — is, according to Robert Grumet, “the name of a distinct and separate East Algonquian-speaking Indian community in eastern Connecticut.”

“Mohawk”: According to Robert Grumet, “members of this easternmost Iroquois nation, whose name itself came from either a Huron work for “real adder” or a Basque expression for “killer,” called themselves Kanekeha:ka, people of the place of the flint.””