The Native People

The Native People. Schuyler Flatts Cultural Park. , [Left Side] , In September 1609 when Henry Hudson sailed up the river, which was later named for him, he did not arrive in an empty land. Native people had been living on the Upper Hudson River for more than 12,000 years., The people that Hudson met called themselves "Muhheakunnek," which in their language meant "The People of the Everflowing Waters" referring to the tidal action of the river. That name eventually became the word "Mohican.", Called the River Indians, the Mohican people led a life of seasonal rounds moving to fertile lands along the Hudson River, such as Schuyler Flatts, in the spring. During the summer months, they fished and tended their gardens. In the fall, they moved to the upland forest in such places as the Pine Bush and the valley of the Normanskill where they hunted deer and other wild game through the winter., [Right Side] , Archeological studies in the vicinity of Schuyler Flatts have revealed evidence of extensive Indian occupation. Sites date as far back as 3000 B.C, through to the 17th century, when native people lived in a village on the Flatte fortified to protect them from attacks by the French and by warring, These 17th and 18th century items found at the Flatts were traded by the early Europeans to the native people in exchange for beaver pelts. They include glass beads, a Jesuit ring, tobacco pipes, a thimble, and a Jew's harp., It was the fur trade with the American Indians that brought the first European settlers to this area The native people came to depend on European goods, and their lives became forever linked to the newcomers with whom they shared their land. In time, the early trade relationships developed into alliances, which had Mohicans fighting alongside the settlers in all of the colonial wars as well as the Amélican Revolution.