Rockshelter use during the “Late Woodland” Period in the Northeast: Increased use as an Aspect of the Pelt Trade

Becker, Marshall Joseph

doi:10.2190/na.32.1.d

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 7 publications

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“…The Susquehannock established a place where they could meet the Dutch on the Delaware (South) River. 17 De Rasière indicated that the Susquehannock had arrived at Fort Amsterdam using the same route followed by Native "runners." They crossed the South (Delaware) River at the falls, now Trenton at the place called Mechechasou.…”

Section: Mail Service In the Northeastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lenape (“Delaware”) Mail Carriers and the Origins of the US Postal Service

Becker¹

2015

American Indian Culture and Research Journal

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M ore than simply a pleasant means for individuals to communicate over long distances, during the colonial period an efficient and reliable mail service had distinct military and political value. Early histories of the United States Postal Service (USPS) offer useful surveys of the postal systems developed by immigrant Europeans, but Native forerunners of the USPS generally are not considered. 1 Formal histories of the USPS, first written over 130 years ago, at best only briefly note Native participation. Some recent texts include references to Native mail carriers, but view all these peoples, and their reliability in delivering the mail, as being alike. 2 Closer examination of Lenape participation in the Middle Atlantic mail system during the Dutch period reveals significant cultural differences among the Native tribes regarding their involvement with the mail, and shows that the Lenape created high standards of service that became a USPS historical tradition. The writings of English, Dutch, Swedish, and French colonial administrators provide multiple views of the Lenape and other Native peoples in their role as mail carriers and reveal why the Lenape were rated as the best. This diversity of comments, amplified by statements from various factions within these linguistic groups, all agree that the Lenape were the preferred carriers. 3 These records enable us to compare elements of the mail service from the perspectives of the Native carriers as well as the colonials who used these services.Marshall Joseph Becker, professor emeritus in anthropology at West Chester University, has studied the Native peoples of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay regions for more than forty-five years. Trained at the University of Pennsylvania in four fields of anthropology, he applies multiple anthropological approaches to gather information about the Lenape and their neighbors, often called together "Delaware Indians.

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Section: Mail Service In the Northeastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lenape (“Delaware”) Mail Carriers and the Origins of the US Postal Service

Becker¹

2015

American Indian Culture and Research Journal

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The Archaeology of Bear Trap Spring Rockshelter, Ulster County, New York

Diamond

2013

North American Archaeologist

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The Bear Trap Spring Rockshelter (NYSM 9792) is a Multi-Component Pre-Contact Site in the Rondout drainage in the Town of Olive, situated along the eastern edge of the Catskills in New York's Mid-Hudson Valley. It was almost entirely excavated by avocational archaeologists from the New York State Archaeological Association's Mid-Hudson Chapter from c. 1959 to 1966. Occupations found in the rockshelter range from the Middle Archaic Neville Phase to those of the Late Woodland/Contact Period Esopus Indians. Comparisons with 8 other nearby rockshelters in the Ashokan Catskills, as well as 14 rockshelters within a 50 km radius, point to consistent peaks in occupation during the Late Archaic and the Late Woodland.

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Rockshelter use during the “Late Woodland” Period in the Northeast: Increased use as an Aspect of the Pelt Trade

Cited by 2 publications

References 7 publications

Lenape (“Delaware”) Mail Carriers and the Origins of the US Postal Service

Lenape (“Delaware”) Mail Carriers and the Origins of the US Postal Service

The Archaeology of Bear Trap Spring Rockshelter, Ulster County, New York

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