Native Americans Were Swindled Out of Manhattan In 1634

Knowing Eyes - an aging elder, born in Black Bear County - famed for being fearless and the wisest of his tribe, Met with ‘Diamond-Jim’ Van Dyne, in 1634, when Jim - a ruthless wheeler-dealer - conjured up a bribe Figuring he could all but steal 11,000 acres for what was then a fraction of that parcel’s actual worth, While Knowing Eyes, and every last Canarsie brave believed that all they owned was holy...blessed by spirits...sacred earth. The Tribal Council gathered to discuss the proposition, wary of the fairness of the anxious buyer’s plan, Well aware how settlers’ agents, focused on expansion - offering ‘relocation’, had invariably sent a man Whose one intent was purchasing all they could acquire...nudging natives farther west, to make them start anew, And often times reneging on the payment for their land! A cold, deceptive tactic…of which every elder knew! But Knowing Eyes suggested they should trade their land instead for hefty groups of useful things like - kettles, cloth, and knives... Things he knew his tribe could use despite their meager worth, that would, in his opinion, over time, enhance their lives. The chief and all the elders felt that what they would be trading...something in the neighborhood of 17 square miles... Was - to them - worth 40 kettles...60 bolts of cloth...plus 3 good knives for every acre making up the isle! The Carnasies would come to wish they’d kept what’s now - “Manhattan” – given, after all this time, what it’s worth today... But those, of course, who own it now are not the least ashamed...and love to tell the story of the price they had to pay. Hundreds more at - writerofbooks.com