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Native American Tribes of New York

Welcome to our New York State Facts section, part of an educational project designed to provide information about indigenous people in different U.S. states. Follow the links to the right of our tribal map for more information about the language, culture and history of each New York tribe, or scroll below the map for New York Indian activities including a map of New York reservations, a wordsearch, fact sheets, and words from the Native American languages of New York. Feel free to print any of these materials out for classroom use!

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American Indians in New York

Original inhabitants of the area that is now New York:

About Our Maps
 *The Abenaki Indians
*The Cayuga Indians
*The Erie Indians
*The Laurentian Indians
*The Mohawk Indians
*The Mohican Indians (including Wappingers)
*The Mohegan Indians (including Montauk and Shinnecock)
*The Munsee Indians
*The Oneida Indians
*The Onondaga Indians
*The Poospatuck/Unkechaug tribe
*The Seneca Indians

Other Indian tribes that migrated into New York later:

 *The Tuscarora Indians

But weren't there Algonquin Indians in New York state?

No, the Algonquin people live in Canada. They were never in New York.

The people who speak about "New York Algonquins" have confused the word Algonquins with the word Algonquians. Algonquian is a general term which is used to refer to dozens of tribes with related languages. Algonquin people speak an Algonquian language, but so do Chippewa and Cheyenne people.

Algonquian-speaking tribes in New York include the Mohican, Mohegan, Munsee Delaware, Abenaki, and Poospatuck tribes listed above.

There are eight federally recognized Indian tribes in New York today.

Here are the addresses of New York's Indian reservations:

1 Cayuga Nation of Indians:
PO Box 11
Versailles, NY 14168

2 Oneida Indian Nation:
Genesee Street
Oneida, NY 13421
http://www.oneidanation.org/

3 Onondaga Nation:
Rt. 1 Box 270A
Nedrow, NY 13120

4 St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians:
Community Building
Hogansburg, NY 13655

 5, 6 & 7 Seneca Nation:
PO Box 231
Salamanca, NY 14779
http://www.sni.org/

8 Tonawanda Band of Senecas:
7027 Meadville Rd
Basom, NY 14013

9 Tuscarora Nation:
5616 Walmore Rd
Lewiston, NY 14092

10 Shinnecock Indian Nation:
PO Box 5006
Southampton, NY 11969

Teaching and learning activities about New York Native American tribes:

 Feel free to print these out to use at school!

*New York Tribes Word Search: Printable puzzle hiding the names of New York's Indian tribes.
*New York Language Greetings: Learn to say "hello" in several Native New York languages.
*New York Native Animals: Learn the Native American names of New York animals.
*New York Indian Facts for Kids: Answers to frequently asked questions about the tribes of New York.
    We currently have pages for the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, Abenaki,
    Munsee, Mohegan, Montauk, Shinnecock, Mohican and Wappinger tribes.

Recommended books about New York Native Americans
(Our organization earns a commission from any book bought through these links)

*New York Native Peoples:
   Good book introducing New York's Native American history and culture to kids.
*New York Indians:
   Another book on New York tribes for kids.
*Conspiracy of Interests:
   Interesting book about the colonial history of the Iroquois tribes in New York State.
*Unearthing Gotham:
   An excellent book about New York City's history that includes good material about local Indian tribes.
*Encyclopedia of New York Indians:
   Comprehensive compilation about the Indians of New York.
*Manhattan to Minisink: American Indian Place Names of Greater New York:
   The Native American etymology of various New York place names.

Other Indian tribes, bands and communities remaining in New York today include:

*Shinnecock Tribe:
Route 27-A, Montauk Highway
Southampton, NY 11968
http://www.shinnecocknation.com/

*Unkechaug Indian Nation of Poospatuck Indians:
PO Box 86
Mastic, Long Island, NY 11950

Other resources about American Indian history, culture and society in New York state:

The Six Nations:
    Interesting historical and cultural information about the Iroquois tribes of New York.
Indigenous Place Names in the Adirondacks and Champlain Valley:
    Map of Native placenames in Vermont and New York, with audio files of their pronunciation.

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