Algonquian

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• I am a proud citizen of the eastern Algonquian speaking, Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation (Band #1101). At the time of colonial contact in the early 1600s, the Algonquian-speaking peoples living in what is now New York State included several distinct nations primarily in the Hudson River Valley, Long Island, and surrounding regions. These groups were linguistically related but politically independent, each with their own territories, leadership, and identities. Key Algonquian nations in the region included:

• Mahican (Mohican): Occupied the upper Hudson Valley and western Massachusetts. Though Algonquian-speaking, they were often in conflict or alliance with the Iroquois.

• The Munsee-speaking Lenape included several autonomous groups across southeastern New York, northern New Jersey, and northeastern Pennsylvania. Among them were the Canarsee of western Long Island, the Esopus near Kingston, the Wappinger along the east Hudson River, the Ramapough in the Ramapo Mountains, the Hackensack and Tappan in northeastern New Jersey, the Raritan of central New Jersey, the Pompton along the Passaic, and the Minisink along the Upper Delaware River. Though distinct, these groups shared language, culture, and kinship ties, forming a northern branch of the Lenape people who were among the first to encounter Dutch settlers in the 17th century.
   
• Montaukett, Shinnecock, and other Long Island groups: These Algonquian peoples inhabited eastern Long Island and had extensive maritime traditions.
   
• Western Abenaki (including Schaghticoke and Alsigonticoke): Lived in the upper Hudson and Hoosic River valleys, the Lake Champlain basin, and along the Connecticut River in what is now Vermont, New Hampshire, western Massachusetts, western Maine, and eastern New York. 

Many of these communities were already interconnected through language, kinship, and alliance by the early 1600s. All of these groups are part of the Eastern Algonquian language family and have maintained seasonal subsistence patterns, intertribal trade, and complex kinship networks. Their societies were deeply impacted by Dutch and later English colonization, warfare, disease, land loss, and forced displacement.

Indigenous Enclaves of Lake George, Saratoga, and Greenfield

In Lake George, Saratoga, and Greenfield—at Fox Hill (Sacandaga, Corinth, Huntsville), Jamesville (Middlegrove, Galway), Cole Hill (Porter Corners, Lake Desolation), Splinterville Hill (Cascades, Saratoga Springs), and the Palmertown Range (Wilton/Moreau, Glens Falls/Queensbury)—a vibrant web of settler and Indigenous families intermarried, built close-knit enclaves, and remained deeply embedded within our homeland.

My third great-grandmother, Hester Ann DeVoe (1791–1871), carried over thirty well-documented Indigenous lines through her Catoneras (Algonquian) and Ots-Toch (Iroquoian) descent, and likely additional kinship ties through her Hudson Valley and Schaghticoke ancestry. Ethnohistorian Gordon M. Day notes that surnames including Devoe, Obomsawin, Nolet, Panadis, Benedict, Joseph, and others appear across Saint Francis/Alsigonticoke (later Odanak), Schaghticoke, Saratoga, and Lake George, where they were recognized as part of the Western Abenaki population moving seasonally between the Northeast and Quebec.

As I shared in Bowman’s Store: A Journey to Myself in 1997, my great-grandfather Lewis Bowman, born in 1844 in an Abenaki enclave in Brome-Missisquoi, Quebec, came from an undocumented Indigenous lineage. Like many Abenaki and Mohawk families of his time, he moved between Canada and the United States—first settling in the Abenaki communities of Missisquoi and Winooski in Vermont, and by 1860, in Troy, New York. In 1864, he joined the 69th New York Infantry, fought for the Union in the Civil War, and became a U.S. citizen. After the war, he settled at Cole Hill in Greenfield, where he married my great-grandmother, Alice Van Antwerp—the granddaughter of Hester Ann DeVoe and Winant Van Antwerp—who carried well-documented Mohawk ancestry. These connections grew stronger when Hester’s great-grandson—my grandfather Jesse Bowman married my grandmother Marion Dunham. Together, they raised me on Splinterville Hill in Greenfield Center, New York.

• Marion Bowman Bruchac (1921–1999)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Splinterville, Greenfield, Saratoga Co., NY.
  • Documented Indigenous Descent Lines to Marion Bowman

• Marion Edna Dunham (1895–1958)
  
  • Funnel lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional). Total: 8.
  • Residence: Splinterville, Greenfield Center, Saratoga Co., NY.

• Jesse E. Bowman (1886–1970)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Splinterville, Greenfield Center, Saratoga Co., NY.

• Louis (Lewis) Bowman (1844–aft. 1918)
  
  • Funnel line: 50 (provisional). Total: 1.
  • Residence: Brome-Missisquoi, QC → Vermont frontier.

• Edward Hobbs Dunham (1862–1934)
  
  • Funnel lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional). Total: 8.
  • Residence: Splinterville, Greenfield, Saratoga Co., NY.

• Alice Van Antwerp (1853–1909) — carries Munsee–Canarsee via Bookhout/DeVoe/Conklin ancestry.
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke → Greenfield, NY. Schaghticoke, at the confluence of the Hoosic and Hudson Rivers, was a multi-tribal Native community where Mahican, Abenaki, and Lenape families rebuilt their lives—an enduring place of refuge and survival. It also became home to Dutch–Indigenous families, including descendants of Mohawk and Mohican women who had intermarried with Dutch settlers during the New Netherland era, carrying forward both European and Native traditions in this shared space.

• Augustus Hard Dunham (1828–1887)
  
  • Funnel lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional). Total: 8.
  • Residence:  Splinterville (hamlet of Greenfield, NY)—right around today’s NY-9N & Middle Grove Rd / Bell Brook—and, by 1866, on a small farm recorded in the Kayaderosseras Patent, Allotment 17, Great Lot 8 (Town of Milton area, near North Milton/NY-29). Local history places Augustus H. Dunham living in Splinterville (neighbor to splint/basket making factory on Mill Road, owner Judson Root), working there in the 1860s before switching to farming. Judson D. Root’s works at Splinterville were a water-powered splint factory on Bell Brook that made ash splint fans and “fancy baskets.” In 1860 a “variety of fans and fancy baskets made at Judson Root’s factory” was exhibited (the baskets won a prize). After the Civil War, the Splinterville works shifted much of their output to fancy baskets. 

• Susan Atty Maria Conklin (1828–1901)
  
  • Funnel lines: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke →  Lake George, Warren Co., NY. →  Splinterville, Greenfield, NY.

• Lt. Daniel Wynant Van Antwerp (1821–1900)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke →  Lapeer County, MI (carpenter) → Danville Soldiers’ Home, Vermilion County, IL (final residence & death)

• Sophie Sénécal dit Laframboise (c.1816–1891)
  
  • Funnel line: 50 (provisional). Total: 1
  • Residence: Alsigonticoke/Saint-François-du-Lac / Pierreville, Yamaska County, Quebec

• Hester Ann DeVoe (1791–1871)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., NY →  Lake George, Warren Co., NY.

• Winant (Wynant) Van Antwerp (1793–1886)
  
  • Funnel lines: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Winant carries 31 Indigenous funnels (Catoneras + Ots-Toch combined, confirmed + reinforcement). Total: 31.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., NY.

• Marytie (Marytje) Bookhout/Buckhout (1757–aft. 1790)
  
  • Funnel lines:  17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Sleepy Hollow (Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY).

• Annetje “Annah” (Cole) Dunham (ca. 1757–aft. 1800)
  
  • Funnel lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional) — reinforcement through wider Conklin/Storm/Cole kinship. Total: 8.
  • Residence: Sleepy Hollow (Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY).   →  Splinterville (hamlet of Greenfield, NY).

• Catharina See (Zie) — baptized 27 Oct 1733
  
  • Funnel lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 8.
  • Residence: Sleepy Hollow (Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY).

• Rachel Conklin (b. before 1725 – d. after 1750s)
  
  • Funnel lines: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Westchester → Schaghticoke, NY.

• Jacobus (James) See (Zie) — baptized 14 Aug 1711
  
  • Funnel lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 8.
  • Residence: Sleepy Hollow (Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY).

• Alida Doxie (1710–aft. 1770)
  
  • Funnel lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 8.
  • Residence: Westchester → Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., NY.

• Samuel Doxie (1710–1771) + Rachel Conklin (1710–1771)
  
  • Funnel lines for Samuel Doxie: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). 8 funnel lines in all.
  • Funnel lines for Rachel Conklin:  17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional) through Hendrick. Total: 14.
  • Residence: Westchester → Schaghticoke, NY.

• Catharina (Elisabeth) Storm (b. ca. 1675 – d. aft. 1735)
  
  • Funnel line: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Sleepy Hollow (Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY).

• Hendrick Van Tassel (1680–1740) + Rachel Storm (1685–1745)
  
  • Funnel lines for Henrrick Van Tassel: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Funnel lines for Rachel Storm: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Sleepy Hollow, Westchester Co., NY.

• Lea Janse Van Tassel (1660s–aft. 1710)
  
  • Funnel line: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY.

• Other Van Tassel descendants (feeding into Conklin)
  
  • Funnel lines: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY. → Schaghticoke, NY.

• Jan Van Tassel (ca. 1625–1710) m. Annetje Alberts (1635-1704)
  
  • Funnel lines: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Partially Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Canarsee homeland (Brooklyn/Long Island) → Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY.

• Catoneras (ca. 1600–1640s) m. Cornelis Jansen Van Texel or Van Tassel (ca. 1600–1660)
  
  • Residence: Canarsee homeland (Brooklyn/Long Island) → Philipsburgh Manor, Westchester Co., NY.