Review by Booklist Review
Those curious about the origin of native place-names dotting New York City and its environs will discover a wealth of information in Pritchard's compendium about its original inhabitants. A historian and linguist, Pritchard sketches verbal tours that amble about Manhattan, Long Island, and the Hudson River Valley, explaining the meaning of hundreds of names, such as the Shawangunk Mountains: "the place where you go south." Contrasting a location's present look with its bucolic past often prompts Pritchard to delve into a spectrum of topics: the local network of trails and ferry crossings; the peoples so connected and their items of trade; and the nature of Lenape--the general name for the Algonquin groups of the area--civilization. This latter interest leads him to relate factual material, such as the Lenape's diet, but especially their spiritual outlook as captured in oral history and dream visions, including his own. Folding in European colonization and the subsequent dispersal of the Lenape, this work, although loosely organized, is an intriguing palimpsest of the world still readable amid the modern city. --Gilbert Taylor
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
An author of Micmac descent who is currently professor of Native American history at Marist College (Poughkeepsie, NY), Pritchard has produced what is ostensibly a scholarly monograph on the history and culture of the Algonquin peoples of New York, though much of the emphasis is on the Munsee peoples who inhabited present-day New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson River Valley. Though it is presented with a scholarly apparatus, it will best serve as either a guidebook or history for lay readers. Academic audiences, however, will be sorely disappointed by Pritchard's dependence on uncorroborated sources. For example, the author states that present-day Washington Square Park in Manhattan served centuries ago as a major gathering point for the Lenape. His evidence for this claim is his own logic, since archaeological evidence is unavailable. Repeatedly, the author describes meticulous details about features buried under tons of concrete and asphalt with questionable evidence to support his theories. Obviously, valuable modern oral traditions have been extensively used in the construction of this work, but even they require some level of corroboration for descriptions of places that haven't existed for centuries. Recommended for public libraries in New York and contiguous states. John Burch, Campbellsville Univ. Lib., KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
