A Description of New Netherland

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This edition of A Description of New Netherland provides the first complete and accurate English-language translation of an essential first-hand account of the lives and world of Dutch colonists and northeastern Native communities in the seventeenth century. Adriaen van der Donck, a graduate of Leiden University in the 1640s, became the law enforcement officer for the Dutch patroonship of Rensselaerswijck, located along the upper Hudson River. His position enabled him to interact extensively with Dutch colonists and the local Algonquians and Iroquoians. An astute observer, detailed recorder, and accessible writer, Van der Donck was ideally situated to write about his experiences and the natural and cultural worlds around him.

Van der Donck's Beschryvinge van Nieuw-Nederlant was first published in 1655 and then expanded in 1656. An inaccurate and abbreviated English translation appeared in 1841 and was reprinted in 1968. This new volume features an accurate, polished translation by Diederik Willem Goedhuys and includes all the material from the original 1655 and 1656 editions. The result is an indispensable first-hand account with enduring value to historians, ethnohistorians, and anthropologists.

Charles T. Gehring is the director of the New Netherland Project with the New York State Library and the coeditor of numerous collections of original documents from Dutch New Netherland. William A. Starna is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the State University of New York College at Oneonta and a coeditor of Iroquois Journey: An Anthropologist Remembers (Nebraska 2007). Gehring and Starna coedited A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634-1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert and (with Dean R. Snow) In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives of a Native People.

Diederik Willem Goedhuys is a native of the Netherlands and thirty year resident of South Africa. In addition to having knowledge of Dutch, Afrikaans, and English at his disposal, he also spent several months at the New Netherland Project in Albany, New York, where he had access to the best reference sources for the translation of a seventeenth-century publication.
Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780803232839

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Nebraska Paperback

Publication Date: 01-01-2010

Pages: 204

Product Dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

Series: Iroquoians and Their World

About the Author

Charles T. Gehring is the director of the New Netherland Project with the New York State Library and the coeditor of numerous collections of original documents from Dutch New Netherland. William A. Starna is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the State University of New York College at Oneonta and a coeditor of Iroquois Journey: An Anthropologist Remembers (Nebraska 2007). Gehring and Starna coedited A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–1635: The Journal of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert and (with Dean R. Snow) In Mohawk Country: Early Narratives of a Native People. Diederik Willem Goedhuys is a native of the Netherlands and thirty year resident of South Africa. In addition to having knowledge of Dutch, Afrikaans, and English at his disposal, he also spent several months at the New Netherland Project in Albany, New York, where he had access to the best reference sources for the translation of a seventeenth-century publication.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents


Foreword

Preface

Publication History of Adriaen van der Donck's A Description of New Netherland

Map of New Netherland

A Description of New Netherland:

The Country

Where New Netherland Is Situated

When and by Whom New Netherland Was First Discovered

Why This Territory Was Named New Netherland

The Dutch, the First Possessors of New Netherland

The Limits of New Netherland and How Far They Extend

Of the Coast, Foreshore, and Seaports

The South River

Of the North River

Of the Fresh River

Of the East River

Of the Various Waters and Their Shapes

Of the Formation and Soil of the Land

Of Wood and Vegetation

Of the Fruit Trees Brought Over from the Netherlands

Of the Vineyards

Of Vegetables Generally

Of the Flowers

Of the Medicinal Herbs and Indigo

Of Agriculture and Field Crops

Of the Minerals and the Kinds of Earth and Stone

Of the Paints and Dyes

Of the Animals in New Netherland

Of the Wild Animals

Of the Avifauna, Aquatic and Terrestrial, and First the Raptors

Of the Terrestrial Birds

Of the Aquatic Birds

Of the Fish

Of the Poisons

Of the Wind

Of the Air

Of the Seasons

Of the Manners and Extraordinary Qualities of the Original Natives of New Netherland

Their Bodily Shape, and Why They Are Called Wilden

Fare and Food of the Indians

Of the Dress and Ornaments of Men and Women

Their Houses, Castles, and Settlements

Ways of Marriage and Childbirth

Of Suckling, and the Relations between Men and Women

Ways of Burial, Lamentation, and Mourning

Their Festivities and Special Gatherings

How Human Beings and Animals First Came to That Country

Of the Different Nations and Languages

Of Money and Their Manufacture of It

The Innate Character and the Pastimes of the Indians

Their Bodily Care and Medicine

The Farming, Planting, and Gardening of the Indians

Special Account of Their Hunting and Fishing

Distinctions of Birth, Rank, and Quality

Of Their Warfare and Weapons

Of Their Administration of Justice and Penalties

Of the Universal Law of Nations

Of Gifts and Offerings

Of the Indians' Government and Public Policy

Their Religion and Whether They Can Be Christianized

Of Their Sentiments regarding Hope of Afterlife

Of the Knowledge of God and the Fear of Devils

Their Thoughts on the Creation and Propagation of Mankind and Animals in the World

Of the Nature, Amazing Ways, and Properties of the Beavers

A Conversation between a Dutch Patriot and a New Netherlander concerning the Condition of New Netherland

Appendix: A List and Suggested Identification of the Latinized Plant Names Recorded by Adriaen van der Donck

Notes

Index

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