Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Cataconacke (Old Field)

Cataconacke, recorded by Tooker as Cataconnock, refers to Great Neck near Setauket, now known as Old Field. The existing map point marks the modern Old Field peninsula as a general location for the placename. Cataconacke preserves a Setauket-area name for the Old Field peninsula, interpreted as a limited or enclosed place, land, or field. The meaning fits a neck of land bounded by water and shows how Native placenames could describe the shape and use of a landscape. North Shore peninsulas carry Native geographies and older names beneath later English estates and village landmarks. John A. Strong describes the 1659 Cataconacke/Old Field negotiations as involving John Mahue, Wyandanch, and Wyandanch's advisors Checonow/Cockenoe and Sasarataicko/Sassakataka. A 1667 deposition records that Wyandanch appointed Sakkatakka and Chekanno to mark the tract. The deposition calls Pauquatoun—not...