Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Flushing: A Charter Before a Native Land Agreement

In present-day northern Queens, Dutch director Willem Kieft authorized Flushing’s settlers in 1645. A later agreement between named Native proprietors and town agents addressed occupied land under English rule while preserving Native gathering rights. Colonial grants and Native land agreements were different acts. Their sequence shows how settlement expanded, while reserved rights and continuing communities challenge a story of simple disappearance. Flushing in today’s Queens This is the historic town of Flushing in northern Queens, New York City, a larger district than today’s downtown neighborhood. Its early charter came from the Dutch colony of New Netherland. By the time of the 1684 agreement, England governed the colony as New York. The town’s settlers, the colonial government and the Native landowners were different parties with different interests. Two different kinds of document...