Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Mattemoy (Mastic Neck)

William Wallace Tooker links Mattemoy with one of the smaller necks of Mastic in Brookhaven. The name also appears as Mottemog in Long Island historical writing. The name is described as traditional rather than one found in early local source materials. A later land advertisement used Mottemog for a neck on the south side of Long Island, tying the name to land on the Mastic Peninsula. Two interpretations are preserved. One connects Mattemoy or Mottemog with a word for fool, possibly as a personal name. Another reads the name as related to Mattamaug, meaning bad or poor fishing-place. Why Place Names Matter “Place names are so much more than labels on a map. They preserve history, reflect cultural identity, reveal political power, and record the changing relationships between people and the land.” — Maria Brown, The Power of Naming (2026), opening paragraph