Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Nesconset / Nasseconset

Nasseconset is connected with a Nissequogue sachem and with the modern hamlet name Nesconset in Smithtown. The name belongs to the Nissequogue River and Smithtown regional landscape, where personal names and land names often overlap in colonial records. Nasseconset is best presented as both a remembered personal name and a land-name form tied to Nissequogue territory. Dated documentary context and modern name adoption appear in the Historic Timeline. Recorded forms include Nasseconset, Nasseconsack, Nesconsake, Nassesconset, Nesausconsett or Nesatasconsett, Nesconset, Nassaconseke, and Nassaconscke. Tooker compares the name with a Massachusetts form but the exact translation should be citation-reviewed from the full page span. Why Place Names Matter “Place names indicate how Indigenous peoples define their interrelationships with the land.” — Alyce Johnson, Mnemonic...