Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Poyhas Swamp

Poyhas is recorded as a swamp within the Hashamomuk bounds in Southold. The place is connected with Poyhas, a Native person who lived and planted there. Poyhas Swamp was reserved within the Hashamomuk Neck landscape. Dated source details appear in the Historic Timeline with their own references. No separate linguistic translation is given for Poyhas. The name is treated as a personal name attached to a swamp reserved for Poyhas within Hashamomuk bounds. Why Place Names Matter “Origin stories about place-names are themselves a form of myth and folktale—perhaps inaccurate, but interesting in their own right because they record people's beliefs about place names even when those beliefs lack factual grounding.” — William Cronon, Names on the Land: Place Names as Historical Evidence (2018), Section I, paragraph beginning “This should remind you”