Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Ronkonkoma Moraine

Unkechaug, a name for the nation of Indigenous peoples living in Mastic, New York, translates to "people from beyond the hill." Today, these hills are part of the Ronkonkoma Moraine, a chain of hills that span the center of Long Island. The Unkechaug Nations territory once ran along the south of the Ronkonkoma Moraine. The Ronkonkoma Moraine gives landscape context for the Unkechaug name and homeland. Donna Barron records Unkechaug as "People from Beyond the Hill," while John A. Strong places Unkechaug villages in the southern half of Brookhaven when Europeans arrived in the mid-seventeenth century. References: Donna Barron, The Long Island Indians and Their New England Ancestors; John A. Strong, The Unkechaug Indians of Eastern Long Island: A History (2011). Unkechaug, a name for the nation of Indigenous peoples living in Mastic, New York, translates to "people from beyond the hill."...