Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Sagamore Hill

William Wallace Tooker includes Sagamore Hill at Oyster Bay, recording Theodore Roosevelt's explanation that the name was a revival connected with local traditions about Mohannis Cove and Mohannis Hill. Roosevelt described the name as his own bestowal or revival, based on traditions of an old Native man named Mohannis who lived in the cove and was sometimes described as a chief or sagamore. Sagamore is explained as a word for chief, related to Abnaki and Passamaquoddy forms. The source notes that the term was seldom used by Long Island Native people. Why Place Names Matter “But what original place names always do is tell the story of the very deep and long connection the people have to the lands and waters.” — Christi Belcourt, Before There Was Light (2021), Paragraph on original place names William Wallace Tooker includes Sagamore Hill at Oyster Bay, recording Theodore...