Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Screcunkas (Cedar Island)

Screcunkas is recorded as an island in Great South Bay, now known as Cedar Island in Babylon. The name appears in a 1689 Indian deed describing an island of meadow lying between the south meadows and the beach. The name may be equivalent to a Delaware word for scourgrass or rushes. Why Place Names Matter “The names are not just labels for locations, but they are cultural and historic guideposts to past ideas.” — Ren Vasiliev, From Abbotts to Zurich: New York State Placenames (2004), Publisher description