Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Wyandance / Wyandanch

Wyandance, now Wyandanch, is a Babylon placename preserving the name of the seventeenth-century sachem of Paumanack. Wyandance names the locality formerly known as West Deer Park in the town of Babylon. The name is also written Waiandance and Wayan-taunche, and survives today as Wyandanch. The locality name commemorates Wyandanch, a sachem of Paumanack whose authority and diplomacy shaped seventeenth-century Long Island history. The modern map point marks the Babylon hamlet, not Wyandanch's Montauk village. The name is interpreted as "the wise speaker or talker," connected with terms for wisdom and speaking. Why Place Names Matter “The keys to these stories are often the names for places or the names of ancestors whose deeds or experiences are linked to the location.” — Andrew M. Miller, Barry Ahenakew: Place Names of the nêhiyawak (2021), Cree Literacy Network project...