Winippague

Introduction

Winippague is the traditional placename for what is now Bergen Island in Jamaica Bay. The alternative name is Wimbaccoe. Anthropologist William Wallace Tooker denotes that the name may translate to “a fine water-place,” from wini, “fine,” and -paug, “water-place.”

It is believed that Winippague or Bergen Island was the principal wampum manufacturing site for the Canarsie people at the time of early contact with Europeans. Arrowheads were also found on the site, which are now in the Smithsonian Institute collection near Washington, D.C.

History

Winippague is present-day Bergen Island, Jamaica Bay. Also known as Wimbaccoe. The name denotes “a fine water-place,” from wini, “fine,” -paug, “water-place.”¹

It is believed that Winippague or Bergen Island was the principal wampum manufacturing site for the Canarsie people at the time of early-contact with Europeans.²

1. William Wallace Tooker, Indian Place Names on Long Island, pp 288, 1911[↩]
2. Frederick Van Wyck, Keskachauge, 1924, pp xiv[↩]

Bifacial tool/projectile points found at Winippague. Photo courtesy the Smithsonian Institution