Sachem Warawakmy of the Setauket

Introduction

Sachem Warawakmy is one of the 17th century Setauket Sachems who negotiated land deeds with the English Colonies.

History

1655

The Warawakmy Deed, April 14, 1655

In 1655, Warawakmy, the chief of the Setauket, opened negotiations with English entrepreneurs who came from Southold for a thirty-two square mile tract of land on the north shore, bounded on the west by the Nissequogue River and on the east by what is now Port Jefferson Harbor.

Chief Mahue (Mahew, Mayew, John Mahue) is one of the men whose name appears on the deed.¹

Setauket Sachem Warawakmy asked for ten coats, twelve hoes, twelve hatches, fifty mixes, six kettles, one hundred needles, ten fathoms (sixty feet) of wampum, ten pounds of lead, seven chests of powder, one pair of children’s stockings, and twelve knives for the northern half of what is now the town of Brookhaven.² The coats were a consistent commodity at the time among European goods in exchange for land.³

1. John Strong, The Unkechaug Indians of Eastern Long Island, 2011, pp. 40[↩]
2. RTBH Hutchinson, 1-2[↩]
3. John Strong, America’s Early Whalemen – Indian Shore Whalers on Long Island 1650-1750 2018 pp 81.[↩]