In honor of National American Indian Heritage Month (November), cultureNOW highlights key historic areas in Manhattan where the Lenape peoples lived for centuries. These locations celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the Lenape, the original inhabitants of the island before European settlement. The tour aims to recognize the enduring legacy and contributions of Native American history in shaping the city’s cultural landscape.

Unlike most custom houses, which face the waterfront, the Alexander Hamilton Custom House faces inland toward Bowling Green.  

A tour of Native New York

 At Bowling Green, Kaplan talks about Evacuation Day, the departure of the British from New York City, and Charging Bull, a popular statue representing the spirit of Wall Street and American capitalism. 

 Peter Gluck discusses the institutional buildings his architectural team created in the inner city, most of which are in Harlem. 

 Barbara Wilks discusses the creation of the East 125th Street Master Plan, focusing on her work with the community and the changes made. 

 Mark Ginsburg talks about Curtis Ginsburg Architects' contest-winning design for Cornerstone East Harlem, a set of energy-efficient mixed-income buildings with a design that will combine contemporary and historic design elements. 

 Edwin Marshall, from the NY Department of City Planning (Manhattan), discusses Harlem, the focus of his work, 125th Street, and the changes that have happened over time. 

 Christine Haughney, reporter for the New York Times, covers the Frontiers beat, which explores neighborhoods throughout the city affected by the building boom and recent slowdown. Here she discusses the process and controversies of gentrification in Harlem. 

 William Menking, Professor of Planning and Architectural History at the Pratt Institute, discusses major issues facing the planning community, both in the professional and academic circles. Menking says that the community moved away from thinking about what physical infrastructure is necessary for the creation of a dignified city and is now more focused on political and social science issues. 

 Zevilla Jackson-Preston, head of JP Design- a 13-year-old practice situated in a Harlem storefront on West 131st Street, talks about her commitment to bringing design excellence into the community in which she was nurtured. Jackson-Preston discusses a wide range of socio-spacial issues related to the current gentrification in Harlem and asks salient questions about the future identity of the neighborhood. 

 Garrison McNeil, an African- American architect practicing in Harlem, discusses his work on various projects in Harlem. 

This section of the tour describes how Harlem came to be the destination for many people escaping the increasingly violent racism of the turn-of-the-century South, eventually earning the status of The Capital of Black America.

World War One was an important event for Harlem, which saw many residents sent to France to fight on the front lines. Earning the nickname 'The Hellfighters' and decorated with one of France's highest honors, these soldiers returned to Harlem as heroes. But despite their sacrifices, race relations in the United States did not see any of the hoped for improvement - the post-war period in saw several vicious race riots throughout the country.

In the post-war years, Harlem became a cultural center, where important Black artists lived and worked. This period became known as the 'Harlem Renaissance'. 

Welcome to HarlemNOW's Harlem: The Capital of Black America tour. This is a recording of a walking tour given by attorney and historian James Kaplan and Olivia Kaplan in October, 2009. The tour visited various places of historical significance in central Harlem.

This section of the tour discusses the growth of Harlem from the draft riots of the Civil War to the Great Depression. First considered a German and then a Jewish neighborhood, Harlem began to see significant numbers of Black residents by the turn of the century. Instrumental to this growth were the Black churches and Black-owned realty companies battling against exclusionary housing practices in central Harlem.

This new Black "Capital" was to become the home of many organizations devoted to racial justice, such as the NAACP. 

A village of Canarsie-speaking Lenape called the island home. They called “Pagganck,” which means “nut island,” so named for the area’s abundance of hickory, oak, and chestnut trees. The island, used seasonally, was ample for fishing and agriculture for local tribes.

The National Museum of the American Indian opened in 1922. It showcases Native American art &amp; artifacts, some going back 12,000 years, displayed in a former customs house.&nbsp;Bowling Green was once home to the Kapsee chief and a sacred elm tree, known as a Council Elm. Under the tree, the Lenape held Council Fires and crowds of people gathered to hear great orators, and residents arrived to trade or to socialize. The 1626 trade between the Lenape and the Dutch where Peter Minuit laid claim to Manhattan Island took place here.&nbsp;Broadway was originally a trail created by Native travelers, ran along the length of Manhattan Island, originally connected different villages, and eventually became the road traveled by colonists.&nbsp;New York Harbor was then home to half the world’s oysters. The Lenape discarded the oysters’ pearls along with their shells, and the Dutch dubbed the location Pearl Street because of the pearls and oyster shells that once adorned the riverbank.The Lenape called the southern tip of Manhattan Island, “Kapsee” point meaning “sharp rock place”. It was home to the Kapsee people who were leaders among the Canarsie group of the Lenape. When the Dutch arrived, they used the Lenape place-name, calling the site Copsey Street.&nbsp;A colonial fort where delegations of Lenape and other Native nations, often met and negotiated with Dutch, then British, colonial officials.

Bowling Green

The site is now occupied by the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

Netherland Memorial Flagpole

Werpoes Village, a settlement on the banks of the Collect Pond, was the southernmost village on the Wequaesgeek Road was sold the island to European settlers in 1626, not those living at the northern tip of modern-day Manhattan. Werpoes was known for its fertile land on which crops grew easily.&nbsp;The corner of Cherry Street and Franklin Square was once the edge of the Lenape’s vast cherry orchard. When the Dutch took control of the orchard, they created “Cherry Street” amidst the trees. On July 16, 1906, during construction for the subway, buried dugout canoes were unearthed by the New York Edison Company at the corner of Cherry and Oliver Streets. &nbsp;In February 1643, more than 120 Munsees were massacred by Dutch soldiers on what was part of the Nechtank settlement.

Collect Pond Park

Intersection of Cherry and Oliver Streets

Astor Place was a large Lenape a powwow point called “Kintecoying,” (meaning Crossroads of Three Nations) a major inter-tribal crossroads, where Manhattan’s three major Lenape groups met in the 16th century – the Canarsie, Sapohannikan, and Manhattan. At a sacred oak tree, where the branches of the trails met, the leaders and others converged for meetings, speeches, tribal councils, games, politics, trade, and burials and other spiritual ceremonies. Although the groups spoke different languages, they would play baggattaway (lacrosse). John Jacob Astor, the area’s namesake, gained a fortune trading furs with the Lenape. In 1870, the influential Native American leader Red Cloud, chief of the largest tribe of the Teton Sioux Nation, appealed to the public at this very location, from the stage at Cooper Union, continuing a centuries-old tradition of Native American oratory at Astor Place.&nbsp;Near Astor Place was the village of Shempoes. The trail from the village went from where St. Marks Church sits today to Astor Place through 9th Street and St. Marks Place.Greenwich Village was once a Lenape village called “Sapokanik,” meaning “tobacco field” or the “land of tobacco growth.” The area was also an active trading settlement and canoe landing area.Minetta Lane and Minetta Street are named after Minetta Creek. The Lenape called it “Manetta,” which means “evil spirit,” or “snake water.” Manetta refers to the evil snake that had tormented the world from time immemorial until it was vanquished by the Lenape hero, Nanabush. Once the snake was conquered, all that remained was the snake-like creek, Manetta.

The settlements of Rechewanis and Konaande Kongh (Park Ave. &amp; 98th St. on the Upper West Side) were in present-day Central Park (southeast of Morningside Heights). Konaanderkongh was a seasonal basecamp for hunting and gathering by several hundred Lenape people. At The Park Avenue Armory Hundreds of Native Americans continued the tradition to gather for a Pow Wow in this area in 2018.

Park Avenue Armory

The Wecksquaesgeek Indians were a Munsee-speaking band of Wappinger people (related to the Lenape and Mahicans) who inhabited Harlem Plains near the Hudson River, and used the area for hunting wild game--like deer and other game. They also called the Harlem River “Muscoota,” in reference to the grassy plants that grew alongside the waterway. The same bedrock from 1609 can still be seen today in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park.

At the narrowest part of the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey, Jeffrey’s Hook served as a crossing point for Native American mariners for centuries.Inwood Hill Park (Manhattan's northernmost point), was a major Lenape village where they fished and harvested shellfish. Park’s caves were used as seasonal living quarters, and old campfires, pottery, tools, and weapons were discovered in the park, likely from when the Lenape fled Mohawk attackers.In 1626, Peter Minuit, the new Director-General of New Netherland by way of the Dutch West India Company, “purchased” Manhattan from the local Lenape chief in exchange for a shipment of goods. The unlawful sale may have occurred under a tulip tree at the park, which grew for 280 years before its death in 1938. Today, the iconic site is marked by a plaque on the Shorakkapoch Rock, a large boulder on the far side of a large open field.

A tour of Native New York

Tour Stops