Winippague, 2021

Description

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.

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