Canarsie Indians sell Manhattan for $24 in trinkets!
 

Was Googling the neighborhood where I grew up trying to find out what's been going on lately - and found this

THE PURCHASE OF MANHATTAN: WUZ WE ROBBED?

Dear Cecil:
As a followup to your discussion of whether or not Peter Minuit got a bargain when he paid only $24 worth of trinkets for Manhattan, there is one added factor. I grew up in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, New York. Named after the Canarsie Indians, it is the farthest point from Manhattan in Brooklyn.

When I was in high school, a history class published a research project in which they convincingly proved that Peter Minuit had purchased Manhattan from the Canarsie Indians. Since they did not live on Manhattan Island, it is unlikely that they had any ownership claim in the first place.

While $24 in trinkets might sound cheap for all of Manhattan, it is no bargain when you have paid it to a tribe that was just passing through. Rather than giving Mr. Minuit the bargain of the century, the Canarsie Indians may have actually sold him the proverbial Brooklyn Bridge. --Kevin W., Alexandria, Virginia

:1orglaugh

The first time I heard about the Canarsie Indians selling Manhattan for $24 in trinkets was on the TV show "Different Strokes"!

LOL

Whatchoo talkin about J$tyles?!?!

oddly, i already knew this, but only because i am a decendent of the guy that bought that island. i read about it in some geneology book at my grandmas.