A Description of New Netherland

by Adriaen van der Donck, Charles T. Gehring (Editor), William A. Starna (Editor)

This edition of A Description of New Netherland provides the first complete and accurate English-language translation of an essential first-hand account of the lives and world of Dutch colonists and northeastern Native communities in the seventeenth century. Adriaen van der Donck, a graduate of Leiden University in the 1640s, became the law enforcement officer for the Dutch patroonship of Rensselaerswijck, located along the upper Hudson River. His position enabled him to interact extensively with Dutch colonists and the local Algonquians and Iroquoians. An astute observer, detailed recorder, and accessible writer, Van der Donck was ideally situated to write about his experiences and the natural and cultural worlds around him.Van der Donck’s Beschryvinge van Nieuw-Nederlant  was first published in 1655 and then expanded in 1656. An inaccurate and abbreviated English translation appeared in 1841 and was reprinted in 1968. This new volume features an accurate, polished translation by Diederik Willem Goedhuys and includes all the material from the original 1655 and 1656 editions. The result is an indispensable first-hand account with enduring value to historians, ethnohistorians, and anthropologists.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, New York

204 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

1620-1655

Reviews

[Stephen Bauer]

First published in Dutch in 1655, this was not translated properly into English until 2008. I read this book out of my interest in Native Americans and out of a realization that almost everything we think we know about Native Americans comes from Hollywood movies. And even in Hollywood movies, most of the Native Americans portrayed are from the Plains or South West. The Native Americans of the Hudson Valley made their first contact with Europeans in 1609 when Henry Hudson and his ship, the Half Moon arrived. Dutch traders, farmers, tradesmen, and merchants colonized the area rapidly. In 1644 Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Patroon of the Rensselaerswijck patent in upstate New York, hired a young Dutch law school graduate named Adrien Van Der Donck as a legal officer. The New World fascinated Van Der Donck. He explored the New Netherlands extensively, in all its aspects--geography, plants, animals, weather conditions, agricultural potential, as well as the culture of the Native Americans, with whom he documented extensively. He learned to speak three Native American languages. Of the Native Americans, he covers bodily descriptions; food and drink; dress and ornamentation of both men and women; their houses, castles and settlements; relations between the sexes; marriage and childbirth; child-rearing; funeral customs and mourning; festivals; money; character and recreation; grooming and medicine; farming; hunting and fishing; social hierarchy; war and weapons; the government structure and law; and religious beliefs. The most arresting statement by Van Der Donk is that disease had reduced the population of the Native Americans in the Hudson Valley by ninety percent. And that was in 1650.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book ended up being a valuable source for my history thesis, so I'm more than a little bit biased.

Adriaen Van der Donck was setting himself up as the next governor of New Amsterdam. He had returned to the Netherlands after eight years in the colony to persuade the States General to take over (up until that point, the Dutch West India Company was doing a terrific job of botching the whole thing.) Description was meant to attract new colonists to the sparsely populated Dutch colony, which extended from Hartford to Albany. Van der Donck describes the natural history of the region and Native customs. It's a valuable primary source but definitely needs to be read with secondary context (I recommend Shorto's Island at the Center of the World.) I'm surprised Charles Gehring, who's translated pretty much everything else from the New York State Library's Dutch archives didn't work on this directly, but the translation feels honest to me.

[Eleni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my history class and it was the most colonial American text I’ve read

[Dwight Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Van der Donck has been touted as a hero to the cause of early American democracy, and as a tolerant, enlightened voice in Dutch colonial New Amsterdam. What we get from this is an interesting account on the New World in an extended advertisement. When he wrote this, he was back in the Netherlands, trying to sell settlers and investors on the colony, but he himself would die before he returned. We see the new land from the limits of what he knew or heard from others, and what he hoped it could become. His accounts of native Americans are mostly empathetic, and he speaks to some extent from his own personal observations and experience. His discussion of the nature, society and economy of New Amsterdam are a rich source for anyone who wants an understanding of the time. It's not exactly a rollicking good read but it's worth it.

[Norma · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ever wondered what New Netherland--including New Amsterdam (Manhattan--was really like in 1641, this is the book to read. The author vividly describes the land, flora and fauna, and the native people and their customs with great accuracy. He does get a little fanciful in a couple of places when he's reporting what he heard rather than what he observed during his several years of living in the Dutch territory of New Netherland.

[Robert Jeens · Rating 4 out of 5]

My guess is that everyone who reads North American colonial history knows that there was a place called New Netherlands and that place is now called New York. Personally, I came to know about it from the colony being a foil to New France, as it supplied the Iroquois in the Beaver Wars against the Huron alliance. Then I came across this booklet, a primary source written by the lawyer Adrian Van Der Donck some time around 1650. It is priceless as a guide to Native American culture in the seventeenth century.

The book was written for the purpose of encouraging immigration to the colony and so presents the facts most important to that. Van der Donck wrote a general description of the coast, bays, rivers, settlements and lands, crops, livestock, wildlife, and climate. He declares the place very fit for human settlement "fine, acceptable, healthy, extensive and agreeable country" None of this is terribly exciting, which might be one of the reasons that few Dutch settled in New Netherlands and it was eventually conquered by the English.

What makes this stand out is its detailed ethnographic description of Mohawk and Mahican culture. It is very unusual to find a European of that time discuss so dispassionately, almost proto-anthropologically. He writes about material and social culture in detail: agricultural techniques, hunting methods, body ornamentation, food preparation, long houses and “castles”, marriages and funerals, languages, warfare, medicinal plants, the use of wampum for money, and much more. Anybody interested in Eastern Woodlands Native American history needs to read this book.

Most of the primary documents I have read were written by missionaries, who had a certain focus and attitude. Van der Donck agrees with them that religious ceremonies were merely “witchcraft”, the purpose of which was to “enchant the devil.” Also, he doesn’t seem to understand that the council meetings he saw were actually Native government at work rather than a lack of government. Furthermore, I was surprised to see, in 1650, van der Donck looking forward to a time "after the Christians have multiplied and the natives have disappeared and melted away". I thought that attitude belonged to a later era.

There are, however, very incisive observations. He understood that the Iroquois were a matriarchy. He recorded that the Natives had retained an oral history of importing the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash from the south. Van der Donck, as well, admitted that their agricultural production was equal to that of the Dutch and some of their medicines worked better. Although he criticized their lack of laws and punishments, he admitted the Dutch were more lawless. The Mahicans and Mohawks told him that before the Europeans arrived and brought smallpox, they were ten times more numerous. That may not have been an exaggeration.

Van der Donck was a sympathetic chronicler of Native culture. He had been sent as a kind of overseer of a Dutch estate, but had enraged the owner for various reasons, including that he spent much time in the forests with the Indians, learning their languages, eating their food, and generally getting to know them. Patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer’s loss is our gain.

[Martin Groenewoud · Rating 4 out of 5]

My suggestion is to read this book after reading the book titled: The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America. As that book provides the historic context in which this book about New Netherlands was written AND it explain Van Der Donck thinking, his life and his contribution to the creation and well being of New Netherlands. Reading this book ; A description of New Netherlands, on its own might be a bit boring as it provides a detail description of every plant, animal, water, stream, soil etc. of the new world, BUT considering this was written around 1655 and considering the overal story of Manhattan and the New Netherlands it is a very interesting book. You need to read it with 1655 in mind. A must for any historian interested in the new world.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book about the Native Indians and New Netherlands in the Mid 1600’s. A lot of very interested Indian Religious Beliefs. They believe the soul is immortal It animates and rules the body. When they die, the should goes to a pleasant place where they will enjoy everything in abundance. The should of wicked and evil people will be in an unpleasant place. They believe God is good and merciful and doesn’t harm people and doesn’t interfere with affairs on earth. The Devil is behind all that is evil in the world. They believe God is with a beautiful Goddess in heaven who created life here.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this little gem and had to have it. I am a 14th generation descendant of the original Dutch settlers of the Hudson Valley, and I wanted to get a feel for what my beautiful home looked like when it was first seen by my forebears, 4 centuries ago. The writing is uninspired but the book is nonetheless quite comprehensive. For all I know, I may be related to the author, who is presumed to have been murdered by Native Americans in the Peach Tree War of 1655. Mostly, this book made me realize that if 13 generations have called this home, it's for a damned good reason.

[Dmitche3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a translation of van dere Donck's writings published in 1655. For the most part it is more general information about the area around New Netherlands, the land, crops, beavers, as well as the native indians.
Interesting parts about the indian way of life and lack of legal system, that males do not take care of crops.
There are few other interesting points but don't look at this from a genealogy point of view with names and places as they will not be found.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a resident of the Hudson Valley and a lover of most things Dutch, I found this to be an interesting description of the area and its peoples from the point of view of someone raised in the Netherlands. I wonder how things would be different today if his suggestions to his countrymen to move to this side of the Atlantic were taken and the Dutch retained control of this area.

[Gerhardus Van Wilgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I want to read the original. Also:
I wrote a play about him.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting to read a book written in 1648, and it was very detailed in its descriptions of many aspects of the territory he wrote about.

[Ishbel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I <3 van der donck

an interesting read, informed environmental look at 1640s new york. read for hist 344 fall 2022

[Ashley Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full details about the Netherlands. Culture, nature, animals, and social customs.

[Queme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting view of "New Netherlands" from a important contemporary.

[Birdie Stark · Rating 4 out of 5]

a dutch guy enjoying new york soil science. read the flushing remonstrance first and you're golden