Kieft's War | |||||||
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Part of the American Indian Wars | |||||||
Massacre of Native Americans by Dutch settlers | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
New Netherland Mohawk people |
Main tribes: Algonquian Mohicans Raritans Wappinger Lenape Other Indians of the northern Atlantic seacoast | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Willem Kieft | Shawanórõckquot | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Around 1,500 Indian warriors | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Fewer then 100 dead | 1,600 dead |
New Netherland series |
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Exploration |
Fortifications: |
Settlements: |
The Patroon System |
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People of New Netherland |
Flushing Remonstrance |
Kieft's War (1643–1645), also known as the Wappinger War, was a conflict between the colonial province of New Netherland and the Wappinger and Lenape Indians in what is now New York and New Jersey. It is named for Director-General of New Netherland Willem Kieft, who had ordered an attack without the approval of his advisory council and against the wishes of the colonists.[2] Dutch colonists attacked Lenape camps and massacred the inhabitants, which encouraged unification among the regional Algonquian tribes against the Dutch and precipitated waves of attacks on both sides. This was one of the earliest conflicts between settlers and Indians in the region. The Dutch West India Company was displeased with Kieft and recalled him, but he died in a shipwreck while returning to the Netherlands; Peter Stuyvesant succeeded him in New Netherland. Numerous Dutch settlers returned to the Netherlands because of the continuing threat from the Algonquians, and growth slowed in the colony.