It is nigh to impossible to wholly address the history of Niskayuna or Schenectady (or any place in the United States for that matter) without first honestly coming to terms with the presence and contributions of the Indigenous People who occupied these lands before European arrival.
When Henry Hudson and Dutch East India Company first appeared in the region, and for several decades after, the territory was occupied, not always peacefully, by the Mohawk and Mohican Nations. By the time both Schenectady and Niskayuna were settled, conflict between the two Nations had forced the Mohican to the east side of the Hudson River.
The Mohawk were one of the five nations in the Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee) Confederation. Until the Revolutionary era, mutual interest in and mutual benefit from the fur trade, as well as the Dutch, and later the English, interest in a military alliance with the very powerful Confederation, contributed to a shared and jointly advantageous co-dependent relationship. In the years before American Independence was secured, grievances against the European/American settlers became more routine and severe; these grievances not only undermined the Iroquois-English alliance but also significantly weakened the once-powerful Iroquois Confederation. After the Treaty of Paris was signed, many Mohawk removed themselves to British Canada.
Nevertheless, the places we live today are irrevocably linked with the Mohawk people. Our city, county, and town names reflect their language. The “place beyond the pines,” or the Mohawk word “Schau-naugh-ta-da” (which actually referred to Albany), became Schenectady. Also, “Ca-nas-ti-gi-o-ne” (in one of its many spellings) or “extensive corn fields” became Niskayuna. Furthermore, becoming the “gateway to the west” was made possible with pre-war collaboration with the Mohawk and the rest of the Haudenosaunee Confederation.
We are today certainly aware that European infringement on Indigenous territory in our area and in North…
Take a road trip to Hocking Hills. Photo taken by Ava Boldizar. 
Visit the Franklin Park Conservatory. Photo taken by Ava Boldizar. 
SONNY RAMADIN in his later years. 
Sonny Ramadin(left) and Alfred Valentine 
