Name
Cat was mentioned in one historical document, a story of his encounter with a skipper in November 1626.[1] The name “Cat” (contemporary Dutch for cat) could have been a Dutch rendition of his Mahican name or a nickname.
Origin
Cat was a member of the Mahican tribe.[2] According to Shirley W. Dunn, in her book about The Mohicans and Their Land, Cat was the first Mahican documented by name in Dutch records.[3]
Settlement
The account of the skipper’s meeting with Cat does not specify where it took place. It is possible the name Catskill was derived from Cat’s kil, the kill or stream belonging to Cat,[4] and that he lived in that part of the Hudson valley.
Biographical Details
A Mahican chief in 1626, Cat was probably born between say 1550 and 1600. He died at an unknown time after October 1626.[5]
Occupation
The account of Cat’s meeting with a skipper describes him as a “Mahieu, Capiteyn van de Maykans;” a Mahieu or captain of the Mahicans. When the skipper asked Cat about his thoughts about death, Cat replied that death came from the devil. When the skipper countered that only God had power over death, Cat asked whether God was good, and had power to give or take life. He did not understand why a good God would give death, and nobody could explain it to him.[6]
The spiritual nature of the conversation caused Shirley W. Dunn to speculate that Cat may have been a medicine man or shaman as well as a chief.[7]
Offices
Described as a captain of the Mahicans, Cat was apparently a sachem or chief.[8]
Associations
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Cat met a skipper. Nicolaas Jansz van Wassenaer did not identify which skipper met Cat nor who provided the information about their encounter.[9]
Literature
Dunn, Shirley W. The Mohicans and Their Land 1609–1730. Bovina, New York: Purple Mountain Press, 1994. Includes Cat in a list of personal names, locations, and relationships of Mahicans (p. 314). The author suggested “Cat” was a Dutch nickname that was short for “meerkat,” a long-tailed monkey (pp. 244–45). Dunn discusses the name in the context of other Dutch nicknames for Native Americans relating to monkeys. Although the Dutch word “meerkat” was indeed in use for such animals,[10] the word Dutch “cat” (modern spelling: “kat”) has been in use for cat (feline) since the medieval period. The feline “cat” would have been a far more common word and confusing to use as a shortened form of “meerkat.”[11] Based on the supposed link of Cat’s name to meerkat/monkey, Dunn suggested Cat may have been the father of the Mahican chief known in Dutch as “Aepjen” [little monkey] (pp. 244–45), though that interpretation seems unlikely. Dunn suggested Cat could be the same person as Kaankat, who signed a deed for land in the Catskills to Arent van Slichtenhorst for the colony of Rensselaerswyck in 1649, brokered by Aepjen. However, that reference to Kaankat could not be corroborated.[12]
Van Wassenaer, Nicolaas Jansz. Historisch verhael aller gedenckwaerdiger geschiedeniss. . ., vol. 12, October 1626–April 1627. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Jan Janssen, 1627. Discusses the encounter between the skipper and Cat, and their conversation about death (p. 39r).
Source Editions
Jameson, J. Franklin (John Franklin). Narratives of New Netherland, 1609–1664. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909. Includes an English translation of Van Wassenaer’s story, including the encounter with Cat (pp. 86–87).
Citations
[1] Nicolaas Jansz van Wassenaer, Historisch verhael aller gedenckwaerdiger geschiedeniss. . ., vol. 12, October 1626–April 1627 (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Jan Janssen, 1627), 39r.
[2] Van Wassenaer, Historisch Verhael, 12:39r.
[3] Shirley W. Dunn, The Mohicans and Their Land 1609–1730 (Bovina, New York: Purple Mountain Press, 1994), 244–45.
[4] Dunn, The Mohicans and Their Land, 244–45.
[5] Van Wassenaer, Historisch Verhael, 12:39r.
[6] Van Wassenaer, Historisch Verhael, 12:39r.
[7] Dunn, The Mohicans and Their Land, 244–45.
[8] Van Wassenaer, Historisch Verhael, 12:39r.
[9] Van Wassenaer, Historisch Verhael, 12:39r.
[10] Historische Woordenboeken Nederlandse en Fries (https://gtb.ivdnt.org/search/), lemma for “meerkat.” This shows the Middle-Dutch word “meercatte” (modern spelling “meerkat”) in use for a monkey with a long tail. In Afrikaans, the word “meerkat” was used for a species of mongoose, which made its way into the English language.
[11] J. Verdam, compiler, Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek (The Hague, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, 1981), 284, lemma “catte” or cat.
[12] Abstract of land transactions of 19 April and 24 May 1649, in Shirley W. Dunn, The Mohicans and Their Land 1609–1730 (Bovina, New York: Purple Mountain Press, 1994), 280; citing NYSL, Van Rensselaer Manor Papers, item 7079, box 34, CM 1648–52 p. 207; Beernink, Dr. Arend van Slichtenhorst, pp. 168–169; O’Callaghan, History of New Netherland, 2:159, 160; History of Greene County, New York . . . pp. 28, 90. However, this transaction was not found in the digitized images of the materials in item 7079 box 34 of the Van Rensselaer Manor Papers. New York State Library Digital Collections (https://nysl.ptfs.com) > Manuscripts and Special Collections > Special Collections > Van Rensselaer Manor Papers > Box 34, folders A–E. The other books that Dunn cited do not mention Kaankat.