Red Hook Natives

In the early 2000s, Tivoli resident Jeff Golden set out to help raise awareness about the history of the indigenous people in the Red Hook area. He did hundreds of hours of research, commissioned a painting about the history of the Mohicans, which was featured in Hardscrabble Plaza for several years, and created connections with the modern-day Mohican people, located primarily in Wisconsin.

Jeff was part of the non-profit, Common Fire, which owned land in Tivoli. When Common Fire chose to sell that land in 2014, it donated the proceeds from the sale to the Culture and Language Committee of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

That story and much of Jeff's work is documented in several articles and papers he wrote:

Not the Last of the Mohicans: Honoring Our Native Predecessors on the Land

A People's History of Red Hook

Identifying the Native People of the Red Hook, NY, Area in 1609

The painting and this website are dedicated to the Mohican and Wappinger Indians -- both the ancestors who lived here many years ago, and their widespread descendants today -- and to the Red Hook and Rhinebeck communities as they strive to honor the legacy of their history and to leave a healthy and vibrant legacy for their children.