Katonah (Native American leader)

Katonah was a Lenape sachem who led parts of two bands of Wappinger in what is today the far southeastern part of mainland New York State and southwestern Connecticut: the Wiechquaeskeck in the Greenwich, Stamford areas of Connecticut, and the Ramapo inhabiting that of today's Bedford, New York.
Some believe the Ramapo Sachemdom - which later relocated across the Hudson River in both New York and New Jersey - was part of the Tankiteke chieftaincy of the Wappinger.
The land of today's town of Bedford was purchased from Chief Katonah.

Biography

Katonah was the sachem of the condensed remnants of a Wappinger people called the Ramapo and the grandson of Ponus, Sachem of the Rippowams. Katonah was the successor to Powahay, his brother. Katonah had a brother named Onox and a son named Papiag who also signed land deeds. His uncle, Tapgow, son of Ponus, signed many land deeds in northern New Jersey including the Schuyler Patent or the Ramapo Tract Deed in 1710 in northern New Jersey. Katonah was married to Cantitoe, sometimes known as Mustato, said to be of the Pompton tribe. Their daughter married Samuel Mohawk alias Chickens Warrups.
Legend has it that Katonah died of grief after his wife and son were killed by lightning. He is said to be buried with them in Katonah's Wood, off New [York State Route 22]. William Will's poem Katonah describes him laid beneath a giant boulder and the others under two smaller immediately adjacent boulders.

Legacy

The hamlet of Katonah, New York, located within Bedford, is named for Chief Katonah.
In 2007, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia applied for a trademark on the Katonah name for a line of furniture. Members of the Ramapough Lenape Nation joined forces with local residents to oppose it.