Ancestral Legacy
The Hunnic Matinecock Tribal Nation stands upon an ancestry that is both sachemic and colonial, merging sovereign Native lines with early founding families of New York and New England. Our identity is proven through FamilySearch genealogy, colonial records, DNA evidence, and binding treaties.
This dual foundation – sachemic inheritance and colonial compacts – makes our sovereignty unique, unbroken, and enforceable under law.
Pillar I – Sachemic Ancestors
Our sovereignty flows first through our direct sachemic ancestors:
- Grand Sachem Canonicus (Narragansett, 1539-1647) – my 12th great-grandfather. A respected diplomat and war leader in colonial records for his leadership and land treaties with New England settlers.
- Mohawk Chief Kanienkeha Ka Hertel (Haudenosaunee, 1570-1630) – my 11th great-grandfather. His line ties directly to the Treaty of Canandaigua (1794), still active federal law guaranteeing Mohawk sovereignty.
- Catoneras (Mohawk-Narragansett, 1603-1659) – my 10th great-grandfather. A sachemic heiress who secured sovereignty and inheritance through her marriage to Cornelius Jansen Van Texel.
Through these ancestors, our sovereignty is protected by treaties, colonial deeds, and petitions, which remain binding under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article VI).
Pillar II – Colonial Founding Families
The marriage of Catoneras and Cornelius Jansen Van Texel (1640s) formed the Catoneras-Van Texel Compact – a sovereign Native-European union that transferred land rights, inheritance, and political legitimacy into their descendants.
Those descendants became the root of several colonial founding families in New York and Connecticut – all of whom are my direct great-grandparents:
- Cornelius Jansen Van Texel (great-grandfather) – Dutch settler whose union with Catoneras created one of the earliest Native-European sovereign compacts.
- Colonel Robert Knapp (great-grandfather) – A colonial leader and landholder; the Knapp family intermarried with Van Texel descendants, tying into multiple lines of my ancestry.
- Travis family (great-grandparents) – Colonial Hudson Valley family, intermarried with Van Texel descendants.
- Lent family (great-grandparents) – Early Dutch colonial family, tied into Catoneras’ bloodline through Van Texel lines.
- Outhouse family (great-grandparents) – Hudson Valley founding family, merged with Van Texel/Native lines.
- Dyckman (Dykman) family (great-grandparents) – Dutch founding family of New Amsterdam and the Hudson Valley, also intermarried with Van Texel descendants and present in my direct genealogy.
These families defended their inherited rights through the Montaukett Petitions of 1685 and 1705, legal documents presented to colonial governors. Those petitions remain on record in the New York State archives and continue to serve as evidence of our unbroken sovereignty.
Collateral Sachemic Kinship
Our lineage is also strengthened by sachemic kinship ties to:
- Grand Sachem Tatobem (Pequot)
- Chief Sassacus (Pequot)
- Sachem Wyandanch (Montaukett)
- Quashawan (Pequot–Mohawk kinship)
These names reflect our embedded role in Algonquian and Haudenosaunee governance networks.
DNA Confirmation
Our FamilySearch genealogy is further confirmed by DNA evidence. Markers including D1a1 (D-M15), Sunghir 1, Goyet Q2, Cheddar Man (I6767), SC1_Meso, ZBC, I4243, I1633, I8193, ANN1, I12776 prove our continuity from the Pleistocene through the Bronze Age, linking our people to ancient sovereign genomes and tribal royal lines.
Our Story of Continuity
From Canonicus’ Narragansett diplomacy, to Catoneras’ sovereign compact with Van Texel, to the Knapp, Travis, Lent, Outhouse, and Dyckman families defending land rights in petitions, our ancestors never surrendered sovereignty.
That legacy is alive today. The Hunnic Matinecock Tribal Nation continues as the living embodiment of treaties, compacts, and ancestral law.
Declaration
By bloodline, compact, genealogy, DNA, and law, the sovereignty of the Hunnic Matinecock Tribal Nation is undeniable and unextinguished.