The George Gustav Hay Center in South Manhattan is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. For the tourist in New York City, it’s worth checking it out: the branch has a rich collection on the history of America’s native inhabitants.
Indians are an integral part of American history: the legendary Pilgrims, who landed in 1620 from the ship Mayflower at Plymouth Rock, would not have survived their first harsh winter if not for the help of the local tribes. These were peoples with a complex social structure. The Iroquois, who lived in the northern part of the future state of New York, formed something like the League of Nations, a political association of five major tribes. The Indians were skilled hunters and farmers.
The arrival of Europeans led to a sharp decline in the number of indigenous peoples. The main reason was diseases unknown to the continent – chickenpox, measles, malaria: Indians had no immunity against them. The colonies, first located on the East Coast, were eager to develop new lands – this led to armed conflicts between whites and Indians. During the colonies’ war of independence, Indian communities sided with either the colonists or the British, but more often sought neutrality. In the early nineteenth century, Indian tribes under the leadership of the great warrior Tecumseh tried to resist white expansion, but were defeated. After the Civil War, the Indians were recognized as full citizens of the United States. World War II promoted their inclusion: One-third of able-bodied Native American men served in the armed forces and were respected for their courage.
About 800 thousand exhibits of the museum tell a story of it all: weapons, magnificent clothes, household items and art of the Indians. At the heart of the collection here is the collection of antiquarian George Gustav Hay, who for more than half a century traveled through both Americas, collecting everything related to the native inhabitants of the New World.
The museum occupies two floors of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs building. It was built in 1907 by architect Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style. In front of the facade overlooking Bowling Green, there are sculptural groups symbolizing the four continents of America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. The location of the museum itself is highly symbolic. This is where Fort Amsterdam was located in 1626, under the protection of which Dutch colonists made a bargain, buying the island of Manhattan from the Indian chiefs for 60 guilders.