Dutch colonization of the Americas In 1624, the first colonists, mostly Walloons and their slaves-bound servants, arrived to New Netherland by the shipload, landing at Governors Island and initially dispensed to Fort Orange, Fort Wilhelmus and Kievets Hoek. In 1626, Director of the WIC Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape natives and started construction of Fort Amsterdam, which grew to become the main port and capital, New Amsterdam. The colony expanded to outlying areas at Pavonia, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Long Island. On the Connecticut River, Fort Huys de Goede Hoop was completed in 1633 at present day Hartford. By 1636, the
Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape seq.). The largest American Indian tribe in New Jersey, the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape enjoy friendly relations with the nation of Sweden, which acknowledges its tribal identity and sovereignty. Sweden recently celebrated its more than 350-year-old treaty of friendship with the Tribe, dating to the early settlement of the Swedes and Finns in the Land of the Lenape, before Dutch and British colonial powers settled in the area. The Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribe is governed by a nine-member elected Tribal Council. All council members must be enrolled citizens of the tribe. The tribe has determined that membership is dependent on tribal Indian blood