
The Last Pirate of New York - sillybilly
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/aaargh/
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sandworm101
>> The first known crime in what is now New York City occurred in the 1620s,
when the Lenape Indians scammed their new Dutch friends by selling them
Manahattan island twice.

I'm not one to scream about micro-aggressions, but look at that opening
sentence. It implies that no "crime" was even possible before the arrival of
Europeans, that prior to contact native populations did not commit crimes.
Either the native were innocent children in a garden of eden, or they were
wild animals with no justice system.

Perhaps this was the first _crime involving Europeans_ ... but even that
suggests that the Europeans themselves had not committed any crimes prior to
this deal. That's a big can of worms. I'd say, at best, this is the first
_documented_ case of real estate fraud in the land that would become NY.

~~~
Qwertystop
It says "known". It doesn't say that native populations did not commit crimes
among themselves, only that we have no record of such.

I don't know whether that's accurate, but it doesn't seem too unreasonable.
Pre-colonization records are sparser than post.

~~~
sandworm101
I'm rather sure that the natives knew then, and know today, of past crimes
within their populations. Many such crimes were recorded in oral histories.

~~~
mieseratte
> I'm rather sure that the natives knew then, and know today, of past crimes
> within their populations. Many such crimes were recorded in oral histories.

Sounds like a fun weekend project, go interview tribal historians for the
tribes of that region for crimes that predate the first-"known" crime from TFA
and submit it such that the author can publish a retraction.

