Ots-Toch

Ots-Toch is the name sometimes used for a Native American of the Mohawk Nation born in 1600 near Canajoharie, New York. The source for this name is unknown; contemporary records of New Netherland do not mention it. She married Dutch settler Cornelise Antonnisen Van Slyke and founded the Van Slyke family in New Netherland. She was married sometime around 1620 and died in 1646. Ots-Toch and Cornelise had at least 3 children who survived to adulthood and served as interpreters between the Mohawk nation and the Dutch, including Jacques Cornelius Van Slyck (Itsychosaquachka), Marten Maurice van Slyck, and Hillitie.[1]

Little is known of Ots-Toch, although she is indirectly referenced in many histories of early New York. For example, a daughter, Hillitie, chose to live with the Dutch,[2] but served as an official Mohawk interpreter.[3]:342 Ots-Toch had at least three other children with Cornelise Van Slyke, and may have had more children by a Mohawk father.[4]:4 Cornelise Van Slyke lived with the Mohawk according to matrilineal tradition, and he was chosen as an official delegate of New Netherlands to the Mohawk.[5] Their children also became interpreters for the Mohawk.

Some variants of Ots-Toch's legend claim that her father was French, Jaques Hertel.[4]:1-2 It should be noted, however, that the fullest early record of her says that her daughter Hilletie and her son Jacques Van Slyck were "half-breeds," indicating that she herself did not have a European father. This record, from a 1680 interview with Hilletie, appears in the "Journal of Jasper Danckaerts." That journal and other records from her lifetime do not mention her name. She is not mentioned by name in writing until the 1800s, causing some researchers to question its reliability.

In local lore, Ots-Toch is often compared to Pocahontas, another 17th century Native American who married a European colonist. But Pocahontas eventually moved to Great Britain and converted to Christianity, whereas Ots-Toch remained with the Mohawk and is reported to have rejected European religion.[1] [6][4]:2


Notes
  1. "The Mystery and Legacy of Ots-Toch". Ontario Métis Family Records Center. Retrieved 23 Sep 2019.
  2. Bielinski, Stefan. "Hilletie Van Slyck Van Olinda". People of Colonial Albany. New York State Museum. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  3. Pearson, Jonathan. (1883). A history of the Schenectady Patent in Dutch and English Times; being contributions towards a History of the Lower Mohawk Valley. Albany, NY.
  4. Biasca, Cynthia Brott. "Jacques Hertel and the Indian Princesses". Archived from the original on 11 January 2002. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  5. Schulze, Lorine McGinnis (1997). "Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke from Breukelen and his Mohawk wife Ots-Toch" (PDF) (in Dutch). Tijdschrift Historische Kring Breukelen. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  6. "The Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-80". New York State Museum. Retrieved 23 Sep 2019.

Sources


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