John A. Strong is a professor emeritus of history and American studies at Long Island University. He is the author of numerous books, including The Montaukett Indians of Eastern Long Island and The Unkechaug Indians of Eastern Long Island.

• List of IllustrationsForewordPrefaceAcknowledgments1. The Whale in Aboriginal Long Island Culture2. Drift Whales: A Contentious Asset3. Sachems, Entrepreneurs, and Conflicting Sovereignties4. Origins of 'Ye Whaling Design' on Long Island5. New Needs, Old Traditions: The Cultural Impact of 'Ye Whale Design'6. Debt Peonage and Indentured Servitude7. Papasaquin's World: Politics, Economics, and Family in Seventeenth-Century Long Island8. Leaving the Shore: The End of an EraAppendix 1. Examples of Whaling ContractsAppendix 2. Whaling Contracts by SeasonAppendix 3. St. George ManorAppendix 4. Estimates of Shore Whale Catches, 1697-1734Appendix 5. Names of Indian Whalers and English Investors on the Whaling Contracts, 1670-1685NotesBibliographyIndex

“A deeply researched, highly readable account from the leading authority on Long Island Native history. America’s Early Whalemen illuminates the essential contributions that Shinnecock, Montaukett, and Unkechaug whalemen made to the American whaling industry in its first hundred years.”—Nancy Shoemaker, author of Native American Whalemen and the World: Indigenous Encounters and the Contingency of Race“The most thorough investigation to date of shore whaling on Long Island. Strong helps to illuminate the lives of the Native peoples who figured largely in the industry, providing a valuable resource for scholars and an excellent read for a general audience.”—Kathleen J. Bragdon, author of Native People of Southern New England, 1650–1775