“Paumanok wasn’t named for its length — it was named for its respect.”

Before Long Island was a name on a map, it was called Paumanok — The Land of Tribute.
The name described more than geography; it described relationship.

Paumanok was part of a larger world known among Native Nations as Turtle Island — a term used by many Indigenous peoples across North America to describe the continent itself.
The story of Turtle Island begins with the Creation — when the earth was formed on the back of a great turtle rising from the water.
That turtle carried not just land, but balance, life, and connection.

For the Native Nations of the Northeast — including the Unkechaug, Shinnecock, and Montaukett — Paumanok represented that same balance.
It was a land where Nations traded goods, shared resources, and offered tribute to one another through peace, not conquest.
The word “tribute” didn’t mean tax or payment.
It meant respect.

Paumanok was where people came to exchange, celebrate, and unify — a living link between the mainland and the sea.
Shells, crops, and crafted goods moved along its shores like messages between families.
It was a center of culture and commerce long before any European settlers arrived.

When colonists renamed the land “Long Island,” they described its shape — but they erased its spirit.
Still, the word Paumanok survived.
Poets like Walt Whitman — a Long Island native — used it as a symbol of home, identity, and belonging.
To this day, the name appears in schools, art, and community spaces that honor where we came from.

When you speak the word Paumanok, you’re speaking a reminder — that this island wasn’t built on ownership, but on relationship.
The Land of Tribute still stands.
And every shoreline still carries that story.

 How You Say It