The Proud Govoha Indians

Long ago, before the Europeans reached the New World, in what is now central New
Jersey, lived a great tribe of Indians. These were the Govoha Indians. The Govohas
were a very proud tribe and considered themselves the highest tribe upon the
continent.

Legend has it that the Govohas grew out of a very small tribe that was exiled from the
White Plains. The Govohas were not a homogeneous nation. They would accept
young braves from other tribes as long as these tribes were descendants of an ancient
sect of Native Americans known as the Litwakee Indians. Many came from the long
beaches of Nassau, from Ramapo and the Spring Valley, the Phila delta where the
Schuylkill and Delaware rivers meet, from the Scranton tribe on the banks of the
Lackawanna, from Chesapeake Bay, from the Cuyahoga plains, and even some from
the Great Lakes region and the Western territories in the Colorado Rockies.

Though they were a very friendly tribe, the Govohas kept to themselves. They would
have nothing to do with the Irigoys whom they considered to be of another creed.

Even from among their creed they also had some rivals with which they were
constantly at war. Among their opponents were the members of the loathed Mizrache
tribes. Another opponent was the Lupapache Tribe that originated at the Heights of the
Eastern Darkway and, from there, spread to the West, East, North, and South. Their
leader was the revered Chief Son of Daughter-In-Law who they referred to as Chief
Oil on Head the Immortal Savior. He was renowned as a master of Wisdom,
Understanding, and Knowledge. He would sit at large gatherings and hand out fire
water and green tobacco leaves that would be valued today at around one dollar. His
spirit is long departed but there remain many legends. Even after he had not been seen
for many, many rains, some Lupapache elders claimed that his body and spirit still
walk. This group would imbibe on peace pipes and fire water. Many Govohas shun
them as they do the Irigoys.

Their most fiercest opponent were the M.O.hicans whose empire stretched from the
lower Hudson Valley near Fort Washington and Fort Lee, all the way North to
Plymouth Rock and Massachusetts Bay where the great warrior Chief Jay Bear of the
Solapachik tribe once reigned. After Chief Jay Bear’s spirit departed, his brother,
Arrow Horn, former chief of the Skokies, was summoned from the Blackhawk lands
on the shores of Lake Michigan to lead the tribe. Though claiming to be a true
M.O.hican, Arrow Horn of the Solapachiks was noted to display tendencies that
mirrored the Govohas such as prohibiting the November Thanksgiving at Plymouth
Rock because the new harvest cannot be eaten until the following spring and opposing
the ancient Indian custom of surrounding the villages with totem poles joined by thin
ropes to unite all the teepees as one. As such, Chief Arrow Horn was not accepted by
all. In fact, since the death of Chief Jay Bear, the tribe has never been able to produce
a warrior capable of filling his moccasins and so he is known as the last of the great
M.O.hicans.

The Govohas were a relatively primitive people who shunned ideas and philosophies
that were foreign to their ancient lifestyle. They would spend most of their time
discussing the origins of their tribe and their ways. How to practice their rituals, how
to settle disputes, and the Laws of the Squaws. Of major concern was how to deal
with the crazy ideas and newfangled devices that many of the rival tribes were picking
up from the abominable white man. Often these discussions would escalate into fiery
debates and trigger one of their frequent pow-wows.

The Govohas were great hunters and traders. They fished in the lakes and hunted in
the woods. One of their rituals was to dip all their arrows, hunting knives and
tomahawks in Lake Carasaljo before initiating their use.

The most precious commodities were the scalps of their enemies and dark hats made
of rabbit and beaver furs. The scalps would adorn the heads of their wives and many
competed to obtain the fairest scalps. No price was too high. The Govohas would
often travel up the trade routes to do business with the white men in New Amsterdam.
Early attempts to establish trade routes met with failure, but they had great success on
the 9th attempt and so, for many generations, they traveled mainly on trade route
number 9.

Of great interest is the family lives and mating rituals of the Govohas. There were
actually two classes within the Govohas. One who had not yet taken a wife was a
brave and one who had a wife was a worrier. The braves lived in large caves full of
bats, foxes, raccoons, and other loathesome creatures. The worriers lived with their
wives and children in individual teepees in colonies. Typically the openings of each
teepee faced another teepee so everybody could know what's going on in everyone
else's teepee. Some of the worriers were in a Golden state but most weren't.

The Govohas were generally a monogamous tribe. Only the great Chief Milky Eel
was allowed two wives (this, by a special counsel of 100 elders). In a bit of historical
irony, his first wife was descended from the same Solapachik tribe as was Chief Jay
Bear. The Govohas had some unique rituals. One was that they would store up snow
and ice from the harsh winters. When a new brave was accepted into the tribe, he
would be packed into the ice for a period of four months or until the first signs of
spring in the middle of the month of Shivat. Only after this ritual was he allowed to
unfreeze and search for a squaw. The motto was, "No squaw until after the thaw!" To
thaw them out, they would need large doses of fire water. So they would head
northward up the trade routes to the area near Fort Hamilton or the Great Spring
Valley where there were plenty of maidens. Indian maidens from every corner of the
continent would congregate there for it was a great privilege to be chosen as a squaw
for one of the Govohas. They would choose a maiden and bring them to the Island of
Manhattan. (The name Manhattan is derived from the word manahachtanienk which
in the Munsee dialect of Lenape means: "place of general inebriation" - Wikipedia).
There they would drink much fire water to thaw themselves out and to win over the
heart and the gold of the maiden.

The Govohas also had a belief that a mouse is impure. And as such, anyone or
anything that is attached to a mouse is impure. Even touching a live mouse would
make the one who touches it impure. To rid themselves of these mice, they would try
to trap them in nets. Of course this would immediately render the Net impure. When
they did trap a mouse in the Net, they were required to inform a special band of witch
doctors that "I have a mouse In the Net!" and the witch doctors would use special
incantations and spells to rid the Worrier of his impurity. The Worrier would be
required to detach himself from the mouse and the Net. If he was unable to do so, he
would have to dwell outside of the village until he could be free of the Net. In extreme
cases, his children would not be allowed to the village schools until he expunged the
mouse and the Net.

Such were the ways of the Govohas. All this was before the White man came and
drove the Indians out. The Govoha tribe is now extinct. But what a proud nation they
were. There is a memorial to the Govohas between the Forest and Private Way close
to where Squankum Trail meets the old trade Route number 9. Some of the white men
still have the rabbit fur hats and adorn their wives with those prized scalps. And so,
their legacy lives on.