Kieft's War (1643-1645), also called the Wappinger War, was a conflict between Dutch colonial New Netherland and regional Indigenous peoples including the Wappinger, Lenape, and other Algonquian tribes in present-day New York and New Jersey. Willem Kieft, appointed Director-General without relevant experience, arrived in April 1638. His initial strategy involved demanding tribute from local tribes. Escalating incidents included pigs stolen from David Pietersz. de Vries's farm prompting Kieft to raid a Raritan village on Staten Island, killing several inhabitants. The Raritan retaliated by burning de Vries's farmhouse and killing four employees. In August 1641, a Weckquaesgeek individual killed Claes Swits, an elderly Dutch immigrant. When Kieft created the Council of Twelve Men (the first popularly elected body in New Netherland), they rejected his proposal to massacre the Weckquaesgeek village, recognizing that Indigenous peoples vastly outnumbered colonists and controlled essential fur trading. Kieft dissolved the council. THE PAVONIA MASSACRE On February 25, 1643, Dutch colonists attacked refugee camps at Pavonia (present-day Jersey City), killing approximately 120 Indigenous people — Wappinger who had sought refuge from Mahican raids. David Pietersz. de Vries documented the brutality: "infants were torn from their mother's breasts and hacked to pieces." Approximately 40 additional people died in a simultaneous attack at Corlears Hook in Manhattan the same evening. The attacks unified all Algonquian peoples in the region against Dutch rule. ONGOING WARFARE Following the massacres, approximately 1,500 Indigenous warriors invaded New Netherland in late 1643, killing numerous colonists including Anne Hutchinson. Dutch forces killed roughly 500 Weckquaesgeek Indians that winter. Kieft hired Captain John Underhill to lead militia operations, and his forces killed over 1,000 Indigenous people, including 500-700 in the Pound Ridge Massacre of March 1644 — many burned alive. For two years, united tribes conducted sustained attacks throughout the colony. New Amsterdam became overcrowded with refugees. Colonists petitioned the Dutch West India Company for Kieft's removal. THE 1645 PEACE TREATY The conflict concluded when the final of 69 united tribes agreed to a truce in August 1645. The Kitchawank were among the signatory tribes. A commemorative plaque at Croton Point Park marks the treaty site. CONSEQUENCES Approximately 1,600 Indigenous people were killed compared to fewer than 100 Dutch. The Wappinger confederation was shattered. Kieft was recalled but died in a shipwreck. Peter Stuyvesant succeeded him and governed until the English took control in 1664. The war fundamentally altered the demographic and political landscape of the Hudson Valley. The Kitchawank at Croton Point and other Wappinger bands never recovered their pre-war strength.