He began purchasing and acquiring title to the lands from the Mahican. The region was part of the Mahican homeland. Lee occupies land that was originally territory of Mahican Indians. Some historical evidence suggests commonalities between Mahican and Munsee. Roeliff Jansen Kill was the traditional boundary between the Native American Mahican and Wappinger tribes. Historic Native American nations included the Mahican and Wappinger. The Berkshires were the home of both the Pocomtuc and the Mahican tribes. The area was used by the Mahican and Esopus Indians primarily for hunting. They were part of the larger Algonquian language family and related to Mahican. The town name is derived from the Mahican word, Escotak. Nonetheless Unami and Munsee are more closely related to each other than to Mahican. The Pocumtuc tribes were Algonquian and traditionally allied with the Mahican confederacy to the west. In 1662 some Dutch bought this area of land from the Mahican. They sought peace with the Algonquian-speaking Mohegan (Mahican), who lived along the Hudson River. To the north, the Roeliff-Jansen Kill marked the beginning of Mahican territory.