As a descendent of the Matinecock Tribe, Donna Barron says her Native American ancestors deserve to be honored in Little Neck where they originally settled.
"They were farmers, they were fisherman, they were oystermen and they thrived," said Barron, who is a current member of the tribe.
That dream became a reality Monday as the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Marathon Parkway was co-named Matinecock Way.
The tribe is a branch of the Algonquin Nation, who colonized in villages where Little Neck and other Northeast Queens neighborhoods are now located.
"They were the original settlers, so I mean, we are, we owe them for allowing us to be neighbors with them on this land," said City Councilman Paul Vallone, who introduced legislation for the co-naming.
Historians say the intersection is also significant because it's where the Battle of Madnam's neck took place in the late 1600s.
They say that is when the Matinecock tribe lost their dominance of the land.
"Well it was led by a man named Thomas Hicks, from the Hicks family which was a very large family in this area hundreds of years ago. Using force and violence they pushed them off their land," explained Jason Antose with the Bayside Historical Society.
Then, in the 1930s when Northern Boulevard was widened the Matinecock burial ground was removed. The bodies were then placed in a mass grave at the nearby Zion Church.
"We have been forgotten and this will bring us to a point of recognition again," said Chief Osceola Townsend, from the Matinecock Tribal Nation of Queens and Long Island.
Recognition members like Barron say they want younger generations to understand too.
"They're gonna look at it and say oh, Matinecock, and learn about the history of the Indians that were in their own backyard," she said.
She hopes that knowledge can continue to be passed down.