An instrument transferring land from Indians to Europeans. Usually an oral description written down in Dutch and signed by both parties listing the metes and bounds of the land being transferred and detailing the goods to be delivered in return for it. Such deeds were not only acceptable under Dutch law, they were required in order that the land transfer could be verified under the law. The Indian Deed was an important factor in the registering of a patent, an arcane process. That the process was so complicated is proof of the intention of the Dutch purchasers of land in New Netherland that all land transactions clearly followed Roman-Dutch law.
