Purchase of Manhattan?

The picture (from a local church in Upper Manhattan) depicts the purchase of the island of Manhattan from the indigenous inhabitants of Manhattan in the early 17th century. Whether the island of Manhattan was purchased remains questionable. It is believed that the American Indians who lived on the island had an altogether different philosophy - that is that water, air and land cannot be traded...they are there!! They cannot be bought or sold...and belong to us all.

Perhaps, it makes it more palatable to think that the land was not just taken but an exchange took place whereby the native people were given some trinkets worth about $26.