Big Indian is a hamlet within the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States. It is located along State Route 28, within the Catskill Park, 17 miles (27 km) west of Woodstock. The Esopus Creek flows through the area, as Birch Creek feeds in from the north. Big Indian Hollow is located slightly to the west, while Big Indian Mountain sits to the southwest.

Once a Munsee Native American man named Winneesook (the name means "snowfall") lived near Marbletown, New York; because of his height of about seven feet, he was also called Big Indian. He was in love with a local woman, Gertrude Molyneux, who eventually loved him as well; because her parents opposed the match, they arranged a marriage with one Joseph Bundy. Disliking Bundy, Gertrude eloped with Winneesook into the wilderness. Some years later, a party of people searching for a missing cow was led by Bundy; still seeking revenge, he accused "that big Indian" of stealing the cow. When they finally found Winneesook, Bundy shot him with his rifle and injured him severely; after being left alone, Winneesook crawled to a pine tree where Gertrude found him later, dying. After Winneesook's death and burial, Gertrude and her children moved to the site; the hamlet of Big Indian later developed at that location. Local lore holds that the pine tree stood until the railroad through Big Indian was built in the 1880s.^[2]

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Big Indian has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.^[3]

• Alexander Chee, author
• Lhasa de Sela, singer
• Dean Gitter, entrepreneur
• Albert Rudolph, spiritual teacher

v t e Municipalities and communities of Ulster County, New York, United States
County seat: Kingston
City	Kingston
Towns	Denning Esopus Gardiner Hardenburgh Hurley Kingston Lloyd Marbletown Marlborough New Paltz Olive Plattekill Rochester Rosendale Saugerties Shandaken Shawangunk Ulster Wawarsing Woodstock
Villages	Ellenville New Paltz Saugerties
CDPs	Accord Clintondale Cragsmoor East Kingston Gardiner Glasco High Falls Highland Hillside Hurley Kerhonkson Lake Katrine Lincoln Park Malden-on-Hudson Marlboro Milton Napanoch Phoenicia Pine Hill Plattekill Port Ewen Rifton Rosendale Ruby Saugerties South Shokan Stone Ridge Tillson Walker Valley Wallkill Watchtower West Hurley Woodstock Zena
Other hamlets	Bearsville Big Indian Bloomington Boiceville Brown's Station Centerville Chichester Connelly Cottekill Dwaarkill Glenford Greenfield Park Katsbaan Krumville Lew Beach‡ Modena Mount Marion Mt. Pleasant Mt. Tremper Olivebridge Oliverea Palentown Seager Shady Spring Glen Sundown Tabasco Ulster Park Veteran West Camp West Park West Saugerties West Shokan Willow
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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42°06′10″N 74°26′35″W / 42.10278°N 74.44306°W / 42.10278; -74.44306