Mahican
Encyclopedia
The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe
, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley (around Albany, NY). After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts
. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin
. The tribe's name for itself (autonym) was Muh-he-con-neok, or "People of the waters that are never still." Joining with the Munsee in Wisconsin, they have formed a federally recognized tribe known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.
at the time of their first contact with Europe
ans after 1609, during the settlement of New Netherland
. The Mahican were a confederacy rather than a single tribe, and at the time of contact, there were five main divisions: Mohican proper, Westenhuck, Wawayachtonoc, Mechkentowoon, and Wiekagjoc. Over the next hundred years, tensions between the Mahican and the Iroquois
Mohawk
, as well as Dutch and English
settlers, caused the Mahican to migrate eastward across the Hudson River
into western Massachusetts and Connecticut. Many settled in the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts
, where they gradually became known as the Stockbridge Indians.
The Stockbridge Indians allowed Protestant Christian
missionaries
, including Jonathan Edwards, to live among them. In the 18th century, many converted to Christianity
, while keeping certain traditions of their own. Although they fought on the side of the American colonists in both the French and Indian War
(North American part of the Seven Years' War
) and the American Revolution
, citizens of the new United States forced them off their land and westward. In the 1780s, groups of Stockbridge Indians moved from Massachusetts to a new location among the Oneida people in western New York, called New Stockbridge. Some individuals and families, mostly people who were old or those with special ties to the area, remained behind at Stockbridge.
The central figures of Mahican society, however, including the chief sachem and his counselors and relatives, were part of the move to New Stockbridge. At the new town, the Stockbridge emigrants controlled their own affairs and combined traditional ways with the new as they chose. After learning from the Christian missionaries, the Stockbridge Indians were experienced in English ways. At New Stockbridge they replicated their former town. While continuing as Christians, they retained their language and Mahican cultural traditions. Their evolving Mohican identity was still rooted in traditions of the past.
In the 1820s and 1830s, most of the Stockbridge moved to Shawano County, Wisconsin
, where they were promised land by the US government under the policy of Indian removal
. In Wisconsin, they settled on reservation
s with the Algonquian-speaking Munsee. Together, the two formed a band and are federally recognized as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community
. Their reservation is known as that of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians and is located in the towns of Bartelme
and Red Springs
.
Some of the Mohican developed strong ties with missionaries of the Moravian Church from Bethlehem
in present-day Pennsylvania
, who founded a mission at their village of Shekomeko in Dutchess County, New York
. Henry Rauch, a Moravian Protestant missionary, spoke to two Mohican leaders, Maumauntissekun, also known as Shabash, and Wassamapah, who took him back to their village, Shekomeko. They named him the new religious teacher. At first, Rauch was unwelcome in Shekomeko. Over time, the promise in his sermons at Shekomeko won listeners, even as his affection for them and his frugality convinced the Mohican that he would never covet their land. Early in 1742, Shabash and two other Mohican set out with Rauch for Pennsylvania, where Rauch was to be ordained a deacon. After that, the three Mohican were baptized on February 11, 1742 in John de Turk’s barn at Oley, Pennsylvania. Shabash was the first Mohican of Shekomeko to adopt the Christian religion. The Moravians built a chapel for the Mohican people in 1743. They also defended the Mohican against European settlers' exploitation, trying to protect them against land encroachment and abuses of liquor. Native Americans were alcohol-intolerant and vulnerable to it.
On a 1738 visit to New York, the Mohican spoke to the Governor concerning the sale of their land near Shekomeko. The Governor promised they would be paid as soon as the lands were surveyed. He suggested that for their own security, they should mark off their square mile of land they wished to keep, which the Mohican never did. In September 1743 the land was finally surveyed and divided into lots, one of which ran through the Indians' reserved land. With some help from the missionaries, on October 17, 1743 Shabash put together a petition of names of people who could attest that the land in which one of the lots was running through was theirs. Despite Shabash’s appeals, his persistence, and the missionaries' help, the Mohican lost the case. The lots were eventually bought up by European-American settlers and the Mohican were forced out of Shekomeko. Some who opposed the missionaries' work accused them of being secret Catholic Jesuits
(who had been outlawed from the colony in 1700) and of working with the Mohican on the side of the French
. The missionaries were summoned more than once before colonial government, but also had supporters. Finally the colonial government at Poughkeepsie expelled the missionaries from New York in the late 1740s, in part because of their advocacy of Mohican rights. Settlers soon took over the Mahican land.
The now extinct Mahican language
belonged to the Eastern Algonquian
branch of the Algonquian language
family. It was an Algonquian N-dialect, as were Massachusett
and Wampanoag. In many ways, it was similar to one of the L-dialects, such as that of the Lenape
, and could be considered one.
--References--
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley (around Albany, NY). After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. The tribe's name for itself (autonym) was Muh-he-con-neok, or "People of the waters that are never still." Joining with the Munsee in Wisconsin, they have formed a federally recognized tribe known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.
History
The Mahican were living in and around the Hudson ValleyHudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
at the time of their first contact with Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans after 1609, during the settlement of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. The Mahican were a confederacy rather than a single tribe, and at the time of contact, there were five main divisions: Mohican proper, Westenhuck, Wawayachtonoc, Mechkentowoon, and Wiekagjoc. Over the next hundred years, tensions between the Mahican and the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
, as well as Dutch and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
settlers, caused the Mahican to migrate eastward across the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
into western Massachusetts and Connecticut. Many settled in the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
, where they gradually became known as the Stockbridge Indians.
The Stockbridge Indians allowed Protestant Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, including Jonathan Edwards, to live among them. In the 18th century, many converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, while keeping certain traditions of their own. Although they fought on the side of the American colonists in both the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
(North American part of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
) and the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, citizens of the new United States forced them off their land and westward. In the 1780s, groups of Stockbridge Indians moved from Massachusetts to a new location among the Oneida people in western New York, called New Stockbridge. Some individuals and families, mostly people who were old or those with special ties to the area, remained behind at Stockbridge.
The central figures of Mahican society, however, including the chief sachem and his counselors and relatives, were part of the move to New Stockbridge. At the new town, the Stockbridge emigrants controlled their own affairs and combined traditional ways with the new as they chose. After learning from the Christian missionaries, the Stockbridge Indians were experienced in English ways. At New Stockbridge they replicated their former town. While continuing as Christians, they retained their language and Mahican cultural traditions. Their evolving Mohican identity was still rooted in traditions of the past.
In the 1820s and 1830s, most of the Stockbridge moved to Shawano County, Wisconsin
Shawano County, Wisconsin
Shawano County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 40,664. Its county seat is Shawano.-History:...
, where they were promised land by the US government under the policy of Indian removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
. In Wisconsin, they settled on reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
s with the Algonquian-speaking Munsee. Together, the two formed a band and are federally recognized as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community
Stockbridge-Munsee Community
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community is a Federally recognized Indian tribe consisting of the Mahican and Munsee peoples. Their land-base, the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Reservation, is located at in Shawano County, Wisconsin, in the towns of Bartelme and Red Springs.-In popular culture:In The West...
. Their reservation is known as that of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians and is located in the towns of Bartelme
Bartelme, Wisconsin
Bartelme is a town in Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 700 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.6 square miles , of which, 35.5 square miles of it is land and 0.1 square miles of it ...
and Red Springs
Red Springs, Wisconsin
Red Springs is a town in Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 981. The unincorporated community of Morgan is located in the town.-Geography:...
.
Some of the Mohican developed strong ties with missionaries of the Moravian Church from Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
in present-day Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, who founded a mission at their village of Shekomeko in Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
. Henry Rauch, a Moravian Protestant missionary, spoke to two Mohican leaders, Maumauntissekun, also known as Shabash, and Wassamapah, who took him back to their village, Shekomeko. They named him the new religious teacher. At first, Rauch was unwelcome in Shekomeko. Over time, the promise in his sermons at Shekomeko won listeners, even as his affection for them and his frugality convinced the Mohican that he would never covet their land. Early in 1742, Shabash and two other Mohican set out with Rauch for Pennsylvania, where Rauch was to be ordained a deacon. After that, the three Mohican were baptized on February 11, 1742 in John de Turk’s barn at Oley, Pennsylvania. Shabash was the first Mohican of Shekomeko to adopt the Christian religion. The Moravians built a chapel for the Mohican people in 1743. They also defended the Mohican against European settlers' exploitation, trying to protect them against land encroachment and abuses of liquor. Native Americans were alcohol-intolerant and vulnerable to it.
On a 1738 visit to New York, the Mohican spoke to the Governor concerning the sale of their land near Shekomeko. The Governor promised they would be paid as soon as the lands were surveyed. He suggested that for their own security, they should mark off their square mile of land they wished to keep, which the Mohican never did. In September 1743 the land was finally surveyed and divided into lots, one of which ran through the Indians' reserved land. With some help from the missionaries, on October 17, 1743 Shabash put together a petition of names of people who could attest that the land in which one of the lots was running through was theirs. Despite Shabash’s appeals, his persistence, and the missionaries' help, the Mohican lost the case. The lots were eventually bought up by European-American settlers and the Mohican were forced out of Shekomeko. Some who opposed the missionaries' work accused them of being secret Catholic Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
(who had been outlawed from the colony in 1700) and of working with the Mohican on the side of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The missionaries were summoned more than once before colonial government, but also had supporters. Finally the colonial government at Poughkeepsie expelled the missionaries from New York in the late 1740s, in part because of their advocacy of Mohican rights. Settlers soon took over the Mahican land.
The now extinct Mahican language
Mahican language
Mahican is an extinct language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family, itself a member of the Algic language family....
belonged to the Eastern Algonquian
Eastern Algonquian languages
The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least seventeen languages collectively occupying the Atlantic coast of North America and adjacent inland areas, from the Canadian Maritime provinces to...
branch of the Algonquian language
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
family. It was an Algonquian N-dialect, as were Massachusett
Massachusett
The Massachusett are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in areas surrounding Massachusetts Bay in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in particular present-day Greater Boston; they spoke the Massachusett language...
and Wampanoag. In many ways, it was similar to one of the L-dialects, such as that of the Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
, and could be considered one.
--References--
In popular culture
- James Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
's novel, The Last of the MohicansThe Last of the MohicansThe Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in February 1826. It is the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known...
, is based on the Mahican tribe. It also includes some cultural aspects of the MoheganMoheganThe Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in the eastern upper Thames River valley of Connecticut. Mohegan translates to "People of the Wolf". At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were one people, historically living in the lower Connecticut region...
, a different Algonquian tribe that lived in eastern ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. The novel was set in the Hudson Valley, Mahican land, but some characters' names, such as UncasUncasUncas was a sachem of the Mohegan who through his alliance with the English colonists in New England against other Indian tribes made the Mohegan the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut.-Early life and family:...
, were Mohegan. - The novel has been adapted for the silver screen at least half a dozen times, the first time in 1920. The latest adaptation was released in 1992, starring Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-LewisDaniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
.
Notable members
- Shabash, leader of the Shekomeko village in the 18th century, took his people's case to the governor of the New York Colony
- Hendrick Aupaumut, a Revolutionary War hero
- James Apaumut Fall, actor and singer (voice of Kocoum in Disney's PocahontasPocahontas (1995 film)Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...
- John Wannuaucon QuinneyJohn Wannuaucon QuinneyJohn Wannuaucon Quinney was a Mahican diplomat, and was nicknamed "The Dish".-Biography:He was a native of the Hudson River Valley in Connecticut but lived in several different places, notably Norwich, Connecticut, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Oneida, Wisconsin...
, diplomat - Bill MillerBill Miller (musician)Bill Miller is a Native American singer/songwriter of Mohican heritage. He was born on the Stockbridge-Munsee reservation, near Shawano in northern Wisconsin....
, musician
External links
- Stockbridge-Munsee community
- Mohican nation Stockbridge-Munsee band: Our history
- Mohican languages (Native Languages of the Americas)
- Hendrick Aupaumut (Mahican) (1757-1830)
- Stockbridge-Munsee History
- Mohican Indians
- Stockbridge Timeline
- Death In the Bronx The Stockbridge Indian Massacre in 1778 by Richard S. Walling-for reference only
- Poem Mahican translation by Carl Masthay (linguist, Algonquianist)