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A Brief History of the Mohican Nation

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A Brief History of the Mohican Nation istory oT t O ^atf on iB^toclcbndge-fvlunsee na ABne jistory of the Mo mean jNjation ^tockbrid^e-fvlLinsee ^anc 3^orothij f^avids Photo collage 2004 iished btj the gtocbbndge-fvlunsee j~ii'stonca! (Committee /\rs/'\A IB- M'iiet" IVlemona! \_lhrarij fsduseum \\8^ 1 O fvtoh he con nuck j^oad Bowler, Wl ^TTI 6 5pnng ZOO 1 (Revised ZOOT) Ac cnowled^ements My personal thanks go to the following: • to members of the Stockbridge-Munsee Historical Committee for their comments and suggestions to improve the historical accuracy of this brief history of our people • to Ruth Gudinas for her careful editing of this text • to Jeff Vele of the Mohican News, our nation's newspaper • to Chad Miller of the Land Resource Management Office for preparing the map Dorothy Davids, Chair Stockbridge-Munsee Historical Committee he M uh-he-con-ne-ok The People of the Waters that Are Never Still have a rich and illustrious history which has been retained through oral tradition and the written word. Our many moves from the East to Wisconsin left Many Trails to retrace in search of our history. Many Trails is an original design created and designed by Edwin Martin, a Mohican Indian, symbol• izing endurance, strength and hope. From a long suffering proud and determined people. \¥)ecorat\ve /\rt: This is an authentic basket painting by Stockbridge/Mohican basket weavers. The basket, on display at the Arvid E. Miller Memorial Library Museum, is dated hack to the early 1800's. Design reproduced by Kristina Heath Potrykus, Mohican, Stockbridge-Munsee Band. mtr MI5TORY or THL MOHICAN NATION 5TOCK5RIDGL-MaN5LC 5AND ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY I n the early 1700's, Hendrick Because the Mohican people longhouse, each family having its Aupaumut, Mohican historian, chose to build their homes near the own section. wrote that a great people traveled rivers where they would be close to from the north and west. They food, water and transportation, they The Mohicans' lives were rooted crossed waters where the land were sometimes called River Indians. in the woodlands in which they lived. almost touched.* For many, many Their homes, called wik-wams These were covered with red spruce, years they moved across the land, (wigwams), were circular and made elm, pine, oak, birch and maple leaving settlements in rich river of bent saplings covered with hides trees. Black bear, deer, moose, valleys as others moved on. or bark. They also lived in long- beaver, otter,hobcat, mink and other houses which were often very large. animals thrived in the woods, as well Reaching the eastern edge of the as wild turkeys and pheasants. The country, some of these people, sparkling rivers teemed with herring, called the Lenni Lenape, chose to shad, trout and other fish. Oyster settle on the river later renamed beds were found beneath the river's the Delaware. Others moved north overhanging banks for some distance and settled in the valley of a river up the Mahicannituck. Berries, where the waters, like those in their original homeland, were never still. They named this river the Mahicannituck and called them• sometimes as long as a hundred | ,Z selves the Muh-he-con-neok, the feet. The roofs were curved People of the Waters That Are Never and covered with bark, except KT Still. The name evolved through for smoke holes which allowed several spellings, including Mahikan. the smoke from fire pits to Today, however, they are known as escape. Several families from the Mohicans. the same clan might live in a * According to John W. Quinney, Hendrick Aupaumut commited the oral history of the Mohicans to writing, in the mid-1700's, a non-Indian took the manuscript to be published and it was reportedly lost. When found, the manuscript's first page was missing. Two versions of the manuscript exist: one in the Massachusetts Historical Collection and one in Electa Jones' book STOCKBRIDGE PAST AND PRESENT. What is meant by the "north and west" and "waters where the land nearly touched" is not known. The Bering Strait theory is question• able, based on current research. cherries and nuts were abundant. It such as the planting of the first seeds tensions developed between the was a rich life. — the corn, beans and squash — Mohicans and the Mohawks, and the time of harvest. Haudenosaunee people to the west. Mohican women generally were Each group wanted to maintain its in charge of the home, children and share of the fur trade business, as gardens, while men traveled greater The Munsee, part of the Lenni well as retain friendly relations with distances to hunt, fish or serve as Lenape or Delaware people, settled their European allies. Not only did warriors. After the hunts and near the headwaters of the Delaware conflicts occur between the Mohicans harvests, meat, vegetables and River just west of the Mohicans. and the Mohawks, hut the Native berries were dried. These along Their lifestyles and languages were people also were caught in wars with smoked fish were stored in similar to those of the Mohicans. among the Dutch, English and pits dug deep in the ground and French. The Mohicans were lined with grass or bark. MOHICAN TBKRITORY eventually driven from their territory west of the Mahicannituck. In the During the cold winter months, The Mohican lands extended from early 1700's, indebtedness, question• utensils and containers were carved, what is now Lake Champlain south able land purchases and cultural hunting, trapping and fishing gear nearly to Manhattan Island and on conflicts caused them to move were repaired, baskets and pottery both sides of the Mahicannituck farther east near the Housatonic were created, and clothing was (Hudson River), west to Scoharie River in what were to become fashioned and decorated with color• Creek and east into Massachusetts, Massachusetts and Connecticut. fully dyed porcupine quills, shells and Vermont and Connecticut. other gifts from nature. The Mohican economic pattern The Mohicans never forgot that was greatly changed by contact Winter was also the time of teach• they were relatives of many other with the Europeans. They stopped ing. Storytellers told the children tribes who had traveled with them making many traditional items how life came to he, how the earth over the centuries. Mohican leaders because new tools, iron kettles, cloth, was created, why the leaves turn red, often sent warriors to assist their guns and colorful glass heads were and so on. Historians also related allies when they were in danger of available at the trading posts. The the story of the people: how they being attacked. But these were English, who eventually replaced learned to sing, the story of their temporary alliances and did not the Dutch in this area, chose to drums and rattles, what the stars result in a powerful confederacy "civilize" all the Native people in could teach them. Children learned such as that of the Haudenosaunee what they called "New England." the ways of the Mohicans, their or Iroquois. The vast lands, which the Mohicans extended family: how to relate to had used for gardens, hunting and each person, as well as to all the gifts THL COMING or fishing, began to have boundary of the Creator, and how to live with THCLUROrCANC lines and fences when shared with respect and peace in their community. non-Indians. Since their lands were They also learned that they had In September 1609, Henry Hudson, declared to belong to European responsibilities, so they began to a trader for the Dutch, sailed up the monarchs by "right of discovery," learn skills. Mahicannituck into the lands of the they found that they could not Mohicans. He found himself in an defend their ownership in the In early spring, the people set up area rich in beaver and otter, the courts of the colonists. As more camp in the Sugar Bush. Tapping kinds of furs the Dutch most coveted. and more Europeans arrived, the the trees, gathering the sap and By 1614 a Dutch trading post was Mohicans, like other Native people boiling it to make maple syrup and established on an island later named who had traditionally depended sugar was a ceremony welcoming Castle Island. upon themselves and the resources spring. There were many ceremonies of Mother Earth, found themselves dependent on white people and during the year whenever something As the fur trade expanded and what they could provide. needed special "paying attention to," furs became more difficult to find. 2 The coming of the Europeans pean inhabitants gave this place the into the lands of the Mohicans affec• name "Stockbridge," after a village ted them in another catastrophic in England. It was located on the way. Europeans brought diseases Housatonic River near a great — with them: smallpox, measles, diph• meadow hounded by the beautiful theria, scarlet fever. Native people, Berkshire Mountains in western unfamiliar with these diseases, had Massachusetts. In this mission village, not built up an immunity to them, a church and school were built. The The Mohicans, and other Native people became and hundreds of thousands — Mohicans, as well as other Native known as Stockbridge Indians while in this Massachusetts missionary village. sometimes whole villages at a time people who relocated there, became — perished. These diseases greatly known as the "Stockbridge Indians." were replaced by European customs. decreased the numbers of Mohicans. Eewer and fewer of the people spoke Between 1700 and 1800, European the Mohican language; thus their European Christians with mission• countries battled for control of the thought patterns about the natural ary zeal also entered Native villages land called America. The French world were altered.
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