The Mohicans of Columbia County |
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The Natives who greeted Henry Hudson in the Columbia County area called themselves the Muh-he-con-neok, "the people of the waters that are never still" or the Muhhekunneuw, "the people of the great river". Over time, these names were shortened by the European settlers to "Mahican" or "Mohican", words that are unfortunately easy to confuse with "Mohegan", the name of a separate tribe from eastern Connecticut. (James Fenimore Cooper was apparently confused; his novel The Last of the Mohicans involves Mohegan Indians fighting in wars that were actually fought by the Mohicans.) The Mohicans were members of a confederation of river-dwelling tribes known as the Lenape (pronounced len-NAH-pay), "The People" or "The Original People". The Lenape territory included the valleys of the Hudson and Delaware Rivers (hence the name "Delaware Indians") as well as Manhattan and Long Island. The Mohican lands extended from the Catskill Mountains to the Berkshires of Massachusetts, and from northern Dutchess County to the southern tip of Lake Champlain. The "capital" village, home of the tribe's council fire, was at Schodack, in what is now Rensselaer County. At the time of first contact with the Europeans, there were about 8,000 Mohicans. By the end of the American Revolution, war, disease and hunger had reduced their number to fewer than 800. The long-standing rivalry between the Mohicans and their Iroquois neighbors, the Mohawks, was made worse by the arrival of the Europeans. The Dutch explorers and traders who arrived first in the Hudson Valley recruited the Mohicans as trading partners and allies in their conflicts with the French and their allies among the Iroquois. These conflicts increased after the British triumphed over the Dutch in New York. Throughout the French and Indian Wars, and later the American Revolution, the Mohicans fought to defend their homeland and support their allies (first the Dutch, then the British and finally the American patriots). Neither these efforts, nor their widespread conversion to Christianity, nor their giving up of long-houses for European-style homes, could save the Mohicans from their fate. Most of the small remnant that survived into the 18th century had moved to the Mohican village of Wnahkutook - the new home of the council fire - on the Housatonic River, in western Massachusetts. Nearby a mission was built and eventually a town was established. Chartered first as Indian Town (1737) and later incorporated as Stockbridge (1739) the township was "given" to the Mohicans in exchange for giving up the rights to their extensive holdings along the Housatonic. From the lands they had given up, two townships were established for White settlers: Sheffield and much of what is now Great Barrington. A few White families were invited to settle in Indian Town to serve as examples or models of "civilized society". Sadly, but typically, within a few short years the "role models" had managed to dominate the town government and acquire much of the land originally allotted to the Mohicans. Meanwhile, the desperate state of the other tribes in New York and New England resulted in a steady trickle of refugees to Stockbridge. Newcomers included not only former allies from the Lenape tribes to the south -- most notably the Wappingers -- but even some of their former enemies, the Mohawks. With the addition of members from so many other tribes, they came to be known as the Stockbridge Indians. Even in this reduced condition, they continued to support their White neighbors. In 1756, a band of Stockbridge Indians joined Rogers Rangers to help defend against French and Indian incursions from Canada. And they were among the tribes that supported the American patriots in the Revolutionary War. Stockbridge Indians participated in the siege of Boston and fought at Bunker Hill. They served as scouts at the Battle of Saratoga and fought beside the revolutionaries at the Battle of Bennington. Tragically, in these and other battles the Stockbridge lost almost half of their adult male population. The peace that followed the settlement of the French and Indian Wars and the American Revolution brought more White settlers to western Massachusetts and more pressure for the Natives to leave. Even as early as 1756, when their neighbors were off fighting with Rogers Rangers, a number of Stockbridge Indians accepted an invitation from the Oneidas of Western New York, sold their lands and moved west. Others followed, some joining the Oneida in "New Stockbridge", others settling in the Midwest. By the 1780's most of the Mohicans had left the Hudson Valley and Western Massachusetts. Unfortunately, their trials were far from over. It wasn't until 1856 -- several treaties (mostly ignored) and many promises (mostly broken) later -- that they were finally settled in Wisconsin. Along the way they were joined by a number of fellow Delaware Indians from the Munsee Tribe. Joining forces they came to be known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Band. Their descendants, the true "Last of the Mohicans", are still in Wisconsin today. For more informationThis page provides only a brief outline of Mohican culture and history. Some excellent books that cover the subject in much more detail are: The Mohicans and Their Land: 1609-1730, and The Mohican World: 1680-1750, both by Shirley W. Dunn; The Mohicans of Stockbridge, by Patrick Frazier; and Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin People of New York, by Evan T. Pritchard. All four books are available through interlibrary loan throughout the Mid-Hudson Library System. There are also many excellent web sites featuring information about the Mohicans and their world. What better place to start than with the tribes themselves? Follow these links to:
Other helpful sites include:
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