About the Mohican Indians
The story of the Mohican Indian is one of a great people who, like other Native Americans, were exploited by the early American settlers and nearly annihilated as a result of this interaction. When settlers arrived to this land, the Mohicans were living around the area of the Hudson River, but soon were forced onto other lands. Most of the original Mohican tribe eventually ended up on reservations in Wisconsin.
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History
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The Mohican name means 'from the waters that are never still.' Mohican historians report that the original group came from the north and west across the water to eventually settle around the Hudson River. They came from a place where the waters were never still, in search of a place where the waters are never still. Their journey led them to the Hudson River. Due to the influence of the tides on this river, it recreated the place from which the Mohicans originated.
Time Frame
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The Mohicans of the Hudson River, which they termed the Muh-he-kun-ne-tuck, were first encountered by Henry Hudson in 1609. Hudson discovered that the area surrounding this river was plentiful in the furs that the Dutch prized the most, and he set up a trading post here a few years later. As the fur resources became depleted, the Mohicans and the nearby Mohawks began to squabble with each other as well as with the Europeans. These conflicts forced the Mohicans from their precious river to the territory that is modern-day Connecticut and Massachusetts.
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Identification
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This group of Native Americans were known as woodlands Indians. They didn't live in the teepees like other Indians, but instead they lived in sturdier structures called longhouses and wigwams. The women stayed home with the children and farmed. The men hunted for food and sometimes went away to war against other people. When the men were going to battle they would shave their heads on both sides leaving only a strip of hair down the middle. This is worn by some people today and referred to as 'the mohawk' hairstyle.
Geography
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In little more than 100 years from the time that the Mohicans were first approached by Henry Hudson, they formed a new village in Massachusetts called Stockbridge. After the Revolutionary War, they moved to land in New York that was granted to them by the Oneida Indians. In 1818, the group moved west to what is now Indiana, only to find that this promised land had been sold to white settlers. After spending some time in a settlement along the White River in Indiana, negotiations allowed them to move onto reservation land in eastern Wisconsin, where most descendants remain today.
Effects
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The introduction of European culture contributed largely to the demise of the Mohican Indians. Within the first century of first contact, approximately 90 percent of the population was killed off due to disease. The natives had no immunization against European diseases such as smallpox, measles and chickenpox. The cultural traditions of the Mohicans began to fall to the wayside as commerce and efforts of missionaries began to replace the Mohican economy and spirituality. The Mohican people of today have very little cultural influence from the original Mohicans because the ways of their ancestors have been lost.
Misconceptions
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The Mohican Indians are sometimes confused with the Mohegans. They are two separate, distinctive tribes. Many misconceptions abound about the Mohican tribe partly because of the book 'The Last of the Mohicans' by James Fenimore Cooper. He confused some of the traditions of the Mohicans with those of other tribes in his book. He also used some of the Mohegan names for his Mohican characters and created further confusion by placing some of his Mohican characters in Mohegan territory.
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Resources
- Photo Credit www.weyanoke.org
