Mohegan
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The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe living in eastern (upper Thames valley) Connecticut which was jointly ruled by the Pequot tribe until 1637. The tribe gained federal recognition in 1994.
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[edit] Synonymy
Although similar in name, the Mohegans are not identical with the Mahicans, the Native American tribe who have moved mostly to northeastern Wisconsin, U.S.,
"Mohican" (history), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Mohicans.
</ref> <ref name=EBmah>
"Mahican" (history), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Mahican.
</ref> but who came from the Hudson River Valley (around Albany, NY), many then moving to Stockbridge, Massachusetts after 1780, before the remaining descendants moved to Wisconsin during the 1820s and 1830s.Both tribes have been referred to as Mohicans, a source of confusion based on a mistake in translation<ref name="Handbook">Template:Cite book</ref> Adriaen Block who was the one of the first Europeans to refer to both tribes, distinguished between the "Morhicans" and the "Mahicans, Mahikanders,(or) Maikens".<ref name="Handbook"/> The Mohegan tribe, in contrast to the Mahikans, has remained in New England, but some of the Mohegan tribe scattered<ref name=EBmah/> (and many moved near the Mahican tribe in New York, also going to Wisconsin). <ref name=DSmohs>
"Mohegan History" (detailed), Lee Sultzman, 1997-07-14, webpage: DS-Moh.
</ref> However, many descendants of the Mohegan tribe have remained in Connecticut.<ref name=EBmah/>
[edit] History
The Mohegan tribe was an Algonquian-speaking tribe who had originally occupied much of the upper Thames valley in the U.S. state of Connecticut.<ref name=EBmah/> Later, the Mohegans seized land from the other tribes in the areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The Mohegan tribal economy was based on farming of corn (maize), hunting, and also fishing.<ref name=EBmah/>
Early in the 17th century, during the initial European settlement of New England, both the Mohegan and the Pequot tribes together had been ruled jointly by the Pequot sachem, Sassacus.<ref name=EBmah/> Later, a rebellion led by the sub-sachem, Uncas, garnered Mohegan independence.<ref name=EBmah/>
Following the destruction of the Pequot tribe during the Pequot War of 1637, the majority of the Pequot survivors plus the former Pequot territories entered Mohegan control.<ref name=EBmah/> New sachem Uncas had strengthened his position by making an alliance with the English colonists; and, at the end of King Philip's War against the English colonists, the Mohegan tribe was the only important tribe remaining in southern New England.<ref name=EBmah/>
European settlements eventually displaced the Mohegan, and their numbers shrank. Many of the Mohegan tribe scattered, joining into other nearby Indian settlements. A number of descendants of mixed ancestry remain in the region of Norwich, Connecticut.<ref name=EBmah/> The Mohegan people reorganized as a tribe, gaining federal recognition in 1994.<ref name=DSmohs/>
Currently, the Mohegan tribe operates and owns the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino and the Mohegan Sun Arena on the tribe's reservation in the village of Uncasville, in the town of Montville, Connecticut.
[edit] See also
- Mahican - tribe with similar name.
[edit] References
- Brasser, T. J. (1978). Mahican. In B. G. Trigger (Ed.), Northeast (pp. 198-212). Handbook of North American Indian languages (Vol. 15). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
- Campbell, Lyle; & Mithun, Marianne (Eds.). (1979). The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-74624-5.
- Campbell, Lyle; & Mithun, Marianne. (1979). Introduction: North American Indian historical linguistics in current perspective. In L. Campbell & M. Mithun (Eds.), The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment (pp. 3-69). Austin: University of Texas Press.
