Mohegan

The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in eastern upper Thames valley Connecticut."Mohegan" history, "Encyclopædia Britannica", 2007, webpage: [http://p2.www.britannica.com/eb/article-9053198/Mohegan EB-Mohegan] .] The Mohegan were originally a conjoined tribe with the Pequot until the period of European contact in the 17th century, briefly coming under Pequot rule in the 1630s until the dominant tribe was destroyed in 1637. The tribe gained federal recognition in 1994, and currently operates the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

History

Historically, the tribal economy was based on farming of corn (maize), hunting, and fishing.

Their first encounter with Europeans was with the Dutch navigator Adriaen Block in 1614. Between 1614 and 1624 fur trade along the banks of the Connecticut River with the Dutch reached 10,000 furs annually. Early in the 17th century, during the initial European settlement of New England, both the Mohegan and the Pequot tribes were ruled by the Pequot sachems Tatobem and Sassacus. Later, a rebellion led by the sub-sachem, Uncas, garnered Mohegan independence.

Following the destruction of the Pequot tribe in the Pequot War of 1637, the majority of the Pequot survivors and the former Pequot territories entered Mohegan control. In 1638, the sachem Uncas strengthened their position by becoming a tributary to the Connecticut River Colony. [Oberg, p. 85] In 1643, they went to war with and defeated the Narragansetts.

The Mohegan allied themselves with the English against other Indian tribes in King Philip's War. At the end of this war, the Mohegan tribe was the only important tribe remaining in southern New England. When Uncas died in 1683, Mohegan territory had shrunk, the main holding remaining was an eight by four mile tract along the Thames River between Norwich and New London. Uncas' son Owaneco become the Mohegan leader after Uncas' death. When Owaneco died in 1715 his son Caesar was sachem until 1723.

Large number of Mohegans joined with Connecticut forces in King William's War and Queen Anne's War.

European settlements eventually displaced the Mohegan, and their numbers shrank. In 1705, a court of royal commissioners was created to rule on the legality of the appropriation of Mohegan land. The court ruled in Mohegan favor and declared the Mohegans should be put in possession of all lands they held at the time of Uncas' death. This ruling was not put into effect. This legal dispute continued until 1773 when it was finally ruled that Uncas had bequeathed the deeds to all of the Mohegan land to the English.

Many of the Mohegan tribe scattered, joining other nearby Indian settlements. The Mohegan people reorganized as a tribe, gaining federal recognition in 1994.

Present Day Mohegans

A number of descendants of mixed ancestry remain in the region of Norwich, Connecticut. Some of the Mohegan tribe scattered (and many moved near the Mahican tribe in New York, also going to Wisconsin)."Mohegan History" (detailed), Lee Sultzman, 1997-07-14, webpage: [http://www.dickshovel.com/moh.html DS-Moh] .]

The Mohegan tribe has about 1,700 members. It is governed by a nine-member Tribal Council (executive and legislative responsibilities) and a seven-member Council of Elders (judicial oversight and cultural integrity). [FACT SHEET The Mohegan Tribe, http://www.mohegan.nsn.us/docs/presskit/MoheganTribe_FactSheet.pdf, Mohegan Tribe website, accessed July 4, 2008]

They operate and own 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. Also The Mohegan tribe is currently building a new hotel and casino, this will be called Project: Horizon which will open in 2010.

ynonymy

Although similar in name, the Mohegans are a different tribe from the Mahicans. Both tribes have been referred to as Mohicans, a source of confusion based upon a mistake in translationcite book|title=Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 15, Northeast|author=William C. Sturtevant General Editor), Bruce G. Trigger (Volume Editor)|publisher=Smithsonian Institution, Washington (1978)|] Adriaen Block who was one of the first Europeans to refer to both tribes, distinguished between the "Morhicans" and the "Mahicans, Mahikanders, Mohicans,(or) Maikens".

The Mahicans came from the Hudson River Valley (around Albany, NY). Many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts after 1780, before the remaining descendants moved to Wisconsin during the 1820s and 1830s."Mohican" (history), "Encyclopædia Britannica", 2007, webpage: [http://p2.www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9370993 EB-Mohicans] .] "Mahican" (history), "Encyclopædia Britannica", 2007, webpage: [http://p2.www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050129/Mahican EB-Mahican] .]

The Mohegan tribe, in contrast to the Mahikans, has mostly remained in New England.

See also

* Mahican - tribe with similar name
* The Last of the Mohicans

Notes

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.
* Oberg, Michael Leroy, "Uncas, First of the Mohegans", 2003, ISBN 0801438772

External links

* [http://www.mohegan.nsn.us/ Mohegan Tribe Homepage]