Mahican Indian Tribe Location

Mahican. The name means "wolf." This tribe is not to be confused with the Mohegan of Connecticut (q. v.), though the names are mere varieties of the same word.

Also called:
Akochakanen, meaning "Those who speak a strange tongue." (Iroquois name.)
Canoe Indians, so called by Whites.
Hikanagi or Nhikana, Shawnee name.
Loups, so called by the French.
Orunges, given by Chauvignerie (1736), in Schoolcraft (1851-57, vol. 3, p. 554).
River Indians, Dutch name.
Uragees, given by Colden, 1747.

Connections

The Mahican belonged to the Algonquian linguistic family, and spoke an r-dialect, their closest connections being with the southern New England Indians to the east.

Location

On both banks of the upper Hudson from Catskill Creek to Lake Champlain and eastward to include the valley of the Housatonic. (See also Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Wisconsin.)

Subdivisions

Mahican proper, in the northern part of the territory.
Mechkentowoon, on the west bank of Hudson River above Catskill Creek. Wawyachtonoc, in Dutchess and Columbia Counties and eastward to the
Housatonic River in Connecticut.
Westenhuck (or Housatonic?), near Great Barrington, Mass.
Wiekagjoc, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River near Hudson.

Villages

Aepjin, at or near Schodac.
Kaunaumeek, in New York about halfway between Albany and Stockbridge, Mass.
Kenunckpacook, on the east side of Housatonic River a little above Scaticook. Maringoman's Castle, on Murderer's Creek, at Bloominggrove, Ulster County. Monemius, on Haver Island, in Hudson River near Cohoes Falls, Albany County. Nepaug, on Nepaug River, town of New Hartford, Litchfield County, Conn. Peantam, at Bantam Lake, Litchfield County, Conn.
Potic, west of Athens, Greene County.
Scaticook, 3 villages in Dutchess and Rensselaer Counties, and in Litchfield
County, Conn., the last on Housatonic River near the junction with Ten Mile River.
Wequadnack, near Sharon, Litchfield County, Conn.
Wiatiac, near Salisbury, Litchfield County, Conn.
Wiltmeet, on Esopus Creek, probably near Kingston.
Winooskeek, on Lake Champlain, probably at the mouth of Winooski River, Vt.
Wyantenuc, in Litchfield County, Conn.

History

The traditional point of origin of the Mahican was in the West. They were found in occupancy of the territory outlined above by the Dutch, and were then at war with the Mohawk who, in 1664, compelled them to move their capital from Schodac near Albany to the present Stockbridge. They gradually sold their: territory and in 1721 a band was on Kankakee River, Ind., while in 1730, a large body settled close to the Delaware and Munsee near Wyoming, Pa., afterward becoming merged with those tribes. In 1736 those in the Housatonic Valley were gathered into a mission at Stockbridge and were ever afterward known as Stockbridge Indians. In 1756 a large body of Mahican and Wappinger, along with Nanticoke and other people, settled in Broome and Tioga Counties under Iroquois protection. In 1788 another body of Indians drawn from New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, including Mahican, settled near the Stockbridges at Marshall, N. Y. The Stockbridge and Brotherton Indians later removed to Wisconsin, where they were probably joined by part at least of the band last mentioned. A few Mahican remained about their old home on Hudson River for some years after the Revolution but disappeared unnoticed.

Population

Mooney (1928) estimates that there were about 3,000 Mahican in 1600; the Stockbridges among the Iroquois numbered 300 in 1796, and 606 in 1923, including some Munsee. The census of 1910 gave 533 Stockbridges and 172 Brotherton. The census of 1930 indicated about 813.

Connection in which they have become noted

The Mahican tribe has probably attained more fame from its appearance in the title of Cooper's novel. "The Last of the Mohegans," than from any circumstance directly connected with its history. There is a village called Mohegan in the northern part of Westchester County, N. Y., and another, known as Mohican in Ashland County, Ohio, while an affluent of the Muskingum also bears the same name.

Additional Resources

• New York Indian Tribes

• Iroquois History of the Aborigines

• New York Indian Honored War Dead, World War II

• New York Indians Wounded in Action, World War II

• Champlain's Expedition of 1615 Against the Onondaga

Notes About the Book:

Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output.

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