Mahican ('wolf'). An Algonquian
tribe that occupied both banks of upper Hudson River, in New York,
extending north almost to Lake Champlain. To the Dutch they were known as
River Indians, while the French grouped them and the closely connected
Munsee and Delawares under the name of Loups ('wolves'). The same tribes
were called Akochakaneñ ('stammerers'
) by the Iroquois. On the west bank they joined the Munsee at Catskill
creek, and on the east bank they joined the Wappinger near Poughkeepsie.
They extended north into Massachusetts and held the upper part of
Housatonic valley. Their council fire was at Schodac, on an island near
Albany, and it is probable that they had 40 villages within their
territory. The name, in a variety of forms, has been applied to all the
Indians from Hudson river to Narragansett bay, but in practical use has
been limited to two bodies, one on lower Connecticut river, Conn., known
dialectically as Mohegan (q. v.), the other, on Hudson river, known as
Mahican. They were engaged in a war with the
Mohawk, their nearest neighbors on
the west, when the Dutch appeared on the scene, which lasted until 1673.
In 1664 the inroads of the Mohawk compelled them to remove their council
fire from Schodac to Westenhuck, the modern Stockbridge, Mass. As the
settlements crowded upon them the Mahican sold their territory piecemeal,
and about 1730 a large body of them emigrated to Susquehanna river and
settled near Wyoming, Pa., in the vicinity of the Delawares and Munsee,
with whom they afterward removed to the Ohio region, finally losing their
identity. A previous emigration had formed the main body of the mixed
tribe of the Scaticook. As early as 1721 a band of Mahican found their way
to Indiana, where they had a village on Kankakee river. In 1736 those
living in Housatonic valley were gathered into a mission at Stockbridge,
Mass., where they maintained a separate existence under the name of
Stockbridge Indians. These are the only Mahican who have preserved their
identity. In 17,56 a large body of Mahican and Wappinger removed from the
Hudson to the east branch of the Susquehanna, settling, with the Nanticoke
and others, under Iroquois protection at Chenango, Chugnut, and Owego, in
Broome and Tioga Counties N.Y. They probably later found their way to
their kindred in the west. A few Mahican remained about t heir ancient
homes on the Hudson for some years after the Revolution, but finally
disappeared unnoticed. If any remain they are included among the
Stockbridge.
According to Ruttenber the Mahican confederacy
comprised at least 5 divisions or subtribes:the
Mahican proper,
Wiekagjoc,
Mechkentowoon,
Wawyachtonuc, and
Westenhuck (Stockbridges).
It is impossible to estimate their population, as the
different bands were always confounded or included with neighboring
tribes, of whom they afterward became an integral part.
According to Ruttenber's account the government of the
Mahican was a democracy, but his statement that the office of chief sachem
was hereditary by the lineage of the wife of the sachem, which appears to
be correct, does not indicate a real democracy. His statement in regard to
the duties of the sachem and other officers is as follows: "The sachem was
assisted by counselors, and also by one hero, one owl, and one runner; the
rest of the nation were called young men or warriors. The sachem, or more
properly king, remained at all times with his tribe and consulted their
welfare; he had charge of the mnoti, or bag of peace, which
contained the belts and strings used to establish peace and friendship
with different nations, and concluded all treaties on behalf of his
people. The counselors were elected, and were called chiefs. Their
business was to consult with their sachem in promoting the peace and
happiness of their people. The title of hero was gotten only by courage
and prudence in war. When a war alliance was asked, or cause for war
existed with another tribe, the sachem and the counselors consulted, and
if they concluded to take up the hatchet, the matter was put in the hands
of the heroes for execution. When peace was proposed, the heroes put the
negotiations in the hands of the sachem and counselors. The office of owl
was also one of merit. He must have a strong memory, and must be a good
speaker. His business was to sit beside his sachem, and proclaim his
orders to the people with a loud voice; and also to get up every morning
as soon as daylight and arouse the people, and order them to their daily
duties. The business of runner was to carry messages, and to convene
councils."
The Mahican were generally well built. As fighting men
they were perfidious, accomplishing their designs by treachery, using
stratagem to deceive their enemies, and making their inost hazardous
attacks under cover of darkness. The women
ornamented themselves more than the men. "All wear around the waist a
girdle made of the fin of the whale or of sewant." The men originally wore
a breechcloth made of skills, but after the Dutch carne those who could
obtain it wore "between their legs a lap of duffels cloth half an ell
broad and nine quarters long," which they girded around their waists and
drew up in a fold "with a flap of each end hanging down in front and
rear." In addition to this they had mantles of feathers, and at a later
period decked themselves with " plaid duffels cloth" in the form of a
sash, which was worn over the right shoulder, drawn in a knot around the
body, with the ends extending down below the knees. When the young men
wished to look especially attractive they wore "a band about their heads,
manufactured and braided, of scarlet deer hair, interwoven with soft.
shining red hair." According to Van der Donck, the women wore a cloth
around their bodies fastened by a girdle which extended below the knees,
but next to the body, under this coat, they used a dressed deerskin coat,
girt around the waist. The lower body of this skirt they ornamented with
strips tastefully decorated with wampum which was frequently worth from
100 to 300 guilders ($40 to $120). They bound their hair behind in a club,
about a hand long, in the form of a beaver's tail, over which they drew a
square wampum-ornarnented cap; and when they desired to be fine they drew
around the forehead a band also ornamented with wampum, which was fastened
behind in a knot. Around their necks they hung various ornaments; they
also wore bracelets, curiously wrought and interwoven with wampum.
Polygamy was practiced to some extent, though mostly by chiefs. Maidens
were allowed to signify their desire to enter matrimonial life, upon which
a marriage would be formally arranged; widows and widowers were left to
their own inclinations. In addition to the usual manifestations of grief
at the death of a relative or friend, they cutoff their hair and burned it
on the grave. Their dead, according to Ruttenber, were usually interred in
a sitting posture. It was usual to place by the side of the body a pot,
kettle, platter, spoon, and provisions; wood was then placed around the
body, and the whole was covered with earth and stones, outside of which
pickets were erected, so that the tomb resembled a little house. Their
houses were of the communal sort and differed usually only in length; they
were formed by long, slender, hickory saplings set in the ground in a
straight line in two rows. The poles were then bent toward each other in
the form of an arch and secured together, giving the appearance of a
garden arbor; the sides and root were then lathed with split poles, and
over this hark was lapped and fastened by wither to the lathing. A
smoke-hole was left in the roof, and a single doorway was provided. These
houses rarely exceeded 20 ft in width, but they were sometimes 180 ft
long. Their so-called castles were strong, firm structures, and were
situated usually on a steep, high, flat-topped hill, near a stream. The
top of the hill was inclosed with a strong stockade, having large logs for
a foundation, on both sides of which oak posts, forming a palisade, were
set in the ground, the upper ends being crossed and joined together.
Inside the walls of such enclosures they not infrequently had 20 or 30
houses. Besides their strongholds they had villages and towns which were
inclosed or stockaded and which usually had woodland on one side and corn
land on the other. Their religious beliefs were substantially the same as
those of the New England Indians.
Source: Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
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