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Stockbridge Indian Tribe History
Stockbridge.
A tribe of the Mahican confederacy, first known under the name Housatonic.
They occupied part of the valley of Housatonic river, in south Berkshire
county, Mass. Their principal village, Westenhuck, was for a long time the
capital of the Mahican after the removal of the council fire from Schodac.
They had another village at Skatehook. In 1734 Sergeant began missionary
work among them, and two years later the several bands were collected on a
tract reserved for their use by the Colonial government. After the village
of Stockbridge was established they were known as Stockbridge Indians. The
French and Indian war, which broke out in 1754, proved disastrous to the
Stockbridge. Many of them joined the English army and their town suffered
from marauding parties, so that at the close of the war there were only
about 200 remaining. The whites were also closing in around them, and in
1785 the dispirited remnant, accepting an invitation of the Oneida,
removed to a tract on Oneida creek in Madison and Oneida county, N. Y.,
where a new village sprang up (see Stockbridge, above). The removal
required two years. Under the protection of the Oneida the Stockbridge
again increased, and in 1796 numbered 300. In 1833, with the
Oneida and
Munsee, they removed to a
tract at the head of Green bay, Wis., which had been purchased from the
Menominee. Here they became
incorporated with the Munsee, and the two tribes have since formed one
body. From the time of their leaving New York the tribe has divided on
questions in regard to land and citizenship. After interminable
negotiations with the state and national governments the matter is still
unsettled. In 1839 the Stockbridge and Munsee, then numbering about 420,
sold half of their reservation and agreed to remove to lands that were to
be assigned to them west of the Mississippi. On the remaining land a town
was laid out, on the east shore of Winnebago lake, where it was intended
to settle such as desired to become citizens. About 80 removed to the
Missouri river and remained for a time near Leavenworth, Kans. The
arrangement proved unsatisfactory, and they were once more brought
together and the tribal government restored. In 1856 they removed, with
the exception of a number who desired to become citizens, to a reservation
west of Shawano, Shawano county, Wis., where in 1909 the united tribes,
including the Munsee, numbered 582 souls. There are also some who have
become citizens near their former home on Winnebago lake.
The Stockbridge entered into treaties with the United
States at:
Oneida, N. Y., Dec. 2, 1794;
Green Bay, Wis., Oct. 27, 1832;
Buffalo Creek, N. Y., Jan. 15, 1838;
Stockbridge, Wis., Sept. 3, 1839; Nov. 24, 1848; Feb. 5, 1856.
Index of Tribes or Nations
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