Mohican Seminar 3

Mohican Seminar 3: The Journey—An Algonquian Peoples Seminar, New York State Museum Bulletin 511, Shirley W. Dunn, editor. The University of the State of New York, the State Education Department, Albany, N.Y., 2009. ISBN: 1-55557-240-5

Papers Included:

1. Lake, Tom R., “The Ancestral Lure of the Hudson Estuary.”
2. Rugenstein, Ernest R., “Evidence for Settlements Along the Kinderhook.”
3. Ives, Timothy H., “Expressions of Community: Reconstructing Native Identity in Seventeenth Century Central Connecticut Through Land Deed Analysis.”
4. Smith, J. Michael, “The Seventeenth Century Sachems of the Wapping Country: Corporate Identity and Interaction in the Hudson Valley.”
5. Horecky, Scott P., “Fort Kitchawanc Archaeological Preserve at Croton Point.”
6. Dunn, Shirley W., “Indian Ownership in and around the Catskills.”
7. Lee, Jennifer, “Historic Indian Clothing.”
8. Keegan, Barry, “Algonquian and Iroquois Uses of Plants and Other Materials to Make Fire.”
9. MacDougall, Hugh C., “James Fenimore Cooper and the Mohicans.”
10. Winchell, Debra, “The Impact of John Van Gelder: Mohican, Husbandman, and Historic Figure.”
11. Niemi, Richard, “The Interconnected Lives of Stockbridge Indians Mary (Peters) Doxtator and Peter Pohquonnoppeet.
12. Lake, Tom R., “The Divinity of Eagles.”

Signature of John Van Gelder

John Van Gelder's tomahawk, photo by James N. Parrish.

Mohican Seminar 1

The Native American Institute of the Hudson Valley, the New York State Museum and the State Education Department sponsored a series of seminars beginning in 1997.  The proceedings have been published in a series of three bulletins.  Unfortunately the State Museum's web site and Amazon do not list the individual papers.  Here I will.

Mohican Seminar 1: The Continuance–Al Algonquian Peoples Seminar, Selected Research Papers–2000, Shirley W. Dunn, editor. New York State Museum Bulletin 501, University of the State of New York, the State Education Department, Albany, N.Y., 2004. ISBN: 1-55557-145-X

Papers included:

1. Curtin, Edward V., “The Ancient Mohicans in Time, Space and Prehistory.”
2. Lavin, Lucianne, “Mohican/Algonquian Settlement Patterns.”
3. Jacobs, Jaap. “Dutch Sources on Native American History.”
4. Smith, J. Michael. “The Highland King Nimhammaw and the Native Indian Proprietors of Land in Dutchess County, N.Y.: 1712-1765.”
5. Binzen, Timothy L. “Weataug and Wechquadnach: Native American Settlements of the Upper Housatonic.”
6. Dunn, Shirley W. “Adapting a Culture: The Mohican Experience at Shekomeko.”
7. Walling, Richard S. “Nimham’s Indian Company of 1778: The Events Leading Up to the Stockbridge Massacre of August 31, 1778.
8. Broderick, Warren F. “Analysis of ‘Ben Pie:” A Native American Tale.
9. Foley, Denis, “The Mohicans: Alcohol and the Fur Trade.”

Down this road is the site of the Moravian mission village of Shekomkeo.  I wish it could have been preserved as it was instead of turned into expensive country homes.

Mohican Nation

Some of my ancestors were Mohican, an Algonkin nation that was once located in the upper Hudson River Valley and western Massachusetts.  I grew up in the original homeland of the Mohican Nation and feel a strong attachment to the land here.  Because the council fire of the Nation moved away, first to western New York, and then on through Indiana to Wisconsin, some people fail to recognize the Mohicans' connection to the area.  The Mohicans are also confused with the Mohawks, who were from a different language and cultural group.  They can also be referred to as Mahicans.  "Mahican" comes from the Dutch term "Mahikander."  I use the term the nation uses.  Mohican has also been confused with Mohegan, even by the Library of Congress.  The Mohegan Nation is centered in southern Connecticut and the two have been separate nations since at least the 1600s. 

I have collected some interesting links for the history and culture of the Mohican Nation and its people.

Mohican Links

History

Homepage of the Mohican Nation, Stockbridge-Munsee Band in Wisconsin
A Mahican history from Dickshovel.com
Mohican history from the Mohican Press
The Gnadenhutten Massacre
Native American Facts For Kids: Mohican Nation
Algonkin Church History
Contemporary history of the Mohicans in Wisconsin
Leeds Flat Victory
Native American Languages of the Americas: Mohican
Moravian Origins of J.F. Cooper's Mohicans
Stockbridge Students at Carlisle Indian School
National Portrait Gallery Portrait of Etow Oh Koam
Portrait of Austin Quinney

Mohican men fought with the British in the French & Indian War.

Rogers Island
Fort William Henry

The Mohicans were one of the few Native nations that fought on the Patriot side of the American Revolution.  The shrunken nation was dealt a terrible blow when they lost 17 warriors in an ambush on August 31, 1778.

Nimham's Indian Company Of 1778: the Events Leading Up To The Stockbridge Massacre
Death in the Bronx
Indian Field Today

Experience Mohican History and Culture

Mohican Nation Cultural Tour in Wisconsin
Mohican Nation Pow Wow
Muhheconneew Press
Mohican Trail Historial Driving Tour in New York (a partial tour only of the northern portion of the Mohican homeland)
The Stockbridge Mission House
Gnadenhutten Historical Park and Museum

Contemporary Mohican Artists

Bill Miller:  winner of 9 Native American Music Awards and 3 Grammy Awards
Brent Michael Davids, composer.  He has garnered awards from Ascap, Nea, Rockefeller Foundation, In-Vision,  Meet-The-Composer, Bush Foundation, McKnight Foundation, and Jerome Foundation, among others.
Sheila Tousey, Actor and Producer