926 



MOHAWK MOHEGAN 



[I 



Doc. Col. Hist., XIII, 225, 1881. Mowquakes.— 

 Gardener (1660) in Mass. Hist. See. Coll., 3d s., 

 Ill, 152, 1.S33. Oyanders.— Shea, Cath. Mis.s., 21-4, 

 1855 (probably a Dntt'h form of Agniers). Sank- 

 hicani.— Heckewelder quoted by Gallatin in 

 Trans. Am. Antiq. See., ii, JO, 1836 (Delaware 

 name: 'flint users'). Teakawreahogeh. — Mac- 

 auley, N. Y., ll, 174, 1829. Tehawrehogeh.— Ibid., 

 185. ' Tehur-lehogugh.— Ibid. Tekau-terigtego-nes. 

 —Ibid., 174. Tgarihoge.— PyrhLUS M.S. [ra. 17.50) 

 quoted in Am. Antifl., iv, 75, 1,S82. Yanieye- 

 rono.— Gatschet, Wyandot MS., B. A. E., 1881 

 (Huron name: 'bear people' ). 



Mohawk. One of the Lakmint bands 

 of the Kalapooian stock, on Mohawk r., 

 an E. tributary of the Willamette, just n. 

 of Eugene City, Oreg.— U. S. Ind. Treat. 

 (1855), 19, 1873; Sanders in Ind. Aff. Rep. 

 1863, 88, 1864. 



Mohegan (from mdlngan, 'wolf.' — 

 Trumbull). An Algonquian tribe whose 

 chief seat appears originally to have been 

 on Thames r., Conn., in the n. part of 

 New London co. They claimed as their 

 proper country all the territory watered 

 by the Thames and its branches n. to 

 within 8 or 10 m. of the Massachusetts 

 line, and by conquest a considerable 

 area extending n. and e. into Massachu- 

 setts and Rhode Island, occupied by the 

 Wabaquasset and Nipmuc. On tlie w. 

 their dominion extended along the coast 

 to J]ast r., near Ciuilford, Conn. After 

 the destruction of the Pequot in 1637 

 the Mohegan laid claim to their country 

 and that of the western Nehantic in the 

 s. part of New London co. The tribes 

 w. of them on Connecticut r., whom they 

 sometimes claimed as subjects, were gen- 

 erally hostile to them, as were also the 

 Narraganset on their e. border. 



The Mohegan seem to have been the 

 eastern branch of that group of closely 

 connected tribes that spread from the vi- 

 cinity of Narragansett l)ay to the farther 

 side "of the Hudson (.see Mahican), but 

 since known to the whites the eastern and 

 western bodies have had no political con- 

 nection. At the first settlement of New 

 England the Mohegan and Pequot formed 

 but one tril)e, under the rule of Sassacus, 

 afterward known as the Pequot chief. 

 LTncas, a subordinate chief connected by 

 marriage with the family of Sassacus, re- 

 belled against him and assumed a distinct 

 authority as the leader of a small band on 

 the Thames, near Norwich, who were 

 afterward known in history as Mohegan. 

 On the fall of Sassacus in 1637 the greater 

 part of the survivors of his tribe fell 

 under the dominion of the ]\Iohegan 

 chief, who thus obtained control of the 

 territory of the two tribes with all their 

 tributary bands. As the English favored 

 his pretensions he also set up a claim 

 to extensive adjoining territories in the 

 possession of rival chiefs. He strength- 

 ened his position by an alliance with the 

 English against all other tribes, and after 

 the destruction of the Indian power in s. 



New England, by the death of King 

 Philip in 1676, the Mohegan were the 

 only important tribe remaining s. of the 

 Abnaki. As the white settlements ex- 

 tended the Mohegan sold most of their 

 lands and confined themselves to a res- 

 ervation on Thames r., in New London 

 CO., Conn. Their village, also called Mo- 

 hegan, was on the site of the present 

 town of that name on the w. bank of the 

 river. Their ancient village seems to 

 have been farther up, about the mouth 

 of the Yantic. Besides the village at 

 Mohegan, the villages of Groton and 

 Stonington, occupied mainly by the rem- 

 nant of the Pequot, were considered to 

 belong to the Mohegan. They rapidly 

 dwindled away when surrounded by the 

 whites. Many joined the Scaticook, but 

 in 1788 a still larger numl)er, under the 

 leadership of Occom, joined the Brother- 

 ton Indians in New York, where they 

 formed the majority of the new settle- 

 ment. The rest of the tribe continue to 

 reside in the vicinity of Mohegan or Nor- 

 wich, Conn., but are now reduced to 

 about 100 individuals of mixed blood, 

 only one of whom, an old woman, re- 

 tained the language in 1904. They still 

 keep up a September festival, which ap- 

 pears to be a survival of the Green Corn 

 dance of the Eastern tribes. For inter- 

 esting notes on this remnant, see Prince 

 and Speck in Am. Anthrop., 1903 and 

 1904. 



In 1643 the Mohegan were estimated to 

 number from 2,000 to 2,500, but this in- 

 cluded the Pequot living with them, and 

 probably other subordinate tribes. In 

 1705 they numbered 750, and in 1774 

 were reported at 206. Soon after they 

 lost a considerable number by removal 

 to New York, and in 1804 only 84 were 

 left, who were reduced to 69 five years 

 later. Thev were reported to number 

 300 in 1825, and about 350 in 1832, but 

 the increased nund^ers are probably due 

 to the enumeration of negroes and mixed- 

 bloods living with them, together with 

 recruits from the Narraganset and others 

 in the vicinity. The Mohegan villages 

 were Groton, Mohegan, Showtucket, and 

 Wabaquasset. For further information 

 and synonyms, see Mahican. (j. m. ) 

 Manheken.— Brewster (1651) in Mass. Hist. Soc. 

 Coll., 4ths.,viT, 71, 1865. Manhigan-euck,— Tooker, 

 Algonq. Ser., v, '23, 1901 (English form of tribal 

 name). Mawchiggin. — Johnson (1654) in Mass. 

 Hi.st. Soc. Coll., 2d s., vil, 47, 1818. Mawhick- 

 on. — Easton treaty ( 1757) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., 

 VII, 294, 1856. Mawhiggins. — Johnson (16.54) in 

 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 2d s., IV, 28,1816. Mogekin.— 

 Hopkins (1646), ibid., 4th s., vi, 334, 1863. Mogian- 

 eucks.— Williams (1637), ibid., 210. Mohagin.— 

 Adams (1738), ibid. ,1,35, 18.52 (Connecticut village). 

 Moheag.— Mather {ca. 1640) in Drake, Bk. Ind,s., 

 bk. 2, 86, 1848. Moheagan.— Horsmanden (1744) in 

 N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., VI, 256, 1855. Moheaganders.— 

 Trumbull, Conn., i, 3.50, 1818. Moheages.— Mason 

 {en. 1670) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 2ds., viii, 146, 

 1819. Moheagues.— Peters (ca. 1644) in Drake, Bk, 



