220 TRIBES AND DIALECTS OF CONNECTICUT 



ETH. ANN. 43 



tribe. That this is a proper native appellation is likewise shown by 

 the occuri-ence of the term Moheges in the Pequot vocabulary col- 

 lected so long ago by President Stiles.' It was evidently a primary 

 tribal synonym, the meaning of which may be, as writers have 

 frequently taken it to be, "wolf," an animal listed as muclcs in the 

 Stiles vocabulary. The ordinary term Mohegan has itself caused 

 some discussion as to its origin and application. The occurrence of 

 the synonymous tribal name, Mahican, on the upper Hudson has 

 unavoidably led to some confusion of the two peoples. They were, 

 beyond doubt, two somewhat distinct groups having those connec- 

 tions which arose through being neighboring divisions of the eastern 

 middle Algonkian. Cases of name similarity lOce this strike our 

 attention frequently in other parts of the Algonkian region. Whether 

 or not the Mohegan consciously acquired their name from the 

 older group on the Hudson we should not be so sure, though in a 

 former paper I perhaps unwisely implied as much. The name 

 Mahican,^ coming from the original of the same form, probably 

 means "wolf," while Mohegan develops from Mohigannewuk, which 

 may, lilve the other synonym, mean the same, though we have no such 

 translation applied to it. This form of the tribal name, modified 

 somewhat, "Mmooyauhegunnewuck," however, occurs in a native 

 document drawn up by the Mohegan in 1786.^ De Forest (op. cit., 

 p. 448) publishes a similar petition of 1749 and spells the word 

 " Moyanhegurmewog," making an evident error in n for u. Since 

 these names were written by the Indians themselves, or at least 

 dictated by them, they should be regarded as reliable synonyms. A 

 variant of the same term is given by Trumbull, who in 1812 obtained 

 the name Muhhekaneew {Mahi''Jcaniu), plural Muhhekaneek, from 

 the descendants of the tribe.* It might be well not to overlook an 

 etymological relative of this name in Penobscot, Mauhiga' niwak , 

 meaning "people of the mouth of a river where it opens out into a 

 harbor." Realizing, however, the unwiseness of pressing a solution 

 in the explanation of such old and complicated terms, this, like so 

 many Algonkian proper names, will have to remain a puzzle for some 

 time yet. 



^ The vocabulary to which reference is frequently made here was collected by President Stiles, of Yale 

 College, in 17fj4 from the "Pequot" and published in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1st 

 series, vol. X (»801) . The above name is given in other early documents as Moheegs by Wainwright (1735) 

 in Maine Historical Society Collections (1800), 1st series, 1, p. 208; Mohegs, by Hyde in Drake, Book of the 

 Indians, book II, p. 66 (1848). 



' This form has been adopted through its priority, being so given on a Dutch map about 1614, republished 

 in New York Document Collections of History, 1 (1856), and which is reproduced here (pi. 15) ;is being 

 the oldest authentic reference to the Mohegan and Petiuot, ;is well as the Mahican. A. B. Skinner 

 (Notes on Mahikan Ethnology, Bull. Pub. Mus. of Milwaukee, vol. 2, no. 3, 1925, p. 91) states that the 

 latter themselves give the meaning "wolf" to their name. 



3 This is in the form of a petition to the General Assembly of Connecticut at New Haven requesting 

 permission for the two tribes Mohegan and Nehantic to fish and hunt and "have a separate bowl to eat 

 out of," etc., dated Sept. 7, 1786. The original is in the possession of Miss Gladys Tantaiiuidgeon of Mohe- 

 gan. The signers were Henry Quafiuaquid, Robert .\shpo. Philip Cuish, and Joseph Cppuckquiantup. 



* H. Trumbull, History of the Indian Wars, Norwich, 1812, p. ^A, 



