Mohicans

The original Mohicans in the upper Hudson River

The Mohicans , Mahikans, or Magikans were once a large and powerful confederation of five Native American tribes from the Algonquin group, who inhabited 40 fairly large villages in the upper and middle reaches of the Hudson River in the east of modern New York , southwest Vermont , west Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut the southern border of their lands passed through the area of the modern city of Pokeepsi on the Hudson River, the western - along the Catskill Mountains and the Skohari Creek, the eastern - along the Berkshire Hills and the Green Mountains, and in the north their territory extended to Lake Champlain .

Content

History

It is believed that in 1600 there were up to 35 thousand people, but by 1604 the population was reduced to 25 thousand people. The name comes from their self-name Muh-he-con-neok (people of the big river), among the Dutch and English they were also known under the name "River Indians", and among the French under the name "wolves". Fenimore Cooper mentions a tortoise tattooed on the chest of Chingachgook and Uncas, calling the Mohicans the ancestors of all Indian tribes. ^[1] They were engaged in agriculture (growing corn), hunting, fishing, gathering and had a democratic form of government. They were controlled by leaders whose status was inherited, as well as appointed advisers. The Mohicans lived in fortified villages of 20-30 houses located on the hills and surrounded by a palisade . Initially, they had three matrilineal genera: Wolf, Turtles and Turkey, each of which was later divided, and the units became independent genera, but retained the names of the original genera as the names of the corresponding phratries: Wolf phratry includes four genera (Wolf, Bear, Dogs and Opossum), phratry There are also four turtles (Lesser turtles, Swamp turtles, Big turtles and Yellow eels), and turkey phratry - three (Turkey, Crane and Chicken). Their main village is Shodak (Excotacus), where the Council of Sachems was meeting, was located east of the modern city of Albany in New York State .

The first European to meet the Mohicans was Henry Hudson (1609). From the beginning of the 17th century, the Mohicans were drawn into the fur trade and waged war with the Mohawks , who, as a result of the war of 1624-1628 (see Beaver Wars ) drove the Mohicans to the Connecticut River , but later part of the Mohicans returned to their former lands. The Mohawk war ended with the conclusion of a long peace in 1664, but in 1669 the Mohawks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mohicans at Hoffmanns Ferry near the present city of Schenectady in New York State. By 1672, their numbers dropped to about 1 thousand people. In the winter of 1690-91, a smallpox epidemic broke out among them, and the following winter, this disease claimed the lives of so many Mohicans. In the confrontation between the British and French, the Mohicans supported the former, but later they sided with the Americans. In 1730, a large part of the Mohicans migrated to the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, and later to Ohio , where their villages existed from about 1740 to 1810, after which their trace was lost there, probably as a result of their dissolution among the Wyandots (Hurons). The number of these Mohicans in 1768 was estimated at 300 people. Another part of them (the Husatonic community) was assembled in a mission around 1736 near the village of Stockbridge in western Massachusetts and has since been known as Stockbridge. These Mohicans were able to preserve their culture and identity. In the XVIII century, part of the Mohicans was converted to Christianity by the Moravian brothers and became known as the Moravian Indians (Moravian). Moravian Indians now live in the southern Canadian province of Ontario and are considered to belong to the people of the Delaware . During the Seven Years' War , known in America as the Franco-Indian War and lasting not seven, but nine years 1754 - 1763 , the Mohicans along with the Mohawks fought on the side of the British against the French .

One of the famous Mohican leaders was Hendrik Opomut who persuaded his people to fight on the side of the US states in the US War of Independence . Because of this, today he is revered by many Americans. However, his descendants were given much less respect. As soon as the war ended, the lands of the Stockbridge Mohicans were almost overrun by American settlers with the approval of the American authorities. Therefore, the Stockbridge Indians were forced to leave this area and migrate west to the modern state of Wisconsin ^[2] , where they were invited by their friendly Iroquois from the Onida tribe .

The Mohicans are often confused with another Algonkin tribe - the Mohegans . Currently, tribal descendants (under the name Stockbridge) reside in Wisconsin west of Green Bay.

In the literature

American writer James Fenimore Cooper, in his novel " The Last of the Mohicans or the Story of 1757, " published in 1826, painted a romantic picture of the life of the Delaware . The writer called the Onaids, Mahokas (French MacQuas) and other Iroquois the sworn enemies of the Mohicans (p. 21, 36 for example). ^{[1] The} Hurons (Iroquois-allies of the French) August 9, 1757 treacherously slaughtered some of the defenseless defenders of the capitulating fort William-Henry , giving rise to the plot of the novel. Two Mohicans and a ranger (British Army spy, trapper ) Hawkeye helped Lieutenant Colonel Monroe in finding daughters.

The author hints at the formation of two pairs of lovers:

Kora (eldest daughter) - Uncas (son of Chingachgook ).
Alice (youngest daughter) - Duncan Hayward (British officer).

The first couple touchingly dies, completing the narrative with a solemn funeral. The appeal of the mourners to Kore:

Her hunter will be her companion, who will be able to fulfill her slightest desire and protect her from danger ... They advised her to be attentive to the mighty Uncas ... In the most tender words they informed him [Uncas] that they knew about the attraction of his heart ... Once he chose a white girl - which means it is necessary.

Cooper Peru owns the pentalogy of the Mohican Chingachgook the Great Snake.

Notes

↑ ¹ ² Cooper D.F. The last of the Mohicans (neopr.) P. 239. www.tagillib.ru. Date accessed August 10, 2018.
↑ EB-Mohicans “Mohican” (history) (link not available) , Encyclop? Dia Britannica , 2007

Literature

Brasser, TJ (1978). "Mahican", in BG Trigger (Ed.), Northeast (pp. 198–212). Handbook of North American Indian languages (Vol. 15). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Cappel, Constance, "The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763", The History of a Native American People , Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2007.
Conkey, Laura E .; Bolissevain, Ethel; & Goddard, Ives. (1978). "Indians of southern New England and Long Island: Late period", in BG Trigger (Ed.), Northeast (pp. 177–189). Handbook of North American Indian languages (Vol. 15). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Salwen, Bert. (1978). "Indians of southern New England and Long Island: Early period", in BG Trigger (Ed.), Northeast (pp. 160–176). Handbook of North American Indian languages (Vol. 15). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Simpson, JA; & Weiner, ESC (1989). "Mohican", Oxford English Dictionary . Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Online version).
Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978 – present). Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 1-20). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Trigger, Bruce G. (Ed.). (1978). Northeast , Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 15). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution

Links

[:0-1] ¹ ² Cooper D.F. The last of the Mohicans (neopr.) P. 239. www.tagillib.ru. Date accessed August 10, 2018.

[EBmohs-2] EB-Mohicans “Mohican” (history) (link not available) , Encyclop? Dia Britannica , 2007