ABOUT US

Our official name is Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We often call ourselves by variations of this such as Mohican Nation, or Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. The original name of our people is Muhheaconneok or Muhheconeew, meaning “People of the Waters that are Never Still.” Over time, and Dutch and English contact, the traditional name became distorted and turned into variations such as Mahican or Mohican. Mohican is what we refer to ourselves as today.  This should not be confused with Mohegan, a separate Tribal Nation. In addition to Mohican, we are also Munsee, one of the three bands of Lenape. Munsee-Lenape homelands are further south on the Hudson River Valley and Delaware River Valley. Lenape people are very closely related kin of Mohican people historically. There are various reverences to the kinship that Mohicans have with Lenape peoples. In 1776 during a council at Pittsburgh, a speech from Mohican delegates was recited referring to the Lenape as their grandfather. In 1809, Lenape are again referred to as grandfather by Mohican delegates in the formal invitation that was extended at the council in White River, Indiana. After the pressures of colonization many Lenape people joined together with Mohicans Stockbridge. Stockbridge itself is not a culture, it is a placename, a town in Massachusetts where we lived in the 1700s.  

Culturally, we are Mohican and Munsee-Lenape people. Politically, our Nation is called the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. 

The Tribe’s original territory spans the Hudson, Housatonic, and Delaware River Valleys. The namesake of the Tribe is the Muhheacannituck, “the waters that are never still,” also known as the Hudson River. 

“It is curious, the history of my tribe, in its decline, in the last two centuries and a half. Nothing that deserved the name of purchase was made. From various causes, they were induced to abandon their territory at intervals and retire farther inland. Deeds were given indifferently to the government by individuals, for which little or no compensation was paid.”  

- John Waunaucon Quinney, 1854

Archaeological evidence of our ancestors stretches back 12,000 years in today’s Hudson Valley region. Sachem John Waunaucon Quinney recounted that in 1604 the Muhheconeew Nation numbered 25,000. Celebration of the Forth of July 1854, at Reidsville, New York:
https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/whc/id/553/

After the arrival of Dutch and English, pandemic and violent conflict brought on by this colonization quickly began to take a devastating toll, while land theft also became widespread. Even when Europeans did attempt to “purchase” Mohican and Munsee lands in the Muhheacannituck (Hudson River Valley), their worldview of the permanent sale was at odds with that of our ancestors, who adhered to a model of shared land stewardship and reciorical relationship. Our ancestors understood these agreements to be an exchange of gifts as a gesture of hospitality among Nations and that we could always return to the lands. 

By 1734, after much debate and deliberation, the Nation decided to accept an offer to move to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, called “Indiantown” and co-govern the town with four Colonial English families. Even after serving in the Revolutionary War and earlier colonial wars, found themselves no longer welcome in our own homelands. The 1780s was the beginning of removal from Stockbridge to Oneida Nation territory in wester New York. There our ancestors rebuilt and established new enterprises. Mohican leadership continued to engage in land claims during this period. However, the pressures to remove Native Nations from New York State were strong and our leadership looked for other places for the Nation to reside. Leaders accepted the invitation of the Miami to their territory in White River of Indiana. By the time the party arrived there, the land had already been lost under the Treaty of St. Mary’s, 1818. From there, several parties splintered, with some going to Kansas, and some returning to New Stockbridge, New York. By the 1820s most of the Tribe had been removed to Kaukauna, Wisconsin and eventually through the 1840s to an area on Lake Winnebago; now known as Stockbridge, Wisconsion. In 1856, Sachem Ziba T. Peters and Tribal Councilors signed a Treaty with the United States Government that established our reservation located on the traditional lands of the Menominee Nation, in Shawano County, Wisconsin where we continue to reside today.

Ratified Indian Treaty 301: Stockbridge and Munsee - Stockbridge, Wisconsin, February 5, 1856 

Despite removal from our homelands along the Mahicannituck, our ancestors routinely returned to reconnect, renew, and retain relationships. This is a tradition that continues to this day.

We are the only Mohican Tribe. There are four other federally recognized Lenape Tribal Nations: The Delaware Tribe of Indians (Oklahoma), the Delaware Nation (Oklahoma), Munsee-Delaware Nation (Ontario, Canada), and the Munsee at Moraviatown (Ontario, Canada). 

Our Nation, our seat of government was removed from our homelands during the 1780s and has maintained  our Nation on a reservation in Wisconsin since 1856.  Requests for representation of our Tribe to speak for our community should be made directly to Tribal Council. To initiate the process, please visit https://www.mohican.com/tribal-liaison

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community has continued to persevere and thrive. Our ancestors returned numerous times to what we consider unceded lands and attempted to engage in land claims—such as for 600,000 acres in today’s Columbia County NY in 1859, for Schodack Island, and for protecting burial grounds in Stockbridge in 1809. These land claims have never truly ended.   Today leadership and represenstivies engage in many cultural heritage activities in the original homelands. Through our Historic Preservation Office, we engage in site protection work, which often involves Government-to-Government consultation on ground disturbing projects to protect cultural sites. The office reviews over 300 projects annually across Mohican and Munsee homelands, spanning six states. The goal is to ensure that adequate archaeological research is conducted before construction so that ancestral sites are not erased. In addition, the office conducts archaeological survey work to document important sites and seek their inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. We also work to return ancestors’ remains from museums for reburial, and return items of cultural significance back to the Nation. Given the Stockbridge-Munsee Community’s three centuries of land dispossessions and removals, the return of cultural items that were forced to be left behind or taken from the Tribe is incredibly meaningful and greatly welcomed. Our Cultural Affairs Department works to create tribally-driven research and historic interpretation for the tribal community. On occasion the department is able to collaborate in development of exhibits, interpretive signage and public education projects that benefit both Stockbridge-Munsee Community members and cultural heritage sites throughout our homelands. Due to the volume of requests, we ask to be included in such projects a year before implementation.

To start the process, submit a request form at: https://forms.office.com/r/zLLvJF3QR8

Authorized representatives of federally recognized Mohican and Lenape/Delaware Tribal Nations can and do speak for our Tribal interests in our homelands. Though the federal recognition system is not perfect, it does establish criteria for ensuring that recognized tribes are distinct autonomous communities, existing as an autonomous community since historical times and recognized as such since prior to 1900. The existence of a persistent political relationship is central to this recognition.  

When a tribe is federally recognized, it has the right to establish a tribal government and enter into agreements with the federal government in much the same way that the federal government makes agreements with Canada and Mexico.  To learn more visit: Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction. https://archive.ncai.org/about-tribes

In our homelands we are aware of groups that have recently formed and claim Mohican and Munsee heritage, often establishing that one person is a “sachem” and forming 501c3 nonprofit heritage groups that can be hard to distinguish from sovereign Nations. These types of entities do not speak for Mohican and Lenape Nations’ input on our cultural sites or represent our interest or perspective.  They may certainly speak to their own individual perspective but are not an authorized representative for our Nation. 

Representation and sovereignty matter.  We ask that agencies, museums, land, environmental advocacy groups, and anyone else seeking to appropriately ally with the indigenous peoples in Hudson and Housatonic River Valley homelands ensure that they are working with authorized representatives.  For the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation: https://www.mohican.com; For the Delaware Nation: https://www.delawarenation-nsn.gov; For the Delaware Tribe: http://delawaretribe.org.

We recognize Mohican and the Munsee dialect of Lenape both equally as our two official languages. Native speakers in our community passed down words and phrases in these languages from one generation to the next. Major language loss occurred during the American Indian Boarding School Era that began in the mid 1600s and a series of Federal Indian policies during the Allotment and Assimilation Era, 1887-1934. Despite the impact of assimilation, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community has undertaken language research and revitalization efforts to repair the language loss in our tribe.

Yes. That book (and movie) is inaccurate, and it doesn’t have much to do with us as a people, as a tribe.  It perpetuates a false erasure narrative – there has never been the last of the Mohicans

There’s a lot that goes into that question around shared belonging, community, and who claims you. We encourage you to read more including Kim Tallbear’s book: Tribal Belonging and the False promise of Genetic Science. If your question is specifically about Stockbridge-Munsee ancestry or you have a question about genealogy and enrollment, please contact our enrollment office.

Many people who live or work on our ancestral homelands have interest in connecting with us and we want to connect with you. Due to the volume of inquiry, we want to share our responses to these frequently asked questions as a start.

There are many kinds of introductions and ways to begin a relationship. Adopting a land acknowledgment practice is one place to begin, as are many other action items in this resource guide. 

Publicly acknowledging us as the original stewards of the land you are on is a way of showing respect, resisting the erasure of our history, and a starting point for further action. 

Here is our Tribal Council-approved land acknowledgement that you can adapt for your particular context: 

 “It is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we are learning, speaking and gathering on the ancestral homelands of the [Insert as appropriate: Muhheaconneok or Mohican people or Munsee Lenape people], who are the indigenous peoples of this land. Despite tremendous hardship in being forced from here, today their community resides in Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors past and present as we commit to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all.” 

If you are choosing to write a land acknowledgement that mentions the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, we do ask that you please submit your language to our department for final approval.

Some important components are to specifically name our Tribe (not just say “the Native Americans”) and ensure that you include not only historical reference to our people but to make it contemporary and state that our Tribe continues to exist today. Including action steps in your land acknowledgement is also crucial.  Without action, the land acknowledgement doesn't mean anything, and you end up with empty words on paper.  Action is imperative.  

Here is an example of a land acknowledgement made by Yo Yo Ma at Tanglewood for Earth Day 2021 (at minute 28:30)

We encourage you to visit our Arvid E. Miller Memorial Library Museum in Bowler, Wisconsin. . To schedule a group tour submit a request form at: https://forms.office.com/r/zLLvJF3QR8 Though not a public space, we maintain a Historic Preservation extension office in Williamstown, MA, which focuses on serving our Nation’s repatriation and site protection interests. We invite you to visit the Carriage House exhibit curated by the Cultural Affairs Department at the Mission House in Stockbridge MA,  You can also take this guided virtual walking tour of Stockbridge  https://www.nativeamericantrail.org/stockbridge-walking-tour/ 

We do! https://www.mohican.com/gift-shop/

We appreciate donations to our fund raising for a cultural center in the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.  You can donate online at https://smcfinancevt.securepayments.cardpointe.com/pay?

We enjoy partnering with fellow cultural heritage institutions interested in listening to and sharing our stories and culture from our voice. Requests can be made to: https://forms.office.com/r/zLLvJF3QR8 

Questions we love that require some planning:

Because of the history of our removals, most of our Tribal members live in Wisconsin.  To initiate the process, please submit a Presenter Application at https://www.mohican.com/tribal-liaison/

To request an interview with an authorized Tribal Representative, please see the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Media Policy on how to initiate the process: https://www.mohican.com/mt-content/uploads/2022/02/external_public_media_policy_apvd_final.pdf

To start the process, submit a request form at: https://forms.office.com/r/zLLvJF3QR8

On September 3, 2019, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community passed a resolution standing firmly against the use of Native American mascots: “Race-based Indian logos, mascots, names and images deliberately, and in a derisive manner, portray Native American tribes, tribal governments and tribal cultures and should be rejected on all occasions and in all uses.” We encourage you to start the process of name change. For more information please visit https://mohican.com/services/education-and-career-services/ecs-education/ 

Where can I find more information?

Here is a growing list of further resources we have compiled:

• Claiming Williams 2022 Keynote: Shannon Holsey, Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council President 
• -Electa Quinney: Mohican Teacher and Mentor – Wisconsin Biographies – PBS Wisconsin Education
• -PBS: Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican History  
• -Stockbridge-Munsee Pendleton Blanket 
• -PBS North Native Report 
• -Footsteps of our Ancestors – Virtual Walking Tour of Stockbridge
• -Our Lands, Our Home, Our Heart 
•  -Finding A Place Again: Honoring the Mohican Story of Stockbridge with Bonney Hartley 
• -”Long Journey Home” Story Map on our effort to reclaim Papscanee Island
• -Native Tourism of Wisconsin: Stockbridge-Munsee Community