History: Mohegan/Munsee/Lenape — Multilingualism and Education in Wisconsin

Mohegan/Munsee/Lenape

stockbridge-munsee-map — These languages fall under the Algonquian family, and are/were spoken by the Stockbridge-Munsee as well as the Brothertown Indians (a non-officially-recognized tribe).

Both have populations between 1,000-1,500.

Name and Terminology

“Eeyamquittoowauconnuck” is the name the Brothertown go by.

“The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians is descended from a group of Mohicans (variously known as Mahikan, Housatonic and River Indians; the ancestral name Muh-he-con-ne-ok means “people of the waters that are never still”) and a band of the Delaware Indians known as the Munsee.” The Dutch though Muheconnuk was too hard to say so they changed it to Mohican.

In their own language, the people called themselves Minisink, which became shortened to Minsi or Munsee. Since the Munsee language was traditionally unwritten, there have been many different spellings of this tribal name in English: Muncie, Muncey, Muncee, Minnisink, and more. Early colonists also called the Munsee and several of their neighbors Delawares, after the Delaware River which ran through their lands. Today, they usually prefer the spelling "Munsee."

Munsee is an Algonkian language closely related to American Delaware, or Lenape, but is considered by most linguists a distinct language.”

Sources:

http://www.native-languages.org/munsee.htm

http://native-languages.org/brothertown.htm

Language

There are no remaining Brothertown native speakers. It is not clear how many Stockbridge-Munsee native speakers of these languages there are.

Note: In my interview with Aaron Bird Bear, he did say that these come from the Iroquoian language family. I would defer to his expert opinion, but within their own websites, the Stockbridge-Munsee and Brothertown do say their languages are Algonquian, so that is how it is presented here. Let me know if you believe I have misinterpreted anything!

Learn Words and Phrases!

This video series by the Stockbridge Munsee Cultural Affairs Department teaches language through TPR (total physical response). This is a language education technique in which words are associated with a physical movement to enhance retention and acquisition.

Mohican Dictionary

https://www.youtube.com/@stockbridgemunseeculturala6895

History

Unless otherwise cited, information comes from Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal Patty Loew (2001)

Stockbridge-Munsee

“The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians is descended from a group of Mohicans (variously known as Mahikan, Housatonic and River Indians; the ancestral name Muh-he-con-ne-ok means “people of the waters that are never still”) and a band of the Delaware Indians known as the Munsee.”
“The Mahican's first contact with Europeans occurred in 1609, when Henry Hudson sailed up the river that now bears his name. The Dutch built a trading post nearby in 1614. From that point onward, Native people exchanged furs and agricultural surplus for metal tools, beads, and other trade goods.”
“In 1734, the first missionary arrived among the Mahican. In the years following, the Reverend John Sergeant and the Mahican founded a mission village called Stockbridge which included a school. During the next several years, they were joined by a number of English families in an experimental Native-White community. Lessons and religious services were held in the Mahican language. Town lands were allotted to each family, who adapted to English-style agricultural life but still sent out hunting parties and practiced other aspects of traditional life.”
They tended to side with the U.S., but that resulted in a lot of deaths.
“Although the land treaties with the Stockbridge, Brothertown, and Oneida were disputed by the Menominee and Ho-Chunk, the Stockbridge in Indiana and New York began moving to Wisconsin, settling along the Fox River near present-day Kaukauna. A Christian mission was established there in 1825.”
“The Stockbridge-Munsee moved to their new home on Lake Winnebago between 1832 and 1834. Since soils were poor on their new lands, many Stockbridge depended on the sale of timber from their lands.”
They had some hard economic times in the early 1900s, but they got back on their feet, and in 1937 gained tribal status.
“New difficulties in urban centers after World War II (in which many Mohican men enlisted) were followed by activism of the 1960s and 1970s. With the arrival of gaming in the 1980s, the Stockbridge-Munsee community started to feel economic benefits.”
Image Source: https://dpi.wi.gov/amind/tribalnationswi/mohican

stockbridge-munsee-social-structure — Social Structure — Stockbridge-Munsee

“The Mahican were originally matrilineal -- that is, they traced their family descent through their mother's family. There were three matrilineal clans (groups of people who considered themselves related through their mother's families and were identified by mythic descent from a totemic animal): Bear, Wolf, and Turtle. Leadership positions were usually held by men but also tended to follow through the female line. Some families and those they descended from were considered more important than others. Each clan had a chief. Tribal leaders, called sachems, were often chosen from these leading families. Sachems were seen as having authority over particular territories and guided the people in decision-making. Important men such as sachems occasionally had more than one wife. Between different villages, trading and other cooperative relationships existed, and furs, shell beads, food stuffs, and other resources could be spread over wider areas. Trading also existed across wider areas to adjacent tribes.”
Image source: https://www.mohican.com/library-photo-gallery/

Brothertown

Their parent tribes are all Algonquian. They fought against the British in the Revolutionary War. They arrived in Wisconsin in 1832 along with the Stockbridge-Munsee and Oneida who they were close partners with. They were primarily situated in Connecticut, but moved in and out of New York/Massachusetts. They were initially prosperous upon arrival in Wisconsin, but the allotment period quickly changed that, and poor logging practices didn’t help the matter. Their boarding school situation in many cases was manageable, students being afforded more freedom/perks so long as they “stood in line.” The literacy skills they gained while there was seen as a benefit to be able to stand up to the government. They still do not have federal recognition.

Image Source: http://brothertownindians.org/