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Beginnings
The Stockbridge-Munsee are descended from Algonkian-speaking Indians, primarily Mohicans (also spelled Mahican or Mahikan, but not to be confused with the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut) and Munsee Delawares, who migrated from New York, Pennsylvania, and New England to Wisconsin in the 1820s and 1830s. The Stockbridge originally lived in western Massachusetts and moved to north-central New York between 1783 and 1786 to form a new Christian community near the Oneida. Pressures from incoming White settlers caused them to consider alternative places to live.
https://www.mpm.edu/index.php/content/wirp/ICW-158
The Muh-he-con-ne-ok
'The People of the Waters that Are Never Still' have a rich and illustrious history which has been retained through oral tradition and the written word.
The band, also known as the Stockbridge–Munsee Community, is a federally recognized Native American tribe formed in the late eighteenth century from communities of so-called "praying Indians" (or Moravian Indians), descended from Christianized members of two distinct groups: Mohicans and Wappinger from the praying town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Munsees, from the area where present-day New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey meet. Their land-base, the Stockbridge–Munsee Indian Reservation, consists of a checkerboard of 24.03 square miles (62.2 km2) in the towns of Bartelme and Red Springs in Shawano County, Wisconsin. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockbridge%E2%80%93Munsee_Community
History: Removal and Renewal
Hendrick Aupaumut, a Stockbridge sachem (leader), realized the tribe needed to leave New York to evade the negative influences of settlers, and he chose to relocate the Stockbridge to Indiana near the Miami tribe. This plan was delayed by the War of 1812, during which Aupaumut served as an intermediary between the United States and Midwestern Indian tribes, the majority of which were allied to the British. Like many Stockbridge, Aupaumut was Christian and believed his tribe's best chance for survival depended on accepting Euro-American culture rather than resisting it.
Based on his Christian beliefs, Aupaumut rejected the religion of Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (also known as the Shawnee Prophet), both of whom preached resistance to American expansion and culture. He fought alongside the Americans during the American Revolution, and during the War of 1812 he attempted to convince Midwestern tribes to make peace with the United States. Aupaumut failed in this mission, and the war ended with a United States victory, paving the way for the Stockbridge removal to Indiana. https://www.mpm.edu/index.php/content/wirp/ICW-158
Many Munsee-speaking Lenape also migrated from New Jersey to [Oneida County, New York] by 1802. They were joined there by Brothertown Indians of New Jersey (from a reservation in Indian Mills, New Jersey), as well as by the Stockbridge Indians, which included remnants of the once large Wappinger people and some Mohican. Although the Oneida allowed them to share some of their reservation, eventually the two groups agreed to removal together to present-day Wisconsin. Historically each of these tribes had spoken a distinct Algonquian language. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockbridge%E2%80%93Munsee_Community
In 1818, the band settled briefly in White River, Indiana, only to be again relocated. In order to relocate both the Stockbridge-Munsee and Oneida Indians, government officials, along with missionaries, negotiated the acquisition of a large tract in what is now Wisconsin. In 1834, the Stockbridge Indians settled there; two years later they were joined by some Munsee families who were migrating west from Canada and who decided to remain with the Stockbridge families. Together, they became known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Band. The tribe expanded its land base by obtaining 46,000 acres by treaty with their neighbors to the north, the Menominee Tribe. More pressure from the government resulted in more relocation - first in Kaukana, Wisconsin, and later to a community on the shores of Lake Winnebago that the tribe named Stockbridge.
By the terms of a new treaty with the federal government in 1856, the band moved to its present site in Shawano County. The General Allotment Act of 1887 resulted in the loss of a great deal of land by the Stockbridge-Munsee. In the Great Depression, the tribe lost yet more land. However, in the early 1930’s the Stockbridge-Munsee experienced a reawakening of their identity and began reorganizing. In 1932 they even took over the town council of Red Springs under the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, created an activist Business Committee and started to regain some of their land. The Secretary of the Interior affirmed the reservation in 1937. https://dpi.wi.gov/amind/tribalnationswi/mohican
Indian Termination
As part of the Indian termination policy [Indian termination is a phrase describing United States policies relating to Native Americans from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and practices with the intent of assimilating Native Americans into mainstream American society.] that was followed by the US government from the 1940s to the 1960s, several former New York tribes were targeted for termination. A 21 January 1954 memo by the Department of the Interior advised that a bill for termination was being prepared including "about 3,600 members of the Oneida Tribe residing in Wisconsin." Another memo of the Department of the Interior memo entitled Indian Claims Commission Awards Over $38.5 Million to Indian Tribes in 1964, states that the Emigrant Indians of New York are "(now known as the Oneidas, Stockbridge–Munsee, and Brotherton Indians of Wisconsin)". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockbridge%E2%80%93Munsee_Community
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_termination_policy
Stockbridge-Munsee Today
On Shawano County Road A in northeastern Wisconsin, a new sign announces the reservation of the MOHICAN NATION. Circling the Many Trails symbol are the words "Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians." The term "Mohican Nation" acknowledges the tribe's sovereignty and its government-to-government relationship with federal, state, county and township governments. The words "Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians" acknowledge the people's history.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community is still located on this reservation in Wisconsin, although enrolled tribal members live in other parts of Wisconsin, the United States and the world. The reservation boundaries encompass the two townships of Red Springs and Bartelme; and currently include 17,150 acres of trust land, 7,584 acres of non trust or fee land for a total of 24,734 acres.
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community has always maintained a connection to its Eastern homelands and tribal members have continuously returned since the 1850's to protect burial sites or other cultural area or to pursue land claims. In 1999, this work was formalized by establishing a Tribal Historic Preservation office which routinely consults throughout our New York and New England areas. The office carries out duties under NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) to repatriate cultural items and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to consult on federal construction projects that may impact cultural sites.
In 2011, the Tribe purchased 63 acres of land along the Hudson river to protect a culturally sensitive Site. ln 2015, we were proud to formally establish a satellite Historic Preservation Office on the campus of Russell Sage College in downtown Troy, N.Y. on Mohican homelands. The office reviews approximately 500 proposed construction projects a year, ensuring the Tribe's cultural perspective is heard in the planning process. https://www.mohican.com/brief-history/
Painting: Terri L. O’Connor ~ Member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Nation
https://woodlandstribalartists.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/terri-l-oco...