FDI - Mahican

The Mahican were a sedentary hunter/farmer tribe. Their territory included both banks of the upper Hudson from Catskill Creek to Lake Champlain, and ranged eastward to include the valley of the Housatonic. They suffered in conflicts with the Iroquois and Whites and most relocated to Wisconsin.

Aboriginal Locations: Subdivisions (Villages)

CT Wawyachtonoc (7)

MA Westenhuck or Houstatonic (1)

NY Mahican, Mechkentowoon, Wiekajoc(7)

VT Mahican (1)

Year	*History*
1497	European fishing boats soon began fishing at Grand Bank off of the coast of Maine soon after the visit of Sebastian Cabot
1524	Giovanni da Verrazano also explored the area
1609	Henry Hudson sailed into river named for him
1614	Dutch built Fort Nassau on Castle Island just south of present Albany, would be prone to flooding
1617	Mahican-Mohawk War, Fort Nassau abandoned
1618	Mahican-Mohawk peace brokered by Dutch; Fort Nassau rebuilt on higher ground
1620	Settlement of Plymouth Colony
1624	30 Dutch families settled near Fort Nassau; new war with Mohawk
1628	Mahican defeated by Mohawk; beginning of Beaver Wars (1629-1701) with Mohawk against Mahican allies
1626	Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from a Metoac tribe
1634	Smallpox epidemic
1640	In response to British competition, Dutch began providing guns and ammunition to the Iroquois and Mahican
1642	Mahican attacked Wappinger
1645	Treaty of Fort Orange made the Wappinger subject to the Mahican and required the Metoac on the western end of Long Island to pay the tribe an annual tribute
1665	Mahican had retreated to the Housatonic Valley in western Massachusetts
1672	Mahican surrendered to the Iroquois League
1677	Became the first members of the Iroquois "Covenant Chain"
1680	Tribe sold their lands west of the river to the Van Rensselaer Manoi; some settled among Miami in Ohio Valley
1683	Sold more lands along the Hudson
1690	Smallpox epidemic reduced population to fewer than 800
1724	Mahican at Stockbridge assisted British settlements in Grey Lock's War
1730	Some settled among Delaware in Pennsylvania
1744	Mahican at Stockbridge served as scouts in King George's War
1756	Many Stockbridge sold their Massachusetts land and joined the Oneida in upstate New York
1776	Supported the Americans in the Revolutionary War
1778	Stockbridge received a land grant in Vermont, had lost half of their male population in the Revolutionary War
1793	Ohio Mahican had joined Delaware
1812	Stockbridge and Brotherton warriors served in the American Army during the War of 1812
1818	Some Stockbridge moved to among the Delaware and Miami in Indiana
1822	Remaining Stockbridge and Oneida in New Your sold their lands for tracts in Wisconsin
1938	New tribal government forms under the Indian Reorganization Act

*Ethnie:*	MAHICAN (STOCKBRIDGE)
*Language:*	Mahican
*Family:*	Eastern Algonquian
*Stock:*	Algonquian
*Phylum:*	Algic
*Macro-Culture:*	Eastern Woodlands
Speakers	None

Year	Total Population	CT	MA	NY	OH	VT	WI	Source
1600	3,000	1,300	200	1,300		200		Mooney estimate
1700	1,000	200	600	200				NAHDB calculation
1796	600			300	300			Dick Shovel
1800	600			300	300			NAHDB calculation
1900	300						300	NAHDB calculation
1910	300						300	Census
2000	1,400						1,400	NAHDB calculation
2005	1,500						1,500	Reservation rolls