= The early French
missionaries refer to the "nine nations of Manhinyans, gathered
between Manhattan and the environs of Quebec." These several nations
have never been accurately designated, although certain general
divisions appear under the titles of Mohegan, Wappinger, Sequins,
etc. "The government of the Mahicans was a democracy. The office was
hereditary by the lineage of the wife; that is, the selection of a
successor on the death of the chief, was confined to the female branch
of the family." According to Ruttenber, the precise relation between
the Mahicans of the Hudson and the Mohegans under Uncas, the Pequot
chief, is not known. In a foot-note to this statement, he says: "The
identity of name between the Mahicans and Mohegans, induces the belief
that all these tribes belonged to the same stock,--although they
differed in dialect, in territory, and in their alliances." The two
words, therefore, must not be confounded.
* * *
Round about the Indian village
Spread the meadows and the cornfields,
Stood the groves of singing pine trees,
And beyond them stood the forest,
_Henry W.
Pages:
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324