Mohican Issues

The Mohicans are sometimes confused with the Mohegans who live in Connecticut. I believe the Mohicans are the grandfathers of the Mohegans. The people who first came to the upper Hudson River Valley were the ancestors of the Mohicans, Pequots and the Mohegans. The ancestors of the Mohegans left this area and migrated west, becoming known as the Pequots, the invaders. Then the ancestors of the Mohegans separated from the Pequots. Thus, these three distinct cultures can trace their history back to the some of the same ancestors. There are no written records of this, but the first people of the area were living here over 12,000 years ago. The Mohegans, Mohicans, and Pequots have been separate and distinct nations for hundreds of years, well before 1609.

Mohican people can also be confused with Mohawk people merely because both names begin with the same letter. Rest assured, they are two different people. The Mohawks are Iroquois and belong to the Six Nations confederacy. The Mohican are Algonkin and lived primarily on the east side of the Hudson River. However, before the white men came, their land was along the west side of the Hudson and up to Lake George, including the presentday county of Saratoga. The Mohicans were the Indian people who met Henry Hudson when he sailed up the Hudson, not the Mohawks.

Historical Apathy in Albany, New York

Will Mohican history remain undiscovered due to others' apathy?
Recent newspaper article titles:

• Albany's Burying Its Past, Archaeologist Claims by Jay Jochnowitz, Albany Times Union
• Albany's past finds a friend in McEneny: Legislator seeks an archaeological review of downtown building site by Jay Jochnowitz

Waterford Remains

Recent newspaper article titles:

• Protecting the Past: Ancient remains found in Waterford to be reburied; sewer project will proceed by Cheryl Clark, Troy Record
• Waterford sewer dig becomes an excavation of human history by Bart Jones, Albany Times Union
• Another Indian skeleton found by Kevin Conlon, Schenectady Gazette
• Iroquois, Mohicans to share in reburial by Bob Gardinier, Albany Times Union
• Waterford, state, Indians OK plan to rebury remains at Peebles Islandby Kevin Conlon, Schenectady Gazette

Monemin's Island by Steve Comer

Leeds Flat

On Monday, October 7, 1996, Wal-Mart formally withdrew their application to build on Leeds Flat.

Five ancestors had been found buried on the site. New York State required Wal-Mart to revise their plans. Faced with a challenging revision and I am convinced the voices of many, many people opposed to the desecration of the site, they have tabled their plans to build on Leeds Flat. I am sure without your efforts in the e-mail and letter-writing campaign Leeds Flat would not have been saved. I want to thank everyone who supported our efforts to save the site and voiced their opinions. I am proud of every one of you.

Interested organizations recently met to plan the purchase of the land to protect it and the Nation's representative is very optimistic.

Recent newspaper article titles:

• New Discoveries at Leeds Site Put Wal-Mart Construction in Jeopardy by David Gildersleeve, Catskill Daily Mail
• Mohicans, Wal-Mart clash over property, from the Albany Times Union
• Mohicans Struggle to Save Site from Wal-Mart
• Wal-Mart Encouraged to Pass on Indian Site, from the Associated Press, picked up by papers across the country
• Wal-Mart Superstore Threatens Mohican Archaeological Site, from Historic Preservation, the journal of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

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