Mohegan people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1300 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| English, originally Mohegan-Pequot language) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pequot people |
Mohegans are a Native American people in Connecticut; the majority are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the eastern upper Thames River valley of south-central Connecticut. It is one of two federally recognized tribes in the state, the other being the Mashantucket Pequot. There are also three state-recognized tribes: Schaghticoke, Paugusett, and Eastern Pequot.
At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were a unified tribal entity living in the southeastern Connecticut region, but the Mohegans gradually became independent as the hegemonic Pequots lost control over their trading empire and tributary groups. Pequot, being a name given to the Mohegans by other tribes throughout the northeast was eventually adopted by themselves overtime. In 1637, English Puritan colonists with the help of Uncas, Wequash and the Narragansetts, destroyed a principal fortified village at and systematically destroyed the remaining Pequot nation during the Pequot War which finally ended with the death of Sassacus [Uncas' cousin] at the hands of the Mohawks. Thereafter, under the leadership of Uncas, a sachem, the Mohegan were understood to be a separate tribal nation. Uncas' name is a variant of the Algonquian name Wonkus, which translates to fox.
The word Mohegan (pronounced /ˈmoʊhiːɡæn/) translates in their respective Algonquin dialects (Mohegan-Pequot language) as "People of the Wolf".
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