Mohegan

Mohegan, North American tribe of the Algonquian language family and of the Northeast culture area. They were living in what is now eastern Connecticut when the first white settlers arrived in New England. The Mohegan sided with the English against other North American tribes, and by the 1700s were the only indigenous peoples of prominence remaining in southern New England.

The Mohegan practiced hunting, fishing, and farming; their staple crop was maize. As white settlements gradually surrounded and then displaced the tribe, the Mohegan dwindled in number. They sold most of their lands and moved to a reservation in New London County, Connecticut. Surviving members later scattered, some joining other indigenous settlements. A remnant continued to live in Connecticut. In the 2000 U.S. census about 1,200 people identified themselves as Mohegan only; an additional 1,200 people reported being part Mohegan. The tribe was romanticized by the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper in his book, The Last of the Mohicans (1826). See also Native Americans of North America: Northeast.