the first of the Mohegans

Abstract

Historians have tended to treat Indian‐Puritan relations in New England as though the Indian people were simple reactors to Puritan behaviors. Specifically, the behavior of the Mohegan Sachem, Uncas, has been interpreted in various ways, none of which, however, take into account the ongoing political system amongst the New England Indians. By applying simultaneously the principles of anthropology and history, the authors suggest an interpretation for Uncas' actions which reveals him as an active initiator of the Pequot War in 1637 for political purposes entirely within the realm of Indian social structure.

Native American gender politics and material culture in seventeenth-century southeastern New England

“…There remains some debate as to whether descent was matrilineal, patrilineal, or bilateral (O'Brien, 1997: 158, n. 8). The uncertainty may result from: (1) variation in the region; (2) flexibility within groups; (3) confusion between the rules of descent and rules of succession; and/or (4) a shift that was taking place in response to contact (Bragdon, 1996;Burton and Lowenthal, 1974;McMullen, 1986;O'Brien, 1997;Starna, 1990). Men and women freely married at the onset of adulthood; a woman could initiate a divorce by placing her husband's belongings outside of her house, implying that women had a choice in their mates.…”