|
The Monacan tribe is one of several Native American tribes recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The Monacan Tribe has not been recognized as an Indian tribe by the federal government. They are located primarily in Amherst County, Virginia near Lynchburg, Virginia. As of 2009 there are approximately 2,000 members of the tribe.〔(We're Still Here by Joanne Kimberlain ), The Virginian Pilot online, 2009.〕 There are satellite groups in West Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and Ohio. The contemporary Monacan people claim to be descendants of an Eastern Siouan tribe of American Indians by the same name. The historic Monacan tribe, first recorded in 1607 in Virginia, was related to the Siouan Tutelo, Saponi and Occaneechi. There is no conclusive evidence linking members of the contemporary tribe with the historic tribe. ==17th century== When the English first explored the James River in May 1607, they learned that the James River Monacan (along with their northern Mannahoac allies on the Rappahannock River) controlled the area between the Fall line in Richmond and the Blue Ridge Mountains, who were hostile to the Powhatan confederacy. They called their territory ''Amai Amañuhkañ'' (“The Country of the People of the Land”). The ''weroance'' Parahunt, son of paramount chief Powhatan, persuaded Captain Christopher Newport not to continue beyond the falls into Monacan country. The determined Newport made an expedition into their country in November 1608. On a march, the English found two Monacan towns, called ''Massinacak'' and ''Mowhemenchough. Unlike the Powhatan, who had given the English lavish welcomes, the Monacan largely ignored them and went about their business. The English captured their chief and forced him to conduct them around his kingdom. On November 26, 1608, Peter Wynne, a member of Newport's exploration party to the Monacan villages, wrote a letter to John Egerton, informing him that some members of Newport's party believed the pronunciation of the Monacans' language resembled "Welch", which Wynne spoke, and asked Wynne to act as interpreter.〔Mullaney, Steven (The Place of Stager ) University of Michigan Press 1995 ISBN 978-0-472-08346-6 p. 163 〕 ''Mowhemencho'', their easternmost outpost, was between Bernard's Creek and Jones Creek in the eastern tip of Powhatan County, while Massinacak (Mahock) was at the mouth of Mohawk Creek, a mile south of Goochland. Their capital was ''Rassawek'', at the point within the two branches of the upper James and Rivanna Rivers. Tributary to them were the Monahassanugh (later Nahyssan, i.e. Tutelo), whose town was near Wingina, and Monasukapanough (later Saponi), living near Charlottesville. All these groups were closely related with the Siouan Manahoac to the north. In 1656 several hundred Nahyssan, Mahock, and 'Rechahecrians' (possibly Erie) threatened both the Powhatan tribes and the English by camping near the falls. A combined force of English and Powhatan was sent to dislodge them in a bloody battle in which the Pamunkey chief Totopotomoi was slain. The Monacan towns of Mowhemencho and Mahock were still in the area in 1670, when they were visited by John Lederer and Major Harris, who found that the men possessed muskets. Lederer recorded their tradition that they had settled in the area on account of an oracle 400 years earlier, having been driven from the northwest by an enemy nation. They told him they had found it occupied by the Doeg, whom they eventually displaced, in the meantime teaching them the art of growing corn. Another Monacan tradition he records as follows: "From four women, viz. Pash, Sepoy, Askarin, and Maraskarin, they derive the race of mankinde; which they therefore divide into four tribes, distinguished under those several names." At the time of Lederer's visit, the tribe had about 30 bowmen, out of a total population of perhaps 100. Lederer also noted the towns of ''Sapon'' and ''Pintahae'' on the Staunton River; Swanton considers this last to be a Nahyssan village, which Batts and Fallam recorded as ''Hanahaskie'' in 1671. The Nahyssan settled on an island at the junction of the Stanton and Dan Rivers, above the Occaneechis, around 1675. In 1677, the Monacan chief Surenough was one of several native signatories to the Treaty of Middle Plantation following Bacon's Rebellion. The English and Pamunkey encountered them, and the Manahoac, on the Upper Mattaponi and North Anna rivers in 1684. By 1699, they had abandoned their homeland. The former site of Mowhemencho was occupied by French Huguenot pioneers. First promised land at Jamestown, they were forced above the falls on the James River when they came in 1700. They renamed the village "Manakin-Town". Although a few Monacan lingered in the area as late as 1702, the core remnant seems to have merged with the Nahyssan and other closely related Virginia Siouan tribes, by then known generally as Tutelo-Saponi. Under this collective name, the travels of the bulk of the tribe may be traced to North Carolina (1702), back to Virginia (Fort Christanna, 1714). They headed north to join the Iroquois for protection, and were noted in Pennsylvania (Shamokin, by 1740); and in New York (Coreorgonel) by 1753, where they joined the Cayuga. They participated with them in the American Revolutionary War as allies of the British against the colonists. After the war, the Monacan went with the Iroquois to Canada. They were settled at the (Six Nation Reserve of the Grand River First Nation) in present-day Ontario. Their settlement Tutelo Heights was noted in 1779. By the early 20th century, their descendants in Ontario had been largely absorbed by the Cayuga tribe through intermarriage. Smaller bands are believed to have split off in North Carolina, and at several locations across Virginia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Monacan people」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|