#mohicans

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The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper

First published in 1826, The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is James Fenimore Cooper’s most enduring novel and a foundational work of early American historical fiction.

Set during the French and Indian War, the story follows the perilous journey of Major Duncan Heyward, the Munro sisters, and their frontier allies through the contested wilderness of colonial New York. Along the way, Cooper introduces some of American literature’s most iconic characters, including Hawkeye, Chingachgook, and Uncas—the last survivor of the Mohican people. The novel blends adventure, romance, military conflict, and moral reflection, set against a richly imagined landscape shaped by war, displacement, and cultural collision.

This edition preserves the original language and structure of the novel, including Cooper’s introductory essay and chapter divisions, making it suitable for readers interested in classic literature, early American history, or nineteenth-century prose. While its depictions reflect the attitudes and limitations of its time, the novel remains historically significant and widely studied for its influence on American storytelling and mythmaking.

But they also take the bizarre step of claiming Mohicans are a fictional people. And their concluding paragraphs posits an alternative decolonial version that would somehow involve the Mohawk.

And now I don't doubt that Last of the Mohican's portrayal of native americans is horribly problematic and flawed (I haven't read it but supposedly it mixes up Mohicans and the related Mohegan people)... but the Mohicans are decidedly not fictitious !

There exist a Mohican nation to this day !

The Origin of the Mahomet Community Name

Texas origin story: Over the years, the name Mahomet has been associated with three different locations in southeastern Burnet County. The first was two miles northeast of Bertram, near the source of Bear Creek. George Ater, who settled in the area in 1853 and managed a stage coach stop on the Austin to Lampasas route. The stage carried the mail and he named the site and its post office for the town he came from - Mahomet, Illinois. 

Later, after the railroad was built, it stopped at a new town called Bertram. The mail transport was changed from the stage coach to the train. George decided to close down his Mahomet post office at the Ater place and just get his mail in Bertram. 

The farmers to the east, not wanting to go all the way to Bertram to get their mail, adopted the Mahomet name and the Mahomet Post Office was relocated to Alex M. Ramsey's place near Sycamore Springs in January of 1883. This post office was located near where County Road 214 meets FM 243 on the Louis Insall place. Guess it was easier to move a post office than create a new one. (-: It was later moved to the Williams Store that was located on FM 243 and Burnet County Road 284 across from Tiny Breedon's place.

Illinois origin story: Mahomet is a village in Champaign County, Illinois. The town's own published account credits their founder Daniel T. Porter, who had Connecticut roots, as the one who denominated both the new village as Middletown (after Middletown, Connecticut) and the post office as Mahomet (after Mahomet Weyonomon, a Mohegan sachem from Connecticut). With the arrival of the railroad, the town embraced the name of its post office in 1871 because there already was a Middletown, Illinois.

Who are the Mohegans: The earliest clans of the Delaware Tribe were part of the Pequot people and included the Wolf clan, or Mohegans. They settled in upstate New York and later migrated to Connecticut. They gradually became independent and served as allies of the English Puritan colonists in the Pequot War of 1636, which broke the power of the formerly dominant Pequot tribe in the region. A "sagamore" or "sachem" among the Mohegans is a chief or eminent leader. Sachem Uncas, a Christian convert and sagamore Wequash Cooke were instrumental in leading their people to prevail in the war of 1636.

Who is Mahomet Weyonomon: Mahomet Weyonomon was a Mohegan Sachem, grandson of Sachem Oweneco and well-educated, writing several languages including English and Latin. The Mohegans became allies of the English, helping the first settlers in New England survive the bitter cold and repel Indian attacks. But the English began to steal tribal lands. Queen Anne’s Commissioners granted the return of Mohegan lands by an order of 1705 but this was ignored by the Connecticut government. Mohomet sailed to London in 1735 with three supporters to petition King George II for the return of the stolen lands. While awaiting an audience, Weyonomon contracted smallpox and died in the City of London but foreigners could not be buried in the City, so he was carried across the river and buried near St Saviour’s Church, now Southwark Cathedral.

In 2006 the Queen of England ...

In 2006 this young Native American brave's life, who died in 1735, was celebrated when a party of Mohicans, dressed in deer skins and eagle feathers went to England and took over the vaulted Southwark Cathedral that was built on his grave site for an authentic 'Red Indian' funeral service presided over by none other than the Queen Elizabeth II of England, or 'nonner', as female chieftains are known. On the site, a memorial sculpture to Mahomet Weyonomon Sachem of the Mohegans of Connecticut created by Peter Randall-Page was then unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen.