Welcome to Monument Mountain, Sacred Site of the Mohican People

Welcome to Monument Mountain, Sacred Site of the Mohican People. . , Have you ever wondered where Monument Mountain got its name? The mountain, known as Maswaasweihi (Mas-wa-SE-hi) in Mohican language, meaning "it nestles up" or "fisher's nest", is a part of the homelands of the Mohican people. Mohican territory extends throughout today's Berkshire County, and the Hudson River Valley. The Mohican people thrived there for thousands of years before they were dispossessed of their ancestral homelands by English colonists and forced to move west in the late 1700s. According to historical accounts, Monument Mountain was likely named for the immense sacred stone "monuments" created by the Mohican people who lived and passed by the mountain., Cultural Significance , The stone structure, located near the southern tip of the mountain, was an offering place believed to be called Maswaaswewiy Wawana Kwihk in Mohican, generally meaning "place of arranged stones at the fisher's nest/standing up nest." The structure was an example of a Mohican traditional cultural practice whereby passing tribal members would place a stone offering imbued with their prayers. This practice was relayed by Mohican Ebenezer Poopoonuoh in 1734, who indicated it had been a longstanding tradition, a "custom of their fathers", that was continued at that time when the Tribe lived in "Indiantown," or Stockbridge. Although it was completely destroyed by English colonists, the original Wawana Kwihk continues to hold deep meaning for the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans as a place of connection to their ancestors and of ceremonial significance. It is considered a traditional cultural property and a sacred site. Please respect it as such as you walk these trails today., Removal and Return to Homelands , Despite painful removals from their vast original territories, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans thrive in Wisconsin with over 1,500 enrolled citizens. They often return to their eastern homelands for historical trips and remain actively involved in the protection of cultural sites and the return of cultural heritage items. Records consistently show tribal members returning to the site of the offering place throughout the 1800s to offer stone prayers, and tribal members continue to visit Monument Mountain to carry on the tradition to this day., For more information about the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, please visit mohican.com., Did you know? , You can also visit many other Mohican cultural places throughout the Berkshires by visiting Housatonic Heritage's Native American Heritage Trail, at housatonicheritage.org., [Captions:] , Approximate boundaries of historic Mohican lands to the North and Munsee Lenape territory to the South. Based on Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Homelands educational map, created by Stockbridge-Munsee Land Management 2021., Diagram of Mohican offering place on Monument Mountain from 1762 journal of Ezra Stiles, where he described it as an obtuse cone with an indent at the center, about 18 feet in diameter and approximately 6 feet tall., Mohican leaders such as John Konkapot, "King" Solomon Uhhaunnauwaunmut, Johannis Mthoksin, "King" Ben, David Naunauneekannuck, Jacob Cheeksonkun, and many others fought hard and petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to remain on the Berkshire homelands throughout the 1700s, Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal member Odessa Arce and Tribal Councilman Craig Kroening Jr at the top of Monument Mountain during return trips to the homelands.