The New International Encyclopædia/Munsee

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MUN'SEE. A subtribe of the Delaware (q.v.), originally constituting one of the three great divisions of that tribe and dwelling along the upper streams of the Delaware River, and the adjacent country in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They were considered the most warlike portion of the tribe and assumed the leadership in war councils. From their principal totem they were frequently called the Wolf tribe of the Delaware. They were prominent in the early history of New York and New Jersey, being among the first tribes of that region to meet the whites. By a noted fraudulent treaty known as the Walking Purchase, the main body was forced to remove from the Delaware River about the year 1740. They settled on the Susquehanna, on lands assigned them by the Iroquois, but soon afterwards moved westward and joined the main Delaware tribe on the Ohio River, with whom the greater portion eventually became incorporated. A considerable body, who were converted by the Moravian missionaries, drew off from the rest and formed a separate organization, most of them removing to Canada during the Revolution. Others joined the Ojibwa and Stockbridge Indians. The majority were incorporated in the Delaware, with whom they participated in their subsequent wars and removals. Those who still keep the name of Munsee are in three bands, two of which are consolidated with other tribal fragments, so that no separate census is available. These tribes are the Munsee of the Thames, Ontario, Canada, 120; Munsee (or Christian), and Chippewa, northeastern Kansas, 90; and Stockbridge and Munsee, Green Bay Agency, Wis., 530. Those of the United States are officially reported as civilized and entirely competent to manage their own affairs. The mixed band in Kansas has dissolved tribal relations.