A Mahican Indian

Jonas has been studying his portrayal for some time, and to our eyes he looks the part. He is not an American Indian by birth, however, as his family is from the Philippines.

The similarities of the names "Mohican", "Mohegan", and "Mahican" cause considerable confusion. James Fenimore Coopers' Last of the Mohicans has made "Mohican" the more widely recognized of the three and more romantic of the three. Jonas has explained briefly how they are related and how he is identifying with his own persona as a Mahican:

"Mohican is an alternate romanization for the native people who referred to themselves as 'Maheacannuk' (I've seen various ways to spell this), which I have found has two meanings in the Algonquin language family: (1) wolf, and (2) 'People from the place where the waters constantly ebb and flow (i.e. tidal waters). The former can be verified as the modern day Mohegans in Connecticut refer to themselves as the 'People of the Wolf.' I've yet to find other references to support that the second meaning is any more viable.

"Remember that the Mahican and Mohegan share a common ancestry, but that the Mahican remained in the Hudson River Valley, while the Mohegan continued their journey eastward where they eventually settled in southeastern Connecticut. From that point on the two groups developed their cultures independently. Leave it to Cooper to mix the two nations together, either in the name of ignorance or poetic license. The setting for TLotM clearly suggests the Mahican tribe, but the name Uncas derives from the factual chieftain of the Connecticut Mohegans.

"Stockbridge refers to the mission-town in Massachusetts where the Mahican relocated to to accept Europeanization and the Christian faith. The Indians who moved there were primarily Mahican, with some Housatonic and, I believe, Wappinger Indians as well. Collectively these Indians were referred to as 'Stockbridge' Indians. It's a more generic and less accurate but accepted term for us Mahicans.

"Were you aware that there was an actual personage named Jonas Etowaukaum? Kinda funny, huh? I believe he even saw some action during the French and Indian War. I am practicing what is referred to as 'experiential archaeology'. I am beginning to see clearly the motivations of a Mahican Indian serving in the French and Indian War. Coming from an illustrious warrior heritage, only to suddenly put your customs aside as your tribe decides to insure its survival by accepting Christianity and a European lifestyle, a young Mahican male would welcome the opportunity to enlist in a war that would provide him a means to reconnect to his warrior traditions; to lay down his farm implements and take up the hatchet and define himself among his peers and his people."