Stockbridge–Munsee Community
The Stockbridge–Munsee Community, also known as the Mohican Nation Stockbridge–Munsee Band, is a federally recognized Native American tribe formed in the late eighteenth century from communities of so-called "praying Indians" (or Moravian Indians), descended from Christianized members of two distinct groups: Mohican and Wappinger from the praying town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and Munsee (Lenape), from the area where present-day New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey meet. Their land-base, the Stockbridge–Munsee Indian Reservation, consists of a checkerboard of 24.03 square miles (62.2 km2) in the towns of Bartelme and Red Springs in Shawano County, Wisconsin.[2] Among their enterprises is the North Star Mohican Resort and Casino.
In settlement of a large land claim in New York, where the tribe had occupied land in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in 2010 the state of New York agreed to give the tribe 330 acres in Sullivan County in the Catskills and two acres in Madison County (their former territory). This was in exchange for dropping their larger claim for 23,000 acres of land in Madison (near the city of Syracuse), which they had occupied in the early 19th century. The state granted the tribe the right to develop the Catskills property as a gaming casino. The deal is controversial and opposed by numerous interests, including other federally recognized tribes in New York. The tribe dropped their bid for a gaming casino in New York in June 2014, given a high level of competition from other developers for sites in Orange County, which is closer to the metropolitan market. Another land claim was dismissed by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2014.
Reservation[edit]
The Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation consists of a checkerboard of land across the towns of Bartelme and Red Springs in Shawano County, Wisconsin. When created in 1856, the reservation included both townships in their entirety, amounting to roughly 72 square miles (190 km2). Legislation in 1871 and 1906 nearly eliminated the band's land holdings.[8] The current reservation consists of parcels that the U.S. has placed into trust for the band since the 1930s. In 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled against the band's appeal to restore the original reservation boundaries.[9][10]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation in 2020 was 24.03 square miles (62.2 km2). The tribe also administered 3.17 square miles (8.2 km2) of off-reservation trust land. The combined reservation and off-reservation trust land have a total area of 27.25 sq mi (70.6 km2), of which 27.2 sq mi (70 km2) is land and 0.05 sq mi (0.13 km2) is water.[2]
As of the census of 2020,[11] the combined population of Stockbridge Munsee Community and Off-Reservation Trust Land was 733. The population density was 26.9 inhabitants per square mile (10.4/km2). There were 321 housing units at an average density of 11.8 per square mile (4.6/km2). The racial makeup of the reservation and off-reservation trust land was 78.0% Native American, 11.2% White, 0.1% Black or African American, 0.1% from other races, and 10.5% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 2.9% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
According to the American Community Survey estimates for 2016-2020, the median income for a household (including the reservation and off-reservation trust land) was $46,250, and the median income for a family was $54,500. Male full-time workers had a median income of $45,290 versus $39,519 for female workers. The per capita income was $21,293. About 13.6% of families and 18.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.[12] Of the population age 25 and over, 84.6% were high school graduates or higher and 11.5% had a bachelor's degree or higher.[13]