How Did Joquips Acquire A Lie Of The Mohegan Indians?

On October 9, 1806, Joseph Bird Joquips, a 70 year old Native Indian from the Mohegan Tribe, petitioned the State of Connecticut General Assembly for a portion of the land in Connecticut that was divided among Natives in the Mohegan tribe. He emphasized his devout military career that began in 1758 during the Seven Years’ War to convince members of the General Assembly to allot him a portion of land that belonged to the Mohegan Indians. While Joquips had already rightfully possessed a piece of the land because he had lived on it prior to European presence, the Europeans did not recognize his authority to the land; and thus, forcibly seized control of Native lands so that they could distribute it as they saw fit. It was not important for Joquips to possess a piece of land, but to have the Europeans recognize that the land belong to him. Thus, this petition represented Joquips manipulation of the European system to secure a piece of his tribe’s land with hopes to collect the land for the Mohegan tribe piece by piece.

During the war, he travelled and fought at Albany, Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Montreal to help secure British control and prevent French expansion during the Seven Years’ War. Joquips decided to fight alongside the British because he feared what would happen if he did not help them. He knew about the British’s brutal destruction, exploitation, and extermination of Native Indians. For instance, he would have been familiar with the British’s annihilation of the nearby Pequot tribe during the Pequot War in 1637. Hence, Joquips strategically used assimilation and loyalty with the hopes that the British would spare the Mohegan tribe from