Papscanee Island was the home of Mohican sachem Papsickene, who also led other nearby Mohican villages on neighboring islands and some of the adjacent mainland. Papscanee’s importance during the 17th century is reflected in how the Mohicans interacted with the Dutch, as the sachem’s decisions meant the difference between war and peace. Significantly, the island still retains the Mohican name of Papscanee. 

In addition to the written historical documentation, there is rich archaeological data from the island that suggests ongoing Mohican occupation from at least 2,500 BC through the contact period of the 1600s.  It is clearly a place that Mohican ancestors knew and returned to generation after generation. Archaeological studies have shown that Mohicans subsided on hickory, butternut squash, freshwater mussels, white-tailed deer, and wild raspberries and blackberries while living on the island. It was an ideal place for procuring sturgeon in the spring, and for planting corn—a practice which has continued unbroken since sachem Paspcanee’s time until the present day.  

After most of the Tribe was removed from the area to Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the 1700s, there is ongoing documentation of Tribal members returning to Papscanee Island throughout the 1700s and 1800s.