Monument Mountain (Peeskawso Peak) parcel to Stockbridge-Munsee

What happened

The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, now based in Wisconsin, has bought 372 acres on the northern slope of Monument Mountain in western Massachusetts. Tribal Business News, citing The Berkshire Eagle, reported on April 30, 2025 that the tribe finalized a $2.5 million purchase that includes Fenn Farm and Sky Farm, largely funded by a $2.26 million state grant awarded in 2023.

The land went on the market in 2022 after the death of its owner, the artist and author Clover Swann. After her home was carved out, it was listed for $3 million, and the price later dropped to $2.5 million. The state grant came from Massachusetts' Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program. The Berkshire Edge reported on August 30, 2023 that the Band was awarded $2.26 million to reclaim 351 acres of homeland, and that Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll said Indigenous land management practices could help fight a changing climate. The 351-acre and 372-acre figures differ, and reports do not say why.

The tribe's president, Shannon Holsey, called the parcel "sacred" and said landback for the tribe is about reclaiming its ways of being, including kinship and governance systems, ceremony, language and food and medicine systems. She told the Berkshire Edge the presence would be felt from the flying of the tribal flag to stones carrying messages of the people's hopes and prayers. After the deed, she said, the tribe would conduct an environmental survey to decide what conservation measures are needed.

Good to know. This was a purchase, largely funded by a state grant. Sources give 372 acres at closing and 351 acres in the 2023 grant announcement, a difference they do not explain.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error