Lisa Engdahl, age 13, of Keen, N.H., for her question:

WHO WAS CHIEF UNCAS?

Uncas was the name of a chief of the Mohican, or Mohegan, Indians in Connecticut during the colonial days. He became noted for his assistance to the English settlers and his name has been perpetuated in the character Uncas in James Fenimore Cooper's famous book, "The Last of the Mohicans."

Uncas joined the English in a war against the Pequot Indians in 1637. He defeated the Narraganset tribe in 1643 and five years later fought the Mohawk, Narraganset and other tribes.

Uncas helped the English settlers but he opposed Christianity in his tribe. The English settlers along the Connecticut River probably owed their survival to his help against the Pequot Indians.

A monument to Uncas was erected by the citizens of Norwich, Conn., in 1847. Another monument was erected on the site of James Fenimore Cooper's home at Cooperstown, N.Y. Cooper wrote "The Last of the Mohicans" in 1826.