Native American sachem, leader of the Mohegan tribe. Born into the Pequot tribe, he rebelled against Chief Sassacus, his father-in-law, and with his followers formed a separate Mohegan branch.

Uncas aided the English colonists in the Pequot War of 1637 and fought a series of wars with the Narragansetts, whom he defeated in 1643. In 1661, however, he made war on an ally of the English, Chief Massasoit and his Wampanoag tribe, and the English intervened and forced Uncas to relinquish his captives and plunder. Upon the outbreak of King Philip's War in 1675, he was required to turn over his sons as hostages to the English in assurance of his neutrality.

A character named Uncas was immortalized in literature in The Last of the Mohicans (1826) by the American writer James Fenimore Cooper.

"Uncas," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.