The very first treaty which the United States signed with an Indian nation was with the Lenni Lenape (also known as Delaware) in 1778. The treaty allowed American troops to pass through Delaware territory. In addition, the Lenape agreed to sell corn, meat, horses, and other supplies to the United States and to allow their men to enlist in the U.S. army. The treaty also stated that if the Lenape decided to, they might form a state and have a representative in Congress. The idea of statehood for the Delaware was suggested by Chief White Eyes.
At the time of initial European contact, the territory occupied by the Lenni Lenape included New Jersey, New York (west of the Hudson River and the western end of Long Island), eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and northeastern Maryland. The designation “Lenni Lenape” means “True Men.” Other Algonquian-speaking groups in the region often referred to the Lenni Lenape as Grandfather because they considered the Lenni Lenape territory as the original homeland of all Algonquians. In his book Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Carl Waldman reports:
“There were three major divisions of the Delaware Indians: Munsee (Wolf), Unami (Turtle), and Unalactigo (Turkey). These groups all had further subdivisions with other names.”
The Lenni Lenape are also described as a close-knit federation of many Algonquian-speaking groups.
Language
The Lenni Lenape language belongs to the large Algonquian language family. It is thus related to other languages in the area, such as Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Wampanoag, Massachusett, Narragansett, Mohegan, Pequot, Munsee, and Nanticoke. It is distantly related to the Plains Indian Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Gros Ventre and even more distantly related to some California languages such as Wiyot and Yurok.
Subsistence
Like the other tribes in the Northeastern United States, the Lenni Lenape were an agricultural people who also engaged in some gathering of wild plants, along with hunting and fishing. Like the other Indian people in this region, they raised corn (maize), beans, squash, sunflowers, and other crops. The crops were tended by the women and were not planted in fields which were fenced. Thus, Indian agriculture was often invisible to the English who assumed that agriculture was men’s work and had to be done in fenced fields.
The Lenni Lenape would use fire to help drive and trap game. The burning of the woods in the fall after the leaves had fallen also made tracking and hunting easier by keeping the woods open. Fire surrounds required the cooperative efforts of 100-200 people. In his book Looking Beneath the Surface: The Story of Archaeology in New Jersey, archaeologist R. Alan Mounier describes the use of a fire surround:
“An undisclosed number of hunters encircled a large area with fire and drove game animals toward the center. When the animals were concentrated in a confined space, the hunters attempted to kill as many as possible.”
While hunting was done throughout the year, it was the principal occupation of the Fall. In his 1819 book History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States, John Heckewelder reports:
“The hunter prefers going out with his gun on an empty stomach; he says, that hunger stimulates him to exertion by reminding him continually of his wants, whereas a full stomach makes a hunter easy, careless, and lazy, ever thinking of his home and losing his time to no purpose.”
Wild plants were also an important source for both food and for fiber for making baskets and other items. In the summer, the people would gather strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, currants, blueberries, and grapes. In the fall, they would gather walnuts, chestnuts, butternuts, hickory nuts, and acorns.
Mining
The Lenni Lenape, like other Native peoples prior to the European invasion, relied heavily upon stone as the basic material for many of their tools. While there is stone almost everywhere, most of this stone cannot be chipped, flaked, or knapped into suitable tools. Thus, Indian people developed quarries or mines at places where suitable stone was found. Archaeologist R. Alan Mounier reports:
“Aboriginal stone mining appears to have been limited to working around partially exposed pieces to aid in their manipulation or removal.”
Mounier also reports:
“The gathering and processing of stone was likely to have been integrated into an annual cycle so as not to conflict with other necessary activities, such as hunting, fishing, and nut collecting.”
Clothing and Body Adornment
The Lenni Lenape made blankets from beaver and raccoon skins that were pliable, warm, and durable. By carefully setting the hair or fur in the same way, rain would run off the blanket and not penetrate it. They also made blankets from feathers which were warm and durable. In her book Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume, Josephine Paterek reports:
“Waterproof cloaks of turkey feathers were cherished, fashioned by tying the feathers into a netting made of hemp.”
Among the Lenni Lenape, men would wear a tanned deerskin breechclout and thigh-high deerskin leggings which were fastened at the sides with thongs. Josephine Paterek reports:
“Most of the time the women wore only a kilt-type skirt of skin, knee-length, wrapped around the hips and held in place by means of a belt; some skirts were made of cloth woven of Indian hemp.”
In cold weather, women would also wear knee-length leggings.
Tattooing was common. Generally, animal figures were favored. Some warriors would have tattoos which represented their war exploits. Writing about one such warrior in 1819, Christian missionary John Heckewelder reported:
“On his whole face, neck, shoulders, arms, thighs and legs, as well as on his breast and back, were represented scenes of the various actions and engagements he had been in; in short, the whole of this history was there deposited, which was well known to those of his nation, and was such that all who heard it thought it could never be surpassed by man.”
Face painting was common among the Lenni Lenape. Josephine Paterek reports:
“Men preferred geometric or animal designs; women rouged the cheeks with red in a small circle, and reddened the ear rims and eyelids.”
Government
Unlike the European nations in the eighteenth century, the Lenni Lenape were not a monarchy nor were they politically unified. Among the Lenni Lenape there was a confederation of towns and villages. According to David McCutchen, in his book The Red Record, the Wallam Olum of the Lenni Lenape:
“The Lenni Lenape government was a participatory democracy, with councils presided over by chiefs, known as sachems, whose authority came from their power of persuasion.”
The political focus of the Lenni Lenape was the village, which was generally inhabited by a few hundred people.
Writing about the authority and power of the Lenni Lenape chiefs, Ives Goddard, in his chapter in Handbook of North American Indians, reports:
“Chiefs acted as mediators and performed ceremonial functions, but they lacked coercive prerogatives. At times they seem to exercise little power beyond that of persuasion, unable to control the warriors and merely acting as spokesmen for their particular people in dealing with the Europeans.”
Regarding the succession of Lenni Lenape chiefs, a chief would usually designate his successor, but this does not appear to have been binding following his resignation or death. Unlike the European kings, a son did not automatically assume his father’s position.
Record Keeping
The Lenni Lenape kept records of important information in a number of ways. Wampum belts were one way of recording an event. Song sticks and wooden tablets with engraved symbols were used to record the verses of sacred songs and to record family genealogy. One early Moravian missionary reported:
“…they use hieroglyphs on wood, trees, and stones, to give caution, information, communicate events, achievements, [and] keep records.”
Like the other Indian nations of the region, the Lenni Lenape used wampum belts for recording important agreements and for sending messages. A wampum belt with one or two rows of white wampum interwoven with black and running through the middle indicated that two nations were friendly with each other. On the other hand, a black belt with the mark of a hatchet on it in red was a war belt. When this type of belt, together with a twist of tobacco, was sent to an Indian nation, it was an invitation to join in war.
Many of the tribes in this region used a kind of picture-writing known as wikhegan. A hunter or traveler would scratch a series of pictures on a piece of bark and then hide it in the base of a tree. By leaving sticks on the trail, others would know that a wikhegan was hidden nearby and recover it to read the message. The wikhegan was also used in regional maps. These bark maps would show the rivers and streams of the country and would allow those who embarked on a long-distance journey to do so without going astray.
Marriage and Family
Unlike the eighteenth-century Europeans, the Lenni Lenape viewed men and women as equals. Marriages were contracts in which it was understood that both sides were not obligated to live with each other any longer than they were pleased with each other. There was no religious ceremony involved in marriage, and marriage (as well as divorce) was seen as a private matter rather than a concern for the entire village.
Polygyny—the marriage of one man to more than one woman at the same time—was allowed and was more common among chiefs. A polygynous chief might loan one of his wives to an important visitor.
Kinship terminology—the names used to designate relationships—was different from that used by the English colonists. For example, the English terms “brother,” “sister,” and “sibling,” refer to people who share the same father and mother. Yet, among Lenni Lenape there was no distinction between what the English would call “sibling” and what the English would call “cousin.”
Warfare
While warfare was common among the Indian nations of the Northeast, it tended to be individualistic. War leaders led by persuasion, rather than authority and rank. Warfare tended to be small in scale and there were relatively few casualties. War was conducted for revenge and for personal honor. It was not done to obtain territory, and religious war was unthinkable.
Lenni Lenape warriors often wore a wooden helmet into battle. They would carry a large wooden war club which was attached to one arm with a thong, and a rectangular shield made of wood or moose hide. The shield would cover the body up to the shoulder. Both the shield and the war club were painted with special designs. Warriors would often wear special headbands and red turkey feathers. While on the warpath, a special jargon was spoken.
Religion
As with other American Indian nations, dreams were an important part of the lives of the Lenni Lenape. It was of vital importance for each human being to obtain a personal guardian spirit in order to be successful in their life. A formal vision quest was therefore done at about 12-14 years of age. During the vision quest, the seekers would abstain from food and water. There are some reports that datura (jimsonweed) was sometimes used to enhance the vision experience. Following the vision quest a new name would be bestowed on the individual, reflecting the nature of the vision.
The Lenni Lenape also had sacred dolls which were used in the spring in the Doll Dance. This ceremony was a celebration of fertility as well as good health.
Hunting was an important economic activity and, therefore, this was reflected in religious ceremonies. In his book Native American Clothing: An Illustrated History, Theodore Brasser reports:
“Among the Delaware, carved wooden masks were worn by dancers in bearskin costumes to represent the guardian spirits of the game. The masked dancers appeared at the start of the winter hunting season.”
One of the ceremonies among the Lenni Lenape was the Big House Ceremony or Gamwing. This twelve-day ceremony helped to maintain the cosmos and included the sharing of dreams and visions. During the ceremony, the participants would tell of the visions received during their vision quests and sing the songs acquired at this time. Dancing around the fire proceeded in a counter-clockwise fashion.
The Big House itself was a symbolic representation of the world with a central column connecting the sky and the earth, and the four walls facing the four cardinal directions. In an article in the Plains Anthropologist, Brice Obermeyer writes:
“The ceremony was performed in the Xingwikaon, or Big House church, which was a rectangular log building with a pitched shingle roof supported by one central ridge pole running the length of the structure.”
In their book The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions, Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin write:
“The Big House Ceremony was believed to benefit all of the people, to avert natural catastrophe and to hold the members of the tribal group together.”
Among the Lenni Lenape the Pickwelanoekan, or Nighthawk Dance, was both a dance of thanksgiving and a petition to the spirits for good health. In this dance, from two to four young men face the singer in a line. Each dancer carries a rattle in his right hand and a nighthawk wing fan in his left. During the dance, they lunge and jump toward the singer.
As with Indians in other culture areas, the sweat lodge was, and continues to be, an important element of spirituality. Among the Lenni Lenape, sweat lodges (also called sweat houses and sweat ovens) were large enough to hold from two to six people. The sweat lodges were generally built on a hillside or slope so that half of the lodge was underground. The portion which protruded would be well covered with planks and earth. The sweat lodges were generally located some distance from the village in an area with ample wood and water. Within the lodge, water would be poured on red hot stones to produce steam which facilitated communication with the spirit world. Separate sweat lodges were built for men and women. The sweat lodge served as both a ceremonial and social center.
Death
As among many other tribes, life and death were seen as a part of an ongoing cycle. Thus, reincarnation was seen as a part of this cycle. After a birth, old women would examine the newborn to check for signs that the baby had lived before. These signs included keeping the body relaxed and the hands unclenched and reacting favorably to places and things associated with the dead relative.
Writing in 1817 about one Lenni Lenape man, Christian missionary John Heckewelder reported:
“He asserted very strange things, of his own supernatural knowledge, which he had obtained not only at the time of his initiation, but at other times, even before he was born. He said he knew that he had lived through two generations; that he had died twice and was born a third time, to live out the then present race, after which he was to die and never more to come to this country again.”
Among the Lenni Lenape, the body of the deceased was buried in a sitting position. Grave goods included tools, food, and wampum. In some instances, a post with a pictorial representation of the individual’s accomplishments might be placed at the grave. As with many other tribes, the Lenni Lenape avoided speaking the name of someone who was deceased.
Indians 101/201
This series explores many different American Indian topics. Indians 201 is an expansion/revision of an earlier essay. At the beginning of the European invasion of North America, there were hundreds of distinct, autonomous American Indian nations and today most people know the names of only a handful. All Indian nations are not the same and this series has profiled a 37 of them. Some of the nations profiled include:
Indians 101: A Short Overview of the Huron Indians
Indians 101: A Brief Overview of the Illinois Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Menominee Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Miami Indians
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the Ottawa Indians
Indians 101: A Short Overview of the Potawatomi Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Shawnee Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Wea Indians