Lenape

The Lenape, also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands who live in the United States and Canada. Their home was in parts of Delaware, all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, New York Bay, western Long Island, and the lower Hudson Valley in New York state.

In the late 1700s, European settlers and the American Revolutionary War made many Lenape leave their homes, moving north and west. In the 1860s, the U.S. federal government moved many Lenape from the Eastern United States to places now called Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

Today, there are several recognized Lenape tribes, including the Delaware Nation and Delaware Tribe of Indians in Oklahoma, and the Stockbridge–Munsee Community in Wisconsin. In Canada, Lenape communities include the Munsee-Delaware Nation, Moravian of the Thames First Nation, and the Delaware First Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario.

Name

The name Lenni Lenape comes from two words. Lenni means "genuine" or "real," and Lenape means "real person" or "original person." Some Lenape people prefer just the name Lenape.

When European settlers first met the Lenape, they lived together in a place called Lenapehoking. This area included parts of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Lower New York Bay, and eastern Delaware. The name Delaware came later from English colonists who named the Delaware River after a governor. They began calling the Lenape the Delaware Indians because of where they lived.

Historical homelands

The Lenape people lived in a big area called Lenapehoking. This land included parts of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Their homes were near rivers like the Lehigh River and the Delaware River. They also lived near Long Island, New York Bay, and the Lower Hudson Valley in New York.

Today, Lenape communities are in places like Ontario, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma. They have special areas set aside for their people in these places.

Languages

The Unami and Munsee languages are part of the same language group. People who speak one can usually understand the other. A missionary named John Heckewelder said these two languages came from one original language. As of 2023, only a few elders in Moraviantown, Ontario, still speak Munsee very well.

William Penn, who met the Lenape in 1682, learned some of their words. He said "mother" was anna, "brother" was isseemus, and "friend" was netap. He also noticed that if someone asked for something they didn’t have, the Lenape would say, mattá ne hattá, meaning "not I have," instead of "I have not."

In 2002, the Delaware Tribe of Indians got money to make The Lenape Talking Dictionary. This helps keep and save the Southern Unami dialect.

Society

See also: Lenape mythology

Clans and kinship systems

When Europeans first arrived in North America, the Lenape people felt close to their family, clan, and village. They also felt ties to nearby villages that spoke the same language, and even farther villages that spoke similar languages, like the Nanticoke people who lived in western Delaware and eastern Maryland.

The Lenape had three main clans: Wolf, Turtle, and Turkey. Each clan had twelve smaller groups. Children belonged to their mother’s clan, and men lived with their wives’ families. Both men and women shared rights and responsibilities.

Lenape villages were run fairly. Leaders, called sachems, listened to the people and talked with older advisors.

Hunting, fishing, and farming

Lenape women grew crops together, such as corn, beans, and squash, a method called companion planting. Men hunted animals like deer, bears, and beavers, and fished in rivers and bays. They used clever ways to catch fish and animals, like making fish dizzy with chestnuts.

These skills helped the Lenape have bigger families than many other groups at the time. Around the time Europeans arrived, there may have been about 15,000 Lenape people near what is now New York City.

The Lenape traded with European settlers for tools and goods. They made wampum, shell beads used for decoration and rituals, and traded these for furs and other items.

Clothing and adornment

Lenape people made their clothes from natural materials. In warm weather, men wore small cloths, and women wore skirts. In cold weather, they used animal skins for coats and shoes. Both men and women wore special decorations made from feathers, stones, shells, and animal teeth.

Women often wore long hair and headbands, while men had short hair and wore feathered decorations.

Leisure

The Lenape enjoyed games and dances. One popular game, pahsaheman, was like football but played differently by men and women. Men used only their feet, while women could carry and pass the ball. Women could not be tackled by men during the game.

Dancing was also common. Men danced loudly and jumped, often wearing bear claws, while women danced more quietly, moving their steps gently.

Ethnobotany

Lenape healers, mostly women, used plants to help treat sicknesses. They used black walnut trees to help with skin problems and persimmons for ear issues. They also used buckeye nuts for pain in the joints and earaches, and even to catch fish in streams.

History

European contact

The first time Europeans met the Lenape was in 1524. Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano met local Lenape when his ship entered what is now Lower New York Bay.

Early colonial era

From the 1600s to the 1800s, the Lenape were a strong Native American group living along the mid-Atlantic coast, from southern Massachusetts to Delaware. They lived around the Delaware and lower Hudson rivers, including parts of Long Island in New York today. Some place names like Manhattan and Raritan came from the Lenape.

17th century

The Lenape had a tradition where families and clans owned property. Europeans often tried to buy land from tribal leaders, which confused the Lenape because their ideas about family and ownership were different. After the Dutch arrived and built Fort Nassau in present-day Gloucester City, New Jersey, in the 1620s, the Lenape managed to limit Dutch settlement until the 1660s. The Dutch later built a fort at Bergen, allowing more settlement west of the Hudson River.

New Amsterdam was founded by the Dutch in 1624, which later became New York City. In 1631, Dutch settlers created a colony at present-day Lewes, Delaware, named Zwaanendael. In 1632, a misunderstanding led to a local Lenape group harming Dutch settlers. The Lenape also hunted beavers for trade, but over-hunting led to fewer beavers, so the Dutch moved their operations north.

During the Beaver Wars in the mid-1600s, the Lenape were careful to keep guns away from the coast, while other groups like the Iroquois became well-armed and defeated the Lenape. By the late 1600s, the Lenape became tied to the Iroquois through agreements.

Diseases brought by Europeans, like smallpox and measles, also reduced Lenape numbers.

In 1682, William Penn and Quaker settlers created the colony of Pennsylvania, beginning at the lower Delaware River. A peace agreement was made between the new settlers and the Lenape at what is now Penn Treaty Park. However, thousands of new settlers soon arrived, putting pressure on Lenape lands.

18th century

William Penn died in 1718. His heirs tried to sell Lenape land to settlers, leading to the Walking Purchase in the 1730s. This involved misleading Lenape leaders about the amount of land being sold, and eventually, the Lenape were forced off their remaining homeland. Some Lenape fought back against settlers during the French and Indian War.

In 1757, colonists forced about 200 Lenape from present-day Washington Valley, New Jersey, to move to a reservation called Brotherton. In 1758, the Treaty of Easton required the Lenape to move west out of New York and New Jersey into Pennsylvania, Ohio, and beyond.

Moravian Church missions began in Lenape areas during the 1700s. The Moravians required converts to follow their peaceful ways and live in structured villages, which caused tension with other Lenape who valued warriors.

Some Lenape sided with France to stop more European settlement. Others later allied with the British. After the French and Indian War, settlers continued to attack Lenape, and conflict grew.

American Revolutionary War

During the early 1770s, missionaries arrived near Lenape villages in Ohio. The Moravians set up missions and pushed Lenape to change their ways to match European customs. This divided the Lenape, as some adopted Christianity while others resisted.

At the start of the American Revolutionary War, some Lenape tried to stay neutral, while others supported the British. As the war continued, Lenape in Ohio were divided about which side to support.

Some Lenape fought against American settlers and moved closer to British-held Fort Detroit. In 1778, one Lenape leader allowed American soldiers to pass through their land to attack Fort Detroit in exchange for building a fort at Coshocton for protection. The Americans built Fort Laurens, but abandoned it in 1779. Without protection, the Lenape faced more conflicts with settlers.

A Lenape leader named White Eyes died in 1778. After that, many Lenape joined the fight against the Americans. In response, American officer Daniel Brodhead attacked a peaceful Moravian Lenape village in 1779.

Late 18th century treaties

In 1780, Lenape leaders who had been forced from New Jersey wrote a treaty saying they would not sell more land to settlers without agreement from all their people.

Over many years, European settlers pushed the Lenape west from the East Coast through Ohio and beyond. By the late 1700s, many Lenape moved to areas around the Ohio River. Others moved to Canada after the British lost the American Revolutionary War.

The 1795 Treaty of Greenville gave more land to the United States but also promised payments to Lenape and other groups.

In 1796, some Lenape moved to a reservation in New York with the Oneida people. Not all Lenape left New Jersey at first, but many eventually did.

19th century

In the early 1800s, a writer named Silas Wood claimed there were many different tribes on Long Island, New York, but modern studies show that two groups lived there: the Lenape on the west and another group related to New England tribes on the east.

Groups of Lenape moved to Oneida County, New York, by 1802. In 1822, Lenape from Washington Valley were moved again, this time to Green Bay, Wisconsin, after being forced out by settlers.

Indiana to Missouri

In 1818, the Lenape signed a treaty giving up their lands in Indiana for lands west of the Mississippi River and some money each year. They settled along the James River in Missouri, living on about 40,000 acres of the land they were given.

Role in western history

Many Lenape took part in exploring the western United States. They worked as trappers, guides, and hunters for travelers and the army in events like the Second Seminole War and Frémont’s expeditions.

Texas

Lenape moved to Texas in the late 1700s and early 1800s, settling near the Red and Sabine rivers. They lived peacefully with others, including the Spanish and later Mexicans.

When Texas fought for independence in 1836, leaders tried to get support from tribes, including the Lenape. Although a treaty was made, it was never officially approved.

After Texas became independent, President Sam Houston wanted peaceful relations with tribes and used Lenape as scouts. But the next president, Mirabeau B. Lamar, wanted all tribes removed from Texas. The Lenape were sent north, though some stayed.

When Houston was president again in 1841, he renewed peaceful policies and made a treaty with the remaining Lenape in 1843. Lenape scouts helped bring Comanche leaders to peace talks.

When Texas joined the United States in 1845, the Lenape kept their peaceful ways, helping as interpreters and guides for the U.S. Army. In 1854, the last Lenape in Texas were moved to a reservation near Graham, Texas, and later to Oklahoma.

Kansas reservation

In 1829, the Lenape were forced to move west again, this time to lands in what is now Kansas. But in the 1850s, white settlers moved into the area, and the Lenape faced trouble protecting their lands. By 1860, they decided to leave Kansas.

Oklahoma

Most Lenape moved to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the 1860s. Today, there are two recognized Lenape tribes there: the Delaware Nation in Anadarko and the Delaware Tribe of Indians in Bartlesville.

20th century

In 1979, U.S. authorities stopped recognizing the Lenape living among the Cherokee in Oklahoma, counting them as Cherokee instead. This was reversed in 1996, and they were recognized again as a separate tribe.

21st century

In 2004, a court ruled against the Lenape’s independent recognition, but they regained it in 2009. The tribe created a new government then.

In 2000, the Delaware Nation received land in Pennsylvania.

In 2004, the Delaware Nation sued Pennsylvania to reclaim land from the 1737 Walking Purchase for a casino but the court ruled against them, saying their rights to the land had ended long ago.

Contemporary tribes and organizations

Three Lenape tribes are federally recognized in the United States:

• Delaware Nation in Anadarko, Oklahoma
• Delaware Tribe of Indians in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
• Stockbridge-Munsee Community in Bowler, Wisconsin

The Lenape who moved from the United States in the late 18th century settled in what is now Ontario. Canada recognizes three Lenape First Nations with four Indian reserves in Southwestern Ontario:

• Munsee-Delaware Nation, near St. Thomas, Ontario
• Moravian of the Thames First Nation, near Chatham-Kent
• Delaware of Six Nations (at Six Nations of the Grand River), near Brantford, Ontario

Four groups in the United States claim descent from Lenape people and are state-recognized tribes:

• Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware in Delaware
• Nanticoke-Lenni Lenape Tribal Nation in New Jersey
• Ramapough Lenape Nation in New Jersey
• Powhatan Renape Nation in New Jersey

Many other groups in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and elsewhere also claim Lenape heritage but are not recognized by the U.S. federal government. Some of these groups have asked the U.S. federal government for recognition.

Notable historical Lenape people

This section talks about Lenape people who were important in history. Many were leaders or helped make agreements.

Some well-known Lenape people are Richard C. Adams, who wrote stories about their traditions. Black Beaver was a trapper and scout. Hannah Freeman was one of the last Lenape in Pennsylvania. Charles Journeycake was a chief who visited Washington, D.C. many times. Tamanend was a leader who made agreements with William Penn. Teedyuscung was a leader of the eastern Lenape, and White Eyes helped negotiate the Treaty of Fort Pitt.