The Lenapé and their Legends

pe or De

the Wapings, Sanhicans and Mantas-Political Constitution of the Lenape-Vegetable Food Resources-Domestic Architecture-Manufactures.-Paints and Dyes.-Dogs-Interme

n of Lenn

s a in mate). Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull[48] is quite wide of the mark both in cal

of Pennsylvania as the synonym in the native tongue for the Delaware Indians,[49] and it is still retained by

es "people."[51] Dr. Trumbull, in the course of a long examination of the words for "man" in the Algonkin dialects, reaches the conclusion that "Len-apé" denotes "a common adult male," i. e., an Indian man; lenno lenapé, a

he pronominal radicle of the first person né, I, we, mine, our. As the native considered his tribe the oldest, as well as the most important of created beings, "ours" with him came to be synonymous with what was esteemed

common adult male," but rather "a

a place, abiding or sitting. Thus, in Cree, apú, he is there; in Chipeway, abi, he is at home; in Delaware, n'dappin, I am here. The transfer of this idea to the male sex is seen in the Cree, ap, to sit upon, to place

ape Sub

divided into t

eys, Montheys, Mun

nami, or

Unala

igations among living Delawares, carried out at my request by Mr. Horatio Hale, it is evident that

ountry," or briefly, "mountaineers." It is a synthesis of minthiu, to be scat

"people down the river,

eople who live near the ocean," from wunala

s of these sub-tribes when they firs

the Minisink plains, above the Water Gap, and another on the East Branch of the Delaware, which they called Namaes Sipu, Fish River. Their hunting grounds embraced

"far beyond the Susquehannah," is surely incorrect. Only after the beginning of the eighteenth century, when they had

rn neighbors, the Unalachtigos, that Penn dealt for the land ceded him in the Indian Deed of 1682. The Minsis did not take part in the tra

) locates the Chikahokin. In later writers this name is spelled Chihohockies, Chiholacki and Chikolacki, and is stated by the historians Proud and Smith to be synonymous with De

d desolated the west shores of the Bay and lower river. When, in 1634, Captain Thomas Young explored the river, the few natives he found on the west side told him (through the medium of his Algonkin Virginian interpreter) that the "Minquao

re the Okahoki band, who occupied the shores of Ridley and Crum creeks and the land between them. There they remained unti

temic

alachtigo the Turkey. The Unamis claimed and were conceded the precedence of the others, because their ancestor, the Turtle, was not the common animal

s referred to as Ptuksit, Round Foot (ptuk, round, sit, foot, from the shape of its paws;) the turtle was Pakoango

spective sub-tribes. But only in the case of the Unamis was the whole animal represented. The Turkey tribe painted only one foot of t

at they were "of the nature of phratries."[62] Each was divided into twelve families bearing female names, and hence probably referring to some unexpla

Jersey

x schey, which means something long and narrow (scheyek, a string of wampum; schajelinquall, the edge of the eyes, the eyelids, etc.) This would be equivalent to "long-land water," and, according to the rule

Jersey tribes fully recognized their unity. As early as 1694, at an interview with Governor Markham at Philadelphia, when the famous Tamany and other Lenape chieftains were present, Mohocksey, a chief of the Jersey I

y-three Indian kinglets in its area, with about 2000 warriors in all. Of these, Master Robert Evelin, a surveyor, who spent several years in the Province abou

00 men, five mile

wmen, twelve league

ikon

oches,

oneck,

cock,

on, 20

efar, 1

, 200 men,

reek, above Burlington, from Del. assiscu, mud; assiscunk, a muddy place. Lindstrom and Van der Donck name the most Southern tribe in New Jersey Naraticons. They were on

ere four. It is noted that when he had made them the presents customary on such occasions, "They return thank

is (1671) were estimated by the authorities at "abou

arbor and southwardly, or, more exactly, "from Roeloff Jansen's Kill to the sea."[67] They were of the Minsi totem, and were the ea

easternmost of the Lenape nation.[68] Their other name, Pompton, Mr Heckewelder ide

ton Indians resided on the Raritan river. The boundaries of the

n path quite to New York bay. Heckewelder says that this name, Sankhicani, means a gun lock, and was applied by the Lenape to the

hem as such. In Van der Donck's map, of 1656, they are marked as possessing the land at the Falls and Manhattan

an. De

atto,

hquoyuo,?

tumnu, m

sickenum,

originally a gun-flint, but any stone implement, from achsin, or, in the New Jersey dialect,

to what extent they were utilized by the natives is shown by the enormous collection, numbering over thirty thousand specimens, which Dr. Charles C. Abbott, of Trenton, has made in that immediate vicin

ntas, or Mantos, or Mandes, otherwise named the Frog Indians. They extended eastward along the main or southern Indian path, which led from the Dela

ven by the East Jersey and Stockbridge Indians to the name of the Minsi or Monsey sub-tribe of the Delawares.[72] This is further indicated by the fact that toward the beginning of the eighteenth century they incorporated themselves

e missionary Brainerd visited their settlement at Crosweeksung, Burlington county, he found some "who had lived with the white people under gospel light, had learned to

s that the disappearance of the native population was principally due to two agencies.

out the frequent unpleasant forcible expirations of the Nanticoke. A vocabulary of it, obtained for Mr. Thomas Jefferson

al Cons

Cree, okimaw, Pequot, sachimma), and derived from a root ?ki, signifying above in space, and by a transfer frequent in all languages, above in power.

bers."[79] Loskiel, however, writing on the excellent authority of Zeisberger, states explicitly that the chief of each totem was selected and inaugura

g of dark wampum, which indicated that the tempest of strife was to be let loose. Their proper badge was the wampum belt, with a diamo

orous braves of any birth or family who had distinguished themselves by pers

standings at the time, on the part of the colonial authorities, and since then, by later historians. Thus, in 1728, "the Delaware Indians on Brandywine" were summoned by the Governor to answer about a murder. Their chief

e and Food

variety of edible plants. Indian corn was, as usual, the staple; but in addition to that, they had extensi

tribes geographically the widest apart. Thus the Micmacs of Nova Scotia call it pe-?s'kumun-ul whose theme ?s'ku-mun reappears in the wuskannem (Elliott) a

s in the fields during the summer months. The second mün or min is a generic suffix applied to all sorts of small edible

retained in full, while for the first is substituted an abbreviation of manito, divine ("it is divine, supernatu

ariations and different orthographies of the root 'ta or 'dam (a nasal) found in the New England wutt?m-anog, Micmac tùmawa, Abnaki wh'd?man (Rasle), Cree tchistémaw, Chip. assema (= asté-maw), Blackfoot pi-st?

h we now know, and furthermore that they must have lived in a region where these two semi-tropical or wholly tropical plants, Indian corn and tobacco, had b

cab.) They were of earthenware and of stone; sometimes, it is said, of copper. According to Kalm, the

which the Indians called hobbenis, and the latter katniss, names which they subsequently applied to the European turnip. They also roasted and ate the acrid cormus of the Indian turnip, Arum triphyl

Buil

rate residence, a wattled hut, with rounded top, thatched with mats woven of the long leaves of the Indian corn or the stalks of the sweet flag (Acorus calam

ocation to place the children and women. The remains of these circular ramparts enclosing a cen

fact

cture or in the methods of decoration, although the late Mr. F. Peale thought that, in the latter respect, the Delaware pottery had some

stone, there was a considerable supply of native copper among them, in use as ornaments, for arrow heads and pipes. Some specimens of it have been found by Dr. Abbott near Trenton, and

l, to form bowls, and the wood of the sassafras tr

with a stone pestle, the native name of which was

ape, and arrow, alluns, the spear, tanganaoun, and for defence Bis

eover, knew how to catch with "brush nets," and with fish

s and

r they obtained red, white and blue clays, which were in such extensive demand that the vicinity of those streams in New Castle county

plants. These were mixed with the acid juice of the wild, sweet-scente

oot;" an orange by the root of Phytolacca decandra, the poke or pocoon; a yellow by the r

o

ted ears. These were called allum, and were preserved less for protection or

erm

on of Note dies very far away from his place of residence, they will convey his Bones home some considerable Time after, to be

Neversink creek,[94] while, according to tradition, another of great antiquity and

ation

hey much observe the Starres, and their very children can give names to many of them;"[96] and the same testimony is borne by Wassenaer. The latter, speaking of the tribes around New York Harbor, in 1630, says that their year began wi

and the sequence of events by yearly periods. The Chipeways count by winters (pipun-agak, in which the first word means winter, and the second is a plural form similar to the Del. gachtin); but the Lenape did not apparently follow them in this. They rec

raphic

ore frequently cut in or painted upon the bark of trees or pieces of wood. The colors were chiefly black and red. The system was highly conventionalize

eservation of the memory of famous men, and to the recollection of events and actions of note." Therefore, their Agamemnons felt no anxiety f

ibed and figured by Dr. Abbott.[101] It represents an arrow crossing certain straight lines. Several "gorgets" (smooth stone tablets pierced with holes for suspension, and probably used for cere

ve been photographed and described by Prof. T. C. Porter, of Lancaster, but have yet to be carefully analyzed.[102] From its

s a guide, little or no uniformity prevailed in the personal signs. The same chieftain would, o

notion of God was. The interpreter, at a loss for words, had recourse to picture writing, and describing a number of circles, one inside the other, he pointed to the centre of the innermost and smallest one

on found on the Muskingum river in 1780, and the interpretation is said to have been supplied by the celebrated Delaware chief, Captain Whi

seventeen years antecedent. There is no evidence that Wingenund took part in Pontiac's conspiracy, and he was the consistent friend of the whites.[106] Several of th

rd S

vents, speeches, etc., by means of marked sticks. As early as 1646, the Jesuit missionaries in C

inally meant "a piece of wood marked with fire," from the verb masinákisan, I imprint a mark upon it with fire, I burn a mark upon it,[109] thus indicat

sticks, they were painted, the colors as well as th

iser, as in use in 1748 when he was on his embassy in the Indian country.[112] The expression, "we tied up in bundles," is translated by Mr. Heckewelder, olumapisid, and a head

114], which, transliterated into Delaware (where the l is substituted for the r), would be w'lam'an. From this word came Wallamünk, the name applied by the natives to a

f "Wunnam, their red painting, which they most delight in, a

e, Del. wulit, Chip. gwanatsch = be

clay, was esteemed In full dress, and delightful to look upon. Hence

liar to the Delawares. They were familiar to the Iroquois, and the early

or knife. Such are those still in use among the Chipeway, described by Dr. James as "rude pictures carved on a flat piece of wood;"[118] by the native Copway, as "bo

for those connected with the mysteries, the "meda worship" and the "great medicine." Both words are evidently from a radical signifying a mark or sign, ap

Mental C

d them as "unspeakably indolent and slothful. They have little or no ambition or resolution; not one in a thousand of them that has the spirit of a man."[121] No more favorable

them by the standard of the Christian ideal

first explorers of the Delaware, Captain Thomas Young (1634), describes them

believe that there are any people on earth who are more attach

or pledges which we might not expect. They had learned and well understood that the Friends were non-

no Friend who stood faithful to his principles in the disuse of all weapons of war, the cause of wh

rder committed on a settler by an Indian, itself speaks volumes for their self-control and moral char

hority as Gen. Wm. H. Harrison could write these words about the Delawares: "A long and intimate knowledge of them, in peace and war, as enemies and friends, has left upon my mind

imself. "The children," he writes, "learn with surprising readiness; their master

ous Be

in nations, and were founded on those general mythical principles which, in my "Myths of the New World," I have shown existed widely throughout America. These are, the worship o

personified, and called the Grandfather of all Indian nations. They assigned to it twelve divine assistants, who were represented by so many ac

at he could not clearly understand; something "all light;" a being "in whom the earth, and all things in it, may be seen;" a "great man, clothed with the day, yea, with

erted priest of the native religion informed Bra

awares, and they applied to this animal, also, the appellation of the "Grandfather of the Indians."[133] Like the fire, the hare was considered their

gy, their pristine instructor in the arts, and figured in some of their legends as a white man,

bearing on several points in the Walam Olum. There are no compounds more frequent in that document than thos

ght, was that of the Four Cardinal Points, always identified with the F

d, "I find that in ancient times, before the coming of the white people, some supposed

found them again in 1616 among the accolents of the Potomac, close relatives of the Delawares. Their chief told him: "We have five gods in all, our chief god appears

l credo, of not only all the Algonkin faiths, but

erd and Loskiel all assure us in positive terms that the notion of a bad spirit, a "Devil," was wholly unknown to the aborigines, and entirely borrowed from the whites. Nor

er essential to or inhering in these creatures, but that some invisible beings, not distinguished from each other by certain names, but only notionally, communicate to these animals a great power, and so make these creatures the immediate authors of

a post, was their only idol. This was called wsinkhoalican. They also drew and perhaps carved emblems of their totemic guardian. Mr. Beatty describes the head chief's hom

, are exhumed in those parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey once inhabited

e of th

ive words were tschipey and tschitschank (in Brainerd, chichuny). The former is derived

m, and then could return and be born again into the world. In moments of spiritual illumination it was deeme

nion of the Delawares coincided with that of various other American nations

e about to visit your ancestors;"[143] but most observers agree that they were a

tive P

rs, or medicine men, who were really the native priests. They appear to have been of

dream. They were the interpreters of the dreams of others, and themselves claimed the power of dreaming truthfully of the future and the absent.[145] In their visions their guardian spirit visited them; they b

en, Schoolcraft), and in Cree as mitew, meaning a conjurer, a member of the Great Medicine Lodge.[148] I suspect the word is from m'iteh, heart (Chip. k'ide, thy hea

e, and both exorcised sickness and officiated at the funeral rites. Their name, as reported by the Dutch, was kitzinacka, which is evidently Great Snake (gitschi,

fore they attacked it vigorously. Preachers arose among them, and claimed to have had communications from the Great Spirit about all the matters which the Christian teachers talked of. These native exhorters fa

uch those who so constantly frustrated the efforts of the pious Brainerd. Often do both of these self-sacrificing

acquainted with the Bible history of creation; some had learned to read and write in the mission schools; they were eager to imitate

us Cere

imary meaning to sing (Abnaki, skan, je danse et chante en même temps, Rasles; Cree, nikam; Chip., nigam, I sing). From this noisy rite, which seems to h

s held in honor of "their Grandfather, the Fire." The number twelve appears in it frequently as regulating the actions and numbers of the perfor