The Lenape Indians
Running head: THE LENAPE INDIANS
The Lenape Indians
Pennsylvania and Local History
The Lenape Indians
The Delaware River, named after Sir Thomas West, Lord de la Warr the governor of the Jamestown colony, flows from the Catskill Mountains in New York to the Delaware Bay along the borders of New Jersey and Delaware. The Delaware River meanders along and forms the boundary of present-day Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The first known inhabitants living along the banks of the Delaware River were the Eastern Woodland natives known as the Lenape Indians – sometimes called the Lenni Lenape or the Delaware Indians. Lenape stands for common or ordinary people and they called their land along the Delaware River Lenapehoking meaning Land of the Lenape (Kraft, 2005). At one time, the area known as Lenapehoking covered the southeastern portion of New York (including Staten Island and the western portion of Long Island), the southwestern portion of Connecticut, Eastern Pennsylvania, all of New Jersey, and the northeastern portion of Delaware along the Delaware Bay (Kraft, 2005). Evidence of the Lenape Indian’s presence in this geographic region dates back 3,000 years. The Lenapes first encountered the Europeans during the 16th Century. The discovered artifacts, the writings of the European settlers, and the stories passed down through the generations of Lenapes give us the story of the life and customs of the Lenape Indians as it was back during that time period. Two distinctly large groups of Lenape Indians, separated by geographic regions, made up what was known as Lenapehoking. The group of Lenape living north of what is today the Delaware Water Gap spoke a Munsee dialect and the group to the south spoke a Unami dialect (Lenape Lifeways, Inc, 2002). These two groups of Lenape Indians were organized into many bands which the Europeans called tribes. These small groups lived along the streams and rivers at the edge of the thick forests. In
The Lenape Indians
Pennsylvania and Local History
The Lenape Indians
The Delaware River, named after Sir Thomas West, Lord de la Warr the governor of the Jamestown colony, flows from the Catskill Mountains in New York to the Delaware Bay along the borders of New Jersey and Delaware. The Delaware River meanders along and forms the boundary of present-day Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The first known inhabitants living along the banks of the Delaware River were the Eastern Woodland natives known as the Lenape Indians – sometimes called the Lenni Lenape or the Delaware Indians. Lenape stands for common or ordinary people and they called their land along the Delaware River Lenapehoking meaning Land of the Lenape (Kraft, 2005). At one time, the area known as Lenapehoking covered the southeastern portion of New York (including Staten Island and the western portion of Long Island), the southwestern portion of Connecticut, Eastern Pennsylvania, all of New Jersey, and the northeastern portion of Delaware along the Delaware Bay (Kraft, 2005). Evidence of the Lenape Indian’s presence in this geographic region dates back 3,000 years. The Lenapes first encountered the Europeans during the 16th Century. The discovered artifacts, the writings of the European settlers, and the stories passed down through the generations of Lenapes give us the story of the life and customs of the Lenape Indians as it was back during that time period. Two distinctly large groups of Lenape Indians, separated by geographic regions, made up what was known as Lenapehoking. The group of Lenape living north of what is today the Delaware Water Gap spoke a Munsee dialect and the group to the south spoke a Unami dialect (Lenape Lifeways, Inc, 2002). These two groups of Lenape Indians were organized into many bands which the Europeans called tribes. These small groups lived along the streams and rivers at the edge of the thick forests. In
References: Grumet, R. S. (1989). The Lenapes. (F. W. Porter, III, Ed.). New York and Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. Kraft, H. C. (2005). The Lenape or Delaware Indians (8th ed.). Stanhope, NJ: Lenape Lifeways, Inc. Lenape Lifeways, Inc (2002). About The Lenapes. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://lenapelifeways.org/lenape1.htm Miller, R. M., & Pencak, W. (Eds.). (2002). Pennsylvania: A history of the Commonwealth. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press. Rem, J. (1984, December 1). Obit of Dean, Nora T. Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://files.usgwarchives.org/ok/washington/obits/d5000085.txt Walking Purchase. (2009). Retrieved December 4, 2009, from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Purchase