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THE

INDIANSOF

LENAPEHOKINGby HERBERT C. KRAFT

and JOHN T. KRAFTILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN T. KRAFT

1985

Seton Hall University MuseumSouth Orange, New Jersey 07079

145 SKYLAND3 ROADRINGWOOD, NEW JERSEY 07456

THE INDIANS OF LENAPEHOKING: Copyright(c)1985 by Herbert C. Kraft and John T.Kraft, Archaeological Research Center, Seton Hall University Museum, South Orange, MewJersey.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book--neither text,maps, nor illustrations--may be reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy,photograph, or other record without the prior agreement and written permission of the authorsand publishers, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.For information address Dr. Herbert C. Kraft, Archaeological Research Center, Seton HallUniversity Museum, South Orange, Mew Jersey, 07079

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 85-072237

ISBN: 0-935137-00-9

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe research, text, illustrations, and printing of this book were made possible by agenerous Humanities Grant received from the New Jersey Department of HigherEducation in 1984.

The author greatfully acknowledge the valuable assistance rendered by the following:

Educational Consultants: Marguerite Chenel-Guarisco, North Warren Regional HighSchool; Carol Marlowe, Rahway Public Library; Laura Fuhro, Berkeley Heights PublicLibrary.

Editorial Consultants: Drs. Thomas Marlowe, Donald Me Kenna and John DavidSweeney, Seton Hall University; Joan E. Kraft and Howard Ziegler; and EberhardGrosse, University printer.

Native American Indian Consultants: James "Lone Bear" Revey, New Jersey Indian Of-fice, The late Nora Thompson Dean, "Touching Leaves," and James RementerTouching Leaves Indian Crafts, Dewey, Oklahoma. James Rementer also provided theLenape words and translations used in this book.

The following educators gave a great deal of time, and also brought much classroomexperience and professional expertise to this project: Sandy Ginsburg, Andy Rovitoand Neva Brown of the Tinton Falls Public School System; Mary G.Clark, MendhamTownship Middle School; Alan J. Lucibello, Montville High School; and Ken Donahue,Collier School, Wickatunk, N.J.

Seton Hall University provided research, laboratory and support facilities.

To one and all I acknowledge appreciation and a debt of gratitude. It is hoped that thisbook will provide teachers, students, Native Americans and other readers withstimulating and factual insights concerning the Lenape and Munsee Indians and theirprehistoric antecedents, and give them an enhanced sense of an ancient and valuedheritage.

June 1, 1985Herbert C. KrafL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements iiTime Line ivIntroduction 1

The Indians of Lenapehoking 2Creation Myths of the Lenape Indians 3Paleo-lndians, the First Americans 4Archaic Hunters, Fishers and Gatherers 8From Soapstone Pots to Brass Kettles 12The Early and Middle Woodland Periods 13The Meadowood and Adena People 14

The Late Woodland Period 16Gardening 17Housing 18Lenape Lifeways 20Tools and Weapons 22Travel and Transportation 24Entertainment and Recreation 25Clothing and Personal Adornment 26Pottery Making 28Religious Beliefs 29Curing 32The Medicine Bundle 34Life Cycle 35Death and Burial 37The Historic Period 38The Lenape Indians Today 40

A Lenape Story in the Lenape Language 41

Glossary of Selected Terms 42Index 43Lenape Words and Translations 44Indian Place Names 45Selected Bibliography 46

MAJOR EVENTSIN WORLD HISTORY

MAJOR EVENTSIN LENAPEHOKING

AND AMERICA

Beginnings of humankind to time of theNeanderthals. Hunting and gatheringpeople.

4,500,000

to 35,000 B.C.No humans in Western Hemisphere

Emergence of Cro-Magnon and modernman. Cave paintings and sculptures inWestern Europe.

Bow and arrow, and pottery are invented.Begin plant and animal domestication inAsia Minor. Jerico is settled.

Villages spread throughout the MiddleEast. Loom is invented, sheep and cattleare domesticated.

Copper metallurgy, sailing ships, firstcities in Mesopotamia.

Wheel and writing invented inMesopotamia. Egypt is united andpyramids are built, silk is produced inChina, Stonehenge is built in England.

Chickens and elephants domesticated inIndus Valley, horse tamed in Central Asia,Civilization emerges in China, Hebrew ex-odus from Egypt (ca. 1240 B.C.)

Phoenicians develop alphabet (ca. 900B.C.), first Olympics (ca. 776 B.C.), Romefounded (ca. 753 B.C.), Age of Buddha,Confucius, Socrates (ca. 550 B.C.),Golden Age of Athens (ca. 460 B.C.),Jesus Christ is born.

Fall of Rome (476), beginning of Islam(622), Golden Age of Ghana (ca. 920), LiefEricson discovers Vineland (ca. 1001).

Norman Conquest (1066), Marco Polovisits China (ca. 1271), Columbusdiscovers America (1492), Cortez con-quers Aztecs in 1521, Verrazano entersNew York harbor (1524).

Hudson sails up Hudson River (1609),New Netherland is founded (1624), NewYork and New Jersey become English col-onies (1664), French and Indian Wars(1754-1763).

35,000 to10 ,000 B.C.

10,000 to8,000 B.C.

8,000 to6,000 B.C.

6,000 to4,000 B.C.

4,000 to2,000 B.C.

2,000 to1,000 B.C.

1,000 to0 B.C.

A.D. 1to 1000

A.D.1000to 1600

A.D. 1600to 1758

Ancestors of Indians cross into Alaskabefore 15,000 B.C., arrive in Lenapehok-ing ca. 10,000 B.C.

Nomadic Paleo-lndians hunt with flutedspears. Animals in Lenapehoking includemastodon, caribou and walrus, dog mayhave been domesticated.

Early Archaic hunting and gatheringbands. Constant wandering in search offood. Wild animals and plants similar totoday.

Middle Archaic Indians. Spears, heavywoodworking tools. No metal, nodomesticated plants.

Late Archaic Indians. Spear-hunting,fishing, gathering of wild plants, nuts andberries. Corn is domesticated in Mexico,potatoes in Peru.

Terminal Archaic period. First cookingpots made from soapstone. Some crema-tion burials with grave goods. Olmeccivilization in Mexico, Chavin culture inPeru.

Early Woodland period. Mound-buildercultures in Ohio Valley. Adena traders br-ing exotic trade goods to Lenapehoking.First pottery vessels appear inLenapehoking. Gold metal work in Peru,Monte Alban is constructed in Mexico.

Middle Woodland period. Bow and arrowis introduced. Hopewell culture inMidwest and Temple Mound culture inSoutheast, Teotehuacan in Central Mex-ico. Maya civilization in Yucatan.

Late Woodland period. In Lenapehoking,corn, beans and squash now grown ingardens. Dog in only domesticatedanimal. Hunting, fishing and gatheringare still important. Cliff dwellings inSouthwest. Beginning of Aztec empire(1325), beginning of In'ca empire (1438).

Early historic period. European colonistsand traders introduce European tradeitems; diseases and rum claim many In-dian lives. Land is sold. Treaty of Easton(1758) causes Indians to leaveLenapehoking and move to Oklahoma andCanada.

The message on this petroglyph, the largestand most important prehistoric rock carvingfound in New Jesey to date, cannot bedeciphered. The figures (pictographs) werecarved about five hundred to one thousandyears ago. Found near Dingman's Ferry inSussex County, N.J. (Collection of Seton HallUniversity Museum.)

INTRODUCTION

When European explorers and settlers cameto this land about four hundred years ago, theyfound it already occupied by Indians who hadbeen here for thousands of years. Today,names like Hackensack, Hoboken, Manhattan,Hopatcong and Raritan remind us of this Indianheritage. By the mid-eighteenth century mostIndians had been forced to move west, butsome remained and their descendants are stillliving here today. We probably would notrecognize these Indians today because theywear clothes like ours, live in houses like ours,drive cars, and eat the same types of foods wedo. Only at occasional pow-wows* and tribalgatherings do some Native Americans put onfeather headdresses, beaded clothing, moc-

casins and face paint in remembrance of anearlier way of life.

North American Indians had no writtenhistory. In fact, they had no writing, except forthe use of pictures, or pictographs, some ofwhich were carved on stone. Much informationwas also lost because European colonists didnot appreciate or understand the Indians'language and culture. Archaeologists, an-thropologists, and historians, aided bydescendants of the Lenape and Munsee In-dians, have been able to rediscover the ancientways. They have also been able to correctmistaken ideas so that we can better under-stand and appreciate the culture of the NativeAmericans.

*The italicized words and those in bold type are identified in the glossary (p. 42) or in the list ofselected Indian words (p. 44).

v\ I

THE INDIANSOF LENAPEHOKING

The term "Indian," even though inaccurate,has been used for so many centuries that thenative people and the general public havecome to accept it. The Indians who formerlylived in the lower half of Lenapehoking calledthemselves "Lenape," meaning "common" or"ordinary" people. The term "Lenni Lenape" isredundant, as if to say "the common, ordinarypeople." Lenape does not mean "original peo-ple," as is so often stated.

In the seventeenth century the nameDelaware was used by the English to identifythe native people who lived along the DelawareRiver (which they had renamed in honor of SirThomas West, Lord De la Warre, the firstgovernor of Virginia). Soon the name Delawarewas extended to many other Indians living inhew Jersey, southeastern hew York State,western Long Island, eastern Pennsylvania,and northern Delaware. We call this regionLenapehoking. "The Land of the Lenape." To-day the name Delaware, although not an Indianword, is still used for their descendants and toidentify the language of these people.

We now know that two related but distinctgroups of Indians occupied Lenapehoking; notthree as is sometimes stated. Those living inthe northern half (above the Raritan River andthe Delaware Water Gap) spoke a Munseedialect of the Eastern Algonquian Delawarelanguage, while the Lenape--those to thesouth--spoke a CInami dialect of the samelanguage. The beliefs and cultures of these twogroups also differed somewhat, as did potterystyles and burial practices. For convenience,we will use the word Lenape to refer to all theIndian bands of Lenapehoking, beginning inthe Late Woodland period. Originally, the peo-

ple of Lenapehoking had no tribal structureand no powerful chiefs or spiritual leaders.These self-sufficient people lived in smallbands in which men and boys hunted, fishedand did the heavy work while women andchildren gathered wild plant foods and gar-dened.

The prehistoric ancestors of the Lenape(those living here before European contact) didnot keep written records, so we do not knowwhat they called themselves. For this reason,archaeologists have created names such asPaleo-lndian, Archaic, and Late Woodland toidentify the different prehistoric periods andcultures. It was during these early times (ca.10,000 B.C.A.D. 1600) that the ancientforefathers of the Lenape lived and developedtheir special ways of life.

\ >UNAMI SPEAKERS A

yLenapehoking

day a wolf chased a deer, and accidentallydiscovered the way to the surface of the earth.This wolf later guided the people from the darkand damp places to the sun-lit lands above.

Another story of Indian origins, the WalamOlum or "Red Score," claims to document theDelaware Indian migration from Asia to theAtlantic coast. However, this story cannot beconsidered either ancient or reliable, for ac-cording to most Delaware Indians, the WalamOlum was never an important part of Delawaretribal lore.

Creation myths are fascinating, but ar-chaeologists and geologists have learned thatthe ancestors of the Indians did not originate inAmerica. Instead, they descended from anAsian race of people, some of whom came tothe New World from places deep insideSiberia. Native Siberians, like American In-dians, have straight black hair, high cheekbones, and shovel-shaped incisor teeth. Theirskin, and that of the Indians, is pigmented, butit is not red. To call an Indian a "red skin" is notonly wrong, it is insulting. The term "red skin"came about because Indians often use redceremonial paint or olaman to color their facesand bodies.

THE CREATION MYTHSOF THE LENAPE INDIANS

Indians cannot remember a time when theyand their ancestors did not live here; but theyare uncertain where the Lenape came from orhow they got here. One Lenape creation storytells us that the earth is resting on the back of agiant turtle lying in the water. From the soil onthis turtle's back there once grew a tree thatsent forth a sprout from which the first mancame. Then, bending over, the top of the treetouched the ground and sent out anothersprout from which the first woman emerged.These were the original parents from whom allLenape Indians descended.

The Munsee Indians told a different tale.They believed that their ancestors and allanimals once lived deep inside the earth. One

shovel-shapedteeth

PALEO-INDIANS,THE FIRST AMERICANS(ca. 10,000 - 8000 B.C.)

The earliest Indians came to North Americamore than thirteen thousand years ago. At thattime the climate was much colder than it is to-day. Huge ice sheets, or glaciers, covered largeparts of Europe, Asia, and North America. Dur-ing this Ice Age, known as the Wisconsinglacier, so much of the earth's water was frozenin glacial ice that ocean levels dropped andlarge areas of seacoast, or continental shelf,became dry land. In the far north, the waterlevel of the Bering Sea fell so low that a 1500mile-wide strip of land was exposed to connectSiberia with Alaska. This "land bridge, " knownas Beringia, had a tundra vegetation con-sisting of lichen, mosses, and small shrubs.These provided food for such large grazing

animals as woolly mammoth, musk-ox, horse,and caribou, as well as arctic hare, lemming,and many kinds of birds. Hunters from Siberiahad been tracking and killing such gameanimals for many generations. In time, some ofthese hunters followed the migrating herdsacross Beringia into what is now Alaska andNorth America.

Later, when the glaciers melted, the icywaters returned to the oceans, and the landbridge once again became flooded. People onthe Siberian side were cut off from theirrelatives on the Alaskan side who thus becamethe first Americans. The archaeologists havenamed these immigrants "Paleo-Indians," aword that means "ancient Indians." Graduallythe descendants of these Paleo-Indians driftedsouth. Many generations later, about twelvethousand years ago, their descendants reachedthe Atlantic coast.

Max imum e x t e n t ofW i s c o n s i n G l a c i e r1 6 , 0 0 0 - 1 8 , 0 0 0 B.C.

B e r i n g i a land b r i d g e

Probable migration route of the Paleo-Indiansfrom Siberia to America.

Fluted or channeled spearpoints (left) werefastened to long wooden spearshafts such asthe hunter (below) is holding. Such spearpointsmay have been mounted in foreshafts likethose tucked in his belt.

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Human remains of these first Americanshave not survived on archaeological sites inthe eastern United States, but their stone toolsand weapons have been found. Paleo-lndianhunters killed animals with thrusting spears orlances armed with skillfully made fluted spear-points. Their stone knives, scrapers, drills, and

engraving tools were made with equal care us-ing the finest stone available. Indeed, theworkmanship seen on many Paleo-lndian ar-tifacts has seldom been equaled by the Indianflintknappers or stone tool makers of latertimes.

The archaeologists have now discovered andexcavated several important campsites onceused by the ancient Paleo-lndians. Of these thePlenge site on the Musconetcong River in NewJersey, Dutchess Quarry Cave near Monroe,hew York, Shawnee-Minisink site near theDelaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania, and thePort Mobil site on Staten Island are the mostnoteworthy. Investigations of such ar-chaeological remains have revealed the toolsand materials used by Paleo-lndians and sug-gest what kinds of foods they ate. To an ar-chaeologist such sites may also providevaluable evidence about climate, vegetationand animal life. As a result of geologicalresearch, we now know that the Wisconsin icesheet once stretched across Lenapehoking.Cold-adapted animals such as woolly mam-moth, mastodon, musk-ox, caribou, moose-elk, and walrus lived here in Paleo-lndiantimes. There were no hardwood forests like theoak and maple forests of today, but onlymarshlands, tundra grasses, and scatteredstands of evergreen trees. The cold climateand lack of adequate vegetation probably

LT imastodon

made life very difficult for both humans andanimals.

We can assume that Paleo-lndian men andolder boys hunted and fished, while womenand children collected plants, berries, roots,shellfish, bird's eggs, and other foods. Boneneedles, stone knives, hide scrapers, and per-forators are among the tools that women usedto tan hides and sew warm fur garments usingsinew as thread. Clothing similar to that of theEskimos was required to keep the body warmin the often bitter-cold weather. In some areaspeople camped in natural caves androckshelters. If these were not available, smalltent-like huts made from skins and saplingswere probably used. Fires were made fromwood, dried animal dung, or the fatty bones oflarge animals. Since there were no pots, meatand fish could not be boiled or stewed and sowere eaten raw or roasted.

We have learned a great deal about theseearliest Indians. However, there is much thatwill never be known--the songs they sang, thedances they danced, the games they played, orthe kinds of religious beliefs they had.

walrus

A Paleo-lndian Encampment. The woman is using a bone needle with sinew thread to sew caribou hidestogether. A man is making tools out of antler while two men skin a freshly killed caribou.

knife

bone needle threaded with sinew

engraving tool end-scrapers

drill or perforator

concave scraper

ARCHAIC HUNTERS,FISHERS AND GATHERERS

(ca. 8000 - 1000 B.C.)

As the climate gradually became warmerand the ice sheets melted away, the seasbecame deeper, and the coastlands flooded.The mammoth and mastodon became extinct,and caribou, walrus, and other cold-adaptedanimals migrated north as the tundra vegeta-tion was replaced by pine and spruce forests.Many of the hunting people who dependedupon caribou followed this game northward,but some descendants of the Paleo-lndiansstayed and adjusted to the changing condi-tions. In the centuries that followed, new peo-ple with different tools and weapons came intoLenapehoking from the south and west. The in-teraction of these various groups of hunting,

The Indians are hollowing out a tree trunk to make a dugoutcanoe. Small fires are repeatedly set along the inside of the logand the charred wood is scraped out until the hull is formed.One man holds an adze, another strikes a stone chisel with awooden mallet. The axe that is leaning against the tree wouldbe used for heavy chopping.

fishing, and gathering people as they adaptedto the changing environment created what wecall the Archaic era.

Game animals and birds were not alwaysplentiful in the dense forests, and many Ar-chaic people had to spend much time and ef-fort in obtaining other kinds of foods includingfish, shellfish, and wild plants. Huge piles ofshells, or middens, like those found nearTuckerton, New Jersey, and Tottenville, StatenIsland, mark the places where Indians gatheredand ate thousands of clams and oysters.

After about 4000 B.C., chestnut, oak, andhickory trees became more plentiful. Gamealso became more abundant as mast foods (in-cluding acorns and other nuts, tender branch-es, and bark) provided additional nourishmentfor deer, elk, bear, raccoon, turkey and othergame.

I

The spear was the principal weapon of theArchaic hunter. It could be thrown by hand orwith the aide of an atlatl or spear-thrower (alevel-like device which extended the arm andenabled the user to hurl his spear with greatforce and accuracy).

Spear-throwers were often balanced bymeans of atlatl weights or "bannerstones."

Spearshafts could be armed with a variety ofspearpoints: some long and thin, others broad,some straight-stemmed, others with notches;some made from flint, others from slate orshale. The changing styles of the spearpointsprovide important archaeological evidence ofchanges in culture.

Thousands of Archaic spearpoints have beenfound on Indian sites in Lenapehoking, in-dicating the importance of spear-hunting.Traps, deadfalls, snares, and bolas were othermeans of obtaining game. The bolas was athrowing device consisting of two or threestones attached by cords. This weapon wasmost often used to entangle ducks, geese,cranes, and other large marsh birds. Fish werespeared, caught in nets, or trapped infishweirs. Indeed, almost anything that livedand moved, possibly including insects, washunted and eaten. Nevertheless, a drought, oran especially cold or long winter could be fatalfor the Indians due to their completedependence upon what nature provided. Ar-chaic Indians gathered many kinds ofvegetable foods. They did not know how togarden, and except for the dog they had nodomesticated animals.

House patterns from the Archaic periodhave not been found in Lenapehoking thus far,but from excavations in New York State and inNew England we know that Indians there con-structed round or rectangular lodges framedwith saplings. These were probably coveredwith skin, bark, or woven fiber mats. ArchaicIndians, like the earlier Paleo-lndians, alsolived in caves and rockshelters in regionswhere these were available.

Meat, fish, and fowl was roasted over afire, but most vegetables were probably eatenraw. However, foods could have been cookedby placing fire-heated stones into a skin pouchcontaining food and water--a practice known asstone boiling or hot rock cooking.

A group of hunters at the edge of a marsh hurl bolas at a flock of geese while another casts a net toenmesh turtles, frogs or fish.

pecking or abrading astone axe into shape

axe

drilling with a hollow reed and sand

semilunar knife or ulu adze

In Archaic times men made heavy stone axesto cut down oak, elm, beech, chestnut andother trees growing in the dense forests. Theseaxes had sharp polished bits or cutting edgesand encircling grooves for the attachment ofsturdy wrap-around handles. Other heavywoodworking tools, including gouges andadzes, were used by the men to build houses,dugout canoes, and also to make woodenbowls, ladles, and handles for tools andweapons. Women used these same axes tobreak firewood and to stake out hides for tan-ning. They also used hammerstones and an-vilstones to crack nuts, and to remove thenourishing marrow from bones. Millingstonesand mullers were used to crush and grind seedsand nut meats, and mortars and pestles tomash or pulp vegetable foods, dried meat, andfish.

Smaller tools, including knives, drills, per-forators, and scrapers, so essential for manydomestic tasks, were chipped out of fine-grained stones such as flint, jasper or quartz-ite. A special kind of knife-the semi-lunarknife or "ulu"-was skillfully ground andpolished out of slate. Many other tools and im-plements were probably made from wood,bone, antler, and shell. These have not sur-vived in moist and acid soils.

Toward the end of the Archaic era the eatinghabits of the Indians began to change as newmethods of cooking were introduced. It wasdiscovered that vessels carved out ofsoapstone and talc would not crack when theywere placed directly over a fire. With suchvessels it was easy to cook nourishing soups.

broths and gruels. A soapstone kettle wouldnormally last a long time, but if one did ac-cidentally split, it might be repaired simply bydrilling holes on each side of the crack. Sinewcould be laced through the drilled holes, thepieces tied together, and the pot reused. Elmand other bark buckets, skin bags, baskets,wooden bowls and troughs were probably alsoused as containers, but like other objects madefrom organic substances, these have not sur-vived in Lenapehoking.

Archaic Indians who normally lived in smallfamily groups or bands were almost always onthe move searching for food or materials fortools, weapons, clothing and shelter. Cindersuch difficult circumstances very few peoplelived to be thirty-five or forty. Mothers and in-fants occasionally died in childbirth, and manychildren did not live to maturity.

Herbal medicines and natural remediescured minor ailments. However, there was noway to cope with serious illnesses such astuberculosis, pneumonia, gallbladder infec-tion, appendicitis or an abscessed tooth. Star-vation and malnutrition also took a heavy toll.

Burials sometimes provide informationabout the health and culture of prehistoric peo-ple. From the Archaic period, however, only afew cremated burials have survived inLenapehoking, yet these clearly indicate thatthe Indians believed in life after death. This isknown because the remains of the deceasedwere sometimes accompanied by spearpointsand knives, spear-thrower weights, axes andother kinds of useful tools, as well as food forthe journey into the afterlife.

11

Brass Pot ca. A.D. 1620

Munsee Incised ca.A.D. 1500

Kelso Corded ca. A.D. 1350

Bowman's Brookca. A.D. 1250

Owasco Cordedca. A.D. 1100

peak or

castellation tSs=

collar &0

Tneck 1

shoulder ^ ^

effigyface

•1Abbott Zonedca. A.D. 700

FROM SOAPSTONE POTSTO BRASS KETTLES

The soapstone pots that first made hotmeals practical were very heavy and relativelyhard to obtain. At the end of the Archaicperiod, these were replaced as women learnedto make pottery vessels. Pottery jars andvessels were lighter and they could be easilymade in quantity from local clays. At first, pot-tery vessels were made in imitation of earlierflat-bottomed soapstone or talc cooking pots.Soon, however, such pots were being made inlarger sizes, and with pointed or rounded bot-toms and outflaring rims decorated with cord-impressed designs.

In the Late Woodland period (ca. A.D. 900 •1650), pottery vessels were made with highercollars elaborately decorated with inciseddesigns, even including effigy faces. Thenames given to the various pottery styles helparchaeologists to identify and label the timeperiods and cultures in which they were made.

The American Indians did not have a potter'swheel or kiln, but with proper preparation,careful drying, and open air firing, their claypots were turned into hard ceramic vessels thatwere fairly water-tight and durable. These pot-tery vessels ranged from about one pintcapacity up to twenty gallons. Some tiny potsmay have been made for children's toys or tohold medicines or other special substances. Inthe seventeenth century, European traders in-troduced metal pots which quickly replacedmost pottery cooking vessels used by the In-dians.

Brodhead Met Impressed potca. 450 B.C.

body

base

Vinette I potca. 1000 B.C

Marcey Creek potca. 1000 B.C.

stone pot ca. 2000 B.C.wooden bowl

12bark dish

THE EARLY AND MIDDLEWOODLAND PERIODS

(ca. 1000 B.C. • A.D. 900)

In Lenapehoking, the way of life did notchange dramatically from one period to thenext. Hunting, fishing, and trapping continuedto occupy the men for most of the year, andwomen and children contributed many kindsof edible wild plants and other gathered foods.By about A.D. 500, the bow and arrow came in-to use and quickly replaced the spear as theprincipal hunting weapon. For fishing,however, the spear, equipped with a harpoon-like point, continued to be used, especially forsturgeon, some of which measured six feet ormore and weighed up to two hundred pounds.

As people moved from one camp site toanother they made use of caves androckshelters located in mountainous regions.On flat lands, where such features do not oc-cur, the Indians had to use lean-tos or otherprotective shelters made from saplingscovered with skins or grass mats.

Meadowood point

13

copper beads

keeled boatstone

pendant

gorget

THE MEADOWOOD ANDADENA PEOPLE

During the Early Woodland period, while theIndians of the eastern regions were goingabout their unhurried ways, the beginnings ofcivilization were emerging in the Ohio andMississippi valleys and in western New YorkState. Meadowood is the name archaeologistshave given to one such culture that originatedin western New York, while the early mound-builders of the Ohio region are known as theAdena people. Between 1000 and 300 B.C.some of the people from these regions, prob-ably traders or missionaries, visited theDelaware River valley and other sites fromMaryland to Vermont, and hew Brunswick,Canada. The dugout canoe was their principalmeans of travel, and with it they transportedthemselves and beautifully made items usedfor trade and burial rituals.

When these visitors died on such a longjourney, they were usually cremated, or lessoften buried in the flesh. Luxury items and ex-otic grave goods made from finely chippedstone, copper, mica, banded slate, conch shellbeads, and even cloth, were sometimes placedin the graves of the dead for use in the afterlife.

14

An Adena Indian trader holds a slate gorgetwhile another Indian indicates how much he iswilling to bargin for it. Between them are aplatform pipe, a copper bead necklace, threespearpoints and a folded mat.

Adena-type cemeteries containing such graveobjects have been discovered at theRosenkrans site in the upper Delaware Rivervalley, at the Abbott Farm site below Trenton,in the Great Egg Harbor area, in Delaware andMaryland, and in other parts of Lenapehoking.

In their Ohio valley homeland, and in adja-cent states, the Adena people erected hugeearthen burial mounds for their honored dead.Surprisingly, however, no similar mounds havebeen located in Lenapehoking. Instead theAdena visitors seem to have buried theirdeceased in funerary pits dug into the ground.From artifacts found in such graves, and fromfurther knowledge gained about the Adena andMeadowood people, it is now certain that thesepeople traveled over a wide area. Their tradeand exchange networks extended from theGulf of Mexico to Labrador, Canada, and fromthe Atlantic Ocean west to the Dakotas.

We can only wonder what the local Indiansthought when they saw such well-dressed andapparently rich traders, and how they gotalong with these strangers. In time, the Adenapeople stopped coming to Lenapehoking forreasons that are still unclear. It didn't seem tomatter; the local people simply continuedabout their own business.

conch shell beads

notched spearpoint f{';fi

stemmed spearpoint

A Late Woodland Settlement. The frame of a longhouse is being covered with bark shingles. In the foregrounda woman climbs out of a bark-covered storage pit. The gardens in the background lie close to the houses.

THE LATE WOODLAND PERIOD(ca. A.D. 900 - 1650)

The time from about A.D. 900 until the com-ing of European explorers and settlers isknown as the Late Woodland period. Importantchanges occurred in the culture of the nativepeople as horticulture or garden farming wasadded to the traditional hunting, fishing, andgathering economy. Because farmers had tostay close to their lands, they could not wanderas freely. Soils had to be tilled, seeds had to beplanted, and the growing plants had to beweeded, watered, and protected from birds andanimals. Finally the crops had to be harvested,prepared and stored for use in the wintertime.As a consequence of these changes the farm-ing Indians built more enduring houses.Children and old people ate better, receivedmore care and lived longer, and families in-creased in size. Household implements such aspottery bowls, mortars and pestles, woodendishes, and mats became more abundant, andlife became easier. There was probably also anincrease in certain religious and ceremonialpractices as people developed a greater con-cern for rain, sunshine, fertile soils, and otherconditions affecting their growing crops. ByLate Woodland times, archaeologists canalmost certainly identify the ancestral Lenapeand Munsee Indians through artifacts andcultural remains.

There is no evidence that the (Jnami-speaking Lenape who lived below the RaritanRiver, and the many Munsee-speaking bands

who lived in the northern parts, were organizedinto tribes or nations as is sometimes alleged.Instead they lived in small family units orbands. With few exceptions their lives werepeaceful before the coming of the Europeansettlers. Their houses and gardens were notfortified. The men were fierce warriors whencircumstances made such actions necessary,but they preferred to live in peace. Hunters in agiven area almost certainly cooperated in an-nual deer drives, in making and using largenets and weirs to catch eel and anadromousfish (shad, alewives, and sturgeon), and forspecial religious and social functions.

Originally, there were rao chiefs or hereditaryleaders, and all serious matters were discussedand decided by mutual agreement. Thewisdom and experience of elderly people wasoften followed, but they could command noauthority.

Land and resources could not be owned byany individual or group because these were puthere by the Creator for the use of all the peo-ple. There was, however, a "use-right" whichrecognized and respected the rights and prop-erty of those who occupied a specific area untilthey no longer wished to use it. Houses andproperties were usually abandoned aboutevery ten years. By that time bark lodges haddeteriorated beyond repair, and availablefirewood was increasingly difficult to find.Later, perhaps, a different group would occupythe site under the same conditions of use-right.Some bands did, however, claim hereditaryrights to certain hunting and fishing spots.

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GARDENING

The cultivation of maize (corn), beans,squash, pumpkin, sunflower, and tobacco wasintroduced from the southeastern orsouthwestern regions of the United States, andoriginally from Mexico where plant cultivationhad been going on for thousands of years. Theaddition of garden crops contributed to a morevaried diet and helped prevent starvation, butseasonally available wild plants, berries, rootsand nuts still provided a large part of the In-dians' diet.

Gardens required open spaces, fertile soil,and sunshine. Trees and underbrush had to becut down and burned, and the soil had to beturned over. Men did the heavy chopping withcelts (ungrooved axe heads wedged into stoutwooden handles). Men and older boys alsoassisted with the initial turning and prepara-tion of the soil, but the actual gardening wasdone by women. The women of a givenhousehold or settlement usually workedtogether during the planting season and in

1 harvesting and preparing the crops for storage.Garden tools consisted of crude stone hoes

(or the shoulder blades of deer or elk attached

to strong wooden handles), and digging sticks,or dibbles. The Indians had no plows ordomesticated farm animals such as cows andhorses before the Europeans arrived. All thework was done by human labor.

Maize (corn) could be eaten green or ripe,but most was dried for storage. Dried cornkernels were often soaked in water mixed withwood ash. This loosened the hulls and causedthe kernels to swell for making hominy. Driedmaize was also pulverized in wooden mortars.The finer corn flour was used to make bread,while coarser cornmeal was cooked into sapanto which beans, meat and other ingredientswere sometimes added.

For convenience in storage, ears of corncobswere braided together by their husks and hungfrom the rafters. Corn stored in this way wasknown as xapxongwe. Most corn kernels wereremoved from the cobs and stored in bark orbasket containers. Beans were likewise driedfor storage, and pumpkins and squash, cut intorings or strips, were dehydrated as well. Nuts, >jjjfruits, berries, mushrooms, roots, tubers, andeven meat, fish, and shellfish were dried forstorage inside deep bark-lined storage pits duginto the earth.

The trees in this field have been cut and burned. A woman uses a hoe to till the ash-covered soil while anotherwoman and a young girl plant, seeds with the aid of a pointed wooden dibble. 17

HOUSING

The settled life style of the Late Woodlandperiod resulted from the introduction of hor-ticulture or gardening. The need to storesurplus foods encouraged the Indians to buildlarger and more durable houses. A bark lodgewas started from closely spaced rows of sap-lings driven into the earth about twenty feetapart. The tops of these saplings were bentover and lashed to form a dome-shaped trellis.This became the framework on whichchestnut, elm, linden, or other bark shingles orwoven grass mats were securely attached toprovide a weatherproof covering. Ar-chaeological evidence indicates that theMinisink Indians, who lived in the area of theDelaware Water Gap, preferred oval or round-ended longhouses with a single doorwaylocated on the side away from the prevailingwind. Sleeping platforms were arranged alongthe walls, and partitions separated the livingareas.

Bark lodges, no matter how well con-structed, were sometimes cold, drafty, andcramped. In rainy weather, or when smokeholes had to be closed, the houses might alsofill with irritating smoke from wood-buringfireplaces.

A lodge was usually occupied by severalfamilies, all related through the female line.The largest Minisink Indian house pattern ex-cavated to date measured sixty feet in lengthand twenty feet in width. As many as fivefamilies, comprising up to twenty-five people,might live in a house of this size. This mayseem crowded to us, but since Indians spentmuch of their time out-of-doors it was probablynot inconvenient. Some Iroquois Indianlonghouses in upper New York State occa-sionally measured up to four hundred feet inlength and contained many more people.

The Indians of Lenapehoking never usedtepees and did not build birch-bark wigwams.The birch trees that grow in the Middle Atlanticforests have a comparatively thin bark and aretoo small for use either in house constructionor for birch-bark canoes.

In addition to foods, Indians stored weapons,tools pottery cooking vessels, baskets andother implements inside their longhouses. Thelarger tree-trunk mortars and pestles wereusually located outside. Bearskin blankets andcovers, if not used on sleeping bunks, werestored on shelves, and woven cattail mats wereused for sitting and as eating places. Space inthe house was also set aside for firewood usedin cooking and heating.

Interior of a longhouse. Benches and compartments line one wall. Braided corn cobs, tobacco andherbs hang from the roof and other foods are stored in mended pots, bark buckets or baskets placedunder the bunks or on shelves.

Baskets were probably made in a great varietyof shapes and sizes, some tightly woven andothers more loosely. Basket sieves orpawenikan were used to sift cornmeal forbread. Other baskets were used to collect wildplants, nuts, berries, and shellfish; or to storefoods for later use. Large sheets of bark couldalso be folded and sewn to make bucket-likecontainers.

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Wild plant foods gathered by women andchildren were very important to the Indians'diets.

LENAPE LIFEWAYS

According to historical accounts the housesand gardens belonged to the women. The In-dians of Lenapehoking had a matrilinealsocial organization where descent and in-heritance was traced through the mother. Thefather belonged to a lineage different from thatof his own children. Lenape and Munsee In-dians were egalitarian and women wererespected. Men and women each had specificjobs to perform, and worked together to forman economic and social unit. Women raisedchildren, ran the household, cooked, tendedgardens, made pottery vessels, prepared skins,and tailored garments. Men hunted, trapped,fished and did most of the heavy work. Theycleared land, built houses, made dugoutcanoes for river transportation, and made all ofthe tools and hunting weapons.

The bow and arrow was used in hunting deer,elk, black bear and wolf, as well as turkeys,geese, ducks and other animals. Traps andsnares were set to catch raccoon, weasel, otter,

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beaver, rabbit and smaller game. Passengerpigeons were netted, and squabs were pokedout of their nests. Occasionally, when enoughdeer were available, many hunters joined in afire-surround or a deer drive that forced thefrightened animals to flee in a predetermineddirection where hunters waited in ambush tokill them. Fishing and fowling continued to bevery important sources of food and provided awelcome change in diet.

Meals were usually taken in the morning andlate afternoon, but not at regular times. Corn-meal mush was eaten daily, often with driedmeat or fish which had been crushed in 3 mor-tar. Fresh meat and fish were boiled or roastedon sticks set near the fire. A bread dough,made from cornmeal mixed with water waswrapped in husks, and the bread baked in hotashes. Special treats were beaver tails, stripedbass heads, and fat meat with chestnuts. Ber-ries were used as sweeteners, because honeyand probably maple sugar were not known inLenapehoking until after the coming of theEuropean settlers.

Indian hunters of the Late Woodland period seta snare to catch small animals or birds. Onehunter carries a quiver holding a bow and ar-

7 •,

- . I .

A Late Woodland settlement. A baby, strappedto a cradleboard hangs safely on a tree limbwhile her mother repairs moccasins. Twowomen beside her crush dried corn in a treetrunk mortar and sift the pulverized flour as aman and boy clean fish and eel.

hoe

cord-wrapped paddle

bone harpoon

TOOLS AND WEAPONS

Tools played an important role in the lives ofthe Indians. Men used them to make housesand dugout canoes, fishweirs, bows and ar-rows, harpoons, tree trunk mortars, woodenbowls, and many other useful and ornamentalobjects. Women employed tools in gardens,and for domestic purposes. Knives, choppers,scrapers, mLUingstones and mullers were usedin preparing meals. Some of these same tools,along with awls and needles, were used tomake clothing, moccasins, mats, baskets, andfishnets.

The raw materials needed to make stonetools, weapons and household objects weremost often found locally, although specialstone, as for example soapstone, had to be ob-tained from distant quarries. Deer and elk,killed for food, also provided bone and antlerfor needles, awls, skewers, and ornaments.Their sinew and gut were used for sewing andbinding; their hides for clothing and covers.Rattles, and a kind of glue, were made from thehooves of these animals. Bowls and cups weremade from the upper shells, or carapaces, ofbox turtles, wood terrapins, and snappingturtles, and also from gourds and large sea

fishhook

sinewstone

gouge

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shells. Pottery jars were formed out of clayremoved from river banks or lake shores.Baskets and mats were woven from cattailreeds and from bast, the inner bark and rootsof certain trees. Unfortunately, moist and acidsoils tend to destroy artifacts made fromorganic materials-plant fibers, wood, bone,antler, sinew, feathers, skin and fur.

Stone artifacts were made either by chip-ping and flaking, or by pecking and grinding.The former include spearpoints, arrowheads,scrapers, knives, drills and gravers. Generally,the finer-grained stones including flint andquartz resulted in sharper and more crisplyflaked implements. Axes, celts, gouges, adzesand other heavy woodworking and domestictools were usually made from sandstone,granite and other sedimentary and metamor-phic stones. These tools were shaped byrepeated pecking with a hammerstone untilthe cobble or rock was eroded to the desiredshape. The tool might then be ground andpolished with a whetstone or with sand andwater. The more it was polished, the smootherthe finish. Pendants, gorgets, atlatl weights orbannerstones and other objects of specialsignificance were frequently carved and pol-ished with great care and then drilled for at-tachment of suspension.

millingstone

p, /r

scraper

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|A band of Indians moves to a new campsite.

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION

Walking and canoeing were the only formsof travel available to the Indians. Most Indianswent barefoot, but on rough paths or in coldweather they wore soft-soled moccasins or san-dals made from braided cornhusks. Heavyburdens, and babies attached to cradleboards,were carried on the Indian's back with the aidof a tumpline extending from the forehead, orburden straps across the chest.

A pottery jar held in a net or contained bystraps was probably taken along as essentialequipment on a long journey. Dried meat,corn, and other foods, and edible plants foundalong the trail could be placed into the pot sothat a warm meal might be cooked from timeto time. Water was generally available, as wasfirewood, but it was not possible to make acooking pot on short notice.

Animal paths and well-traveled trailscrisscrossed Lenapehoking in all directionsthrough mountain passes and woodlands,around lakes and marshes, and along rivers. Inhistoric times these trails, or portions of them,became roads and highways. Among the more

famous are the Minisink, Cohansey, Burl-ington, and Manahawking trails.

There is no evidence that prehistoric Indiansin Lenapehoking used dog travois, toboggans,or snowshoes. Horses were unknown until theEuropeans introduced them, and there were noother draft animals, no carts or wheeledvehicles, and probably no sleds.

Whenever possible, the Indians used dugoutcanoes to travel on rivers, lakes, bays, andperhaps along the shore. Dugout canoes, someof them fifty feet long, were made from thetrunks of tulip, oak or chestnut trees hollowedout with the aid of fire and stone tools (see p.8). Large, well-made dugout canoes could holdup to twenty persons. Smaller bark canoes,made from large sheets of elm bark turnedinside-out, had their ends sewn together withbast. The insides of these bark canoes werestretched out by ribbing made from bentwooden rods. Seams were smeared and madewatertight with a sticky paste made fromcrushed elm-wood bast. Birchbark canoeswere not used by the Lenape or Munsee Indiansbecause the right kind of birch: Canoe Birch orPaper Birch (Betula papyrifera), with largesheets of thick strong bark, did not grow here.

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ENTERTAINMENT ANDRECREATION

Feats of strength and endurance such aswrestling, leaping, racing, lifting, and throwingheavy stones were popular. Story telling wasanother amusing and instructive pastime.Stories were told in turn by individuals seatedin a circle, or by an elderly person who mightrelate myths and legends until late at night. Inthe latter instance, each member of the au-dience, old or young, promised to repay theteller by performing specific helpful tasks.

There were many types of games includinggambling. A form of dice, using seven plumpits or bone squares painted on one side, wasplayed by tossing the pieces into the air andcatching them in a bowl or flat bark basket.Those falling with the unpainted side up werecounted in the score.

In the moccasin game, one person wouldtake four moccasins, and hide somethingunder one of them; the other players wouldguess where it was. In historic times the moc-casin game was played at funerals.

The hoop and pole game was one favoriteoutdoor activity in which two teams comprisedof three or four men lined up facing each other,about forty feet apart. A hoop was rolled be-tween the aligned men and each tried to thrusthis spear through the hoop. Only those spearsthat penetrated the hoop and stuck in theground were counted.

In the cup and pin game, one or more hollowbones were attached by means of a string to asharpened bone or stick held in the hand. The

Playing the cup and pin game.

An old man entertains a small audience withmyths and legends.

hollow bone was swung into the air and the pinpositioned underneath to catch it. Jackstraws,a game similar to "pick-up-sticks" was anotherfavorite pastime.

Singing and dancing were enjoyable formsof entertainment at all social and ceremonialfunctions. Drums, flutes, whistles, and rattlesprovided musical accompaniment. The drumwas made from a dried deer hide folded into asquare or rectangle, with the hair side in, andtied with a cord. A dull thumping sound wasobtained by striking this package withdrumsticks. A water drum made from a hollowlog with a skin stretched over one end may alsohave been used. Such drums were partially fill-ed with water--the amount of water used wouldchange the pitch of the drum.

Flutes or whistles were made from wood orhollow bird bones. Rattles, were made by put-ting pits or small stones inside turtle shells,dried gourds, or strips of bark folded and tied.Rattles, usually tied below the dancer's knees,were often made from dried deer hooves, andbrass bells, bangles, or tinklers obtained fromwhite traders were sometimes attached toclothing.

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Painted warrior with tattooed foreheadwearing a roach

CLOTHING AND PERSONALADORNMENT

The early explorers and settlers who first sawthe Lenape Indians described them as tall,straight, well-built people with broad shouldersand strong,smooth muscles. Indians were sure-footed, quick, and able to endure long,strenuous journeys. In the seventeenth centurymany Indians stood several inches taller thanmost Europeans, possibly because the Indians'diet was better balanced and higher in protein,at least until the European colonists becamewell-established farmers, with an improveddaily diet.

Lenape clothing was simple and quite dif-ferent from what the European colonists wereused to. In fair weather, men wore only abreechcloth and belt. The breechcloth orsakutakan was a long piece of soft deerskinpassed between the legs and folded over a beltto hang in front and back like a small apron.The belt was normally also made of deerskin,but snake-skins were sometimes used for thispurpose. Many belts were highly ornamented

with porcupine quill decorations or painteddesigns. Young boys usually went naked untilabout the age of five. In cold weather, a wrap-around fur cloak was added, along with soft-soled moccasins for the feet. Fur cloaks werealways worn with the hair smoothed down sothat rainwater would run off. Beautiful, warmfeathered mantles and robes were also madefrom goose or turkey feathers carefully sewn toa kind of netting. Such robes would be wornover both shoulders except in hunting, or forother activities that required the right arm tobe free. In addition, a bird-skin pouch or smallanimal-skin tobacco bag might be wornsuspended from the neck. Eagle feather head-dresses, such as those worn by the Indians ofthe Great Plains, were not used by the Lenape.For special occasions or on raids a warriormight wear a roach or feather.

Women and girls usually wore a rectangularwrap-around deerskin skirt or tepethunreaching from the belt at the waist to below theknees. The fold was commonly at the rightside. Clothing may have been painted, fringed,and decorated with shell beads or porcupinequills, but glass beads, brightly colored ribbonwork, brass bangles, silver brooches and othershell or metal ornaments were unknown untilafter European contact. Prehistoric Indian or-naments were made from natural substances:stone, bone, antler, shell, teeth, hair, quills,feathers, claws and wood. Some prehistoricnecklaces, bone combs, stone pendants, aswell as European trade ornaments such asglass beads, brass bells and tinklers, runteesand wampum beads have been discovered on

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Indian sites. Nothing remains, however, of theoriginal clothing worn by the Indians, exceptfor a few scraps of twilled fabric and cordagepreserved by association with copper.Nonetheless, we know something about themanner of Indian dress from the letters andobservations of early Dutch, Swedish andEnglish explorers and settlers.

Contrary to what most people believe, theLenape Indians kept themselves very clean,cleaner in fact than most white people of thatday. Young Lenape men and women were ac-customed to swimming in streams, and theyfrequently took steam baths in a "sweat lodge"to purify and cure themselves. The also tookgreat pride in their personal appearance,although the manner of their cosmetic decora-tion seemed strange to European eyes. Both

men and women tattooed themselves on faceand body, and they painted themselves as well.Men often pulled out their sparse beards,although a few did wear short beards orgoatees. They sometimes also shaved theirheads with sharp flint flakes or plucked out thehair on their head leaving only a "scalp lock"or crest. Both men and women greased theirhair with clarified bear grease to make it shine.Women usually did not braid their hair. Theylet it grow long, tied it, rolled it up, and wrap-ped it with a deerskin ribbon or snakeskin. Vir-tuous women usually painted their face in amodest manner, often consisting of only a redcircle on the cheeks, or red paint on foreheadand eyes. Men and women also wore ear pen-dants, and in some cases cut the outer rims ofthe ears to form a loop.

brass bangles

gorget bone comb and shell necklace shell runtee

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POTTERY MAKING

The remains of pottery vessels are abundanton most late prehistoric sites. Ceramic vesselswere formed from selected clays usuallytempered with grit made from finely crushedstone fragments or shell. The potter's wheeland ceramic kiln were not known to the In-dians. The women potters made all of theirvessels by hand, carefully decorating them,drying them in the shade, and firing themabove ground. Earlier pots were coil-constructed; later styles were built with slabsof clay shaped with a scored wooden paddle orone wrapped with cord. Decorations on earliercollarless vessels were made by impressing theedge of a cord-wrapped stick or paddle into thesoft clay. Designs consisted of horizontal, ver-tical or oblique lines, chevrons, herringbonesand triangles. Later pottery vessels, at least inthe northern Munsee-speaking areas, wereusually provided with a rim or collar, andsimilar linear decorations were incised or

A

scratched with flint flakes or sharply pointedbones. Circles or curves, except for hollowreed punctates, were never used. The Lenapeand Minisink Indians never painted their pot-tery as did the Pueblo Indians of theSouthwest.

Tobacco pipes were also commonly madefrom pottery, although a few were made fromsoapstone. The earliest pipes consisted ofstraight tubes; later pipes were bent at an ob-tuse or right angle. Some of these elbow pipeswere elaborately decorated with designs likethose on pottery vessels. A very few tobaccopipes have a face impressed or modeled on thebacks of the bowls, facing the smoker. Potteryvessels sometimes also have effigy faces(usually consisting of two eyes and a mouth)located at the peaks or castellations (see p. 12).

The significance of such effigy faces isuncertain, but there is a remarkable similaritybetween them and the Mesmgw, --the "MaskedBeing", or "Living Solid Face,"or "Keeper ofthe Game," who is so prominent in Delawarereligion.

Round-bottom pots were sup-ported on stones. Burningfirewood could then be in-serted under the pot for cook-ing.

While one potter forms a rope of clay to add tothe coiled pot in her lap, another incises adecoration into the collar of a nearly finishedvessel. The woman in the background is remov-ing baked pots from an open fire.

28'hi;

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

Lenape Indians created no great religioussystems as did the Hopewell, Maya, Aztec, orInca. Instead, their religion was an intenselypersonal one. They believed in a single, power-ful, creative, supernatural being calledKishelimukdng', "Our Creator," who lived inthe twelfth and highest heaven. He created allgood things, including the manetuwhk, thespirit helpers who lived in and controlled theforces of nature, plants and animals. Mahtantu,an evil spirit, made the tormenting insects

such as flies, and mosquitoes, some reptilesand useless plants; he also put the thorns onberry bushes.

The manetuwak who watch over the fourquarters of the world were called MuxumsaWehenjiopangw, "Our Grandfather where thedaylight begins," CJma Shawnaxawesh, "OurGrandmother where it is warm," MuxumsaEheliwsikakw, "Our Grandfather where the sungoes down," and Muxumsa Luwanantu, "OurGrandfather where it is winter." To the sun andmoon, regarded as "Elder Brothers," theCreator gave the duty of providing light, and

the other "Elder Brothers," the Thunderers,were responsible for watering the crops. ThesePethakhuweyok or Thunder Beings were saidto be huge birds with human heads. The youngThunder Beings made the sharp cracklingthunder; the very old one made a low rumblingthunder.

The "Living Solid Face," or Mesingw, whorode about the forest on the back of a deer, wasa very special manetu for he was given chargeof all wild animals, and he provided meat forthe hunters. "Corn Spirit" cared for the vegeta-tion, and "Our Mother," the Earth, received thetask of carrying and feeding the people.According to Lenape Indian belief, all thingshad spirits: animals, insects, trees, air, evenrocks; therefore, everything had to berespected and cherished. As a result, every In-dian endeavored to live in harmony with theenvironment, its plants and animals. No impor-tant journey was undertaken, no special pro-ject was begun,without consulting the super-natural spirits.

Persons who owned or were entrusted withthe care of certain spiritual objects were underspecial obligation to these man&tuwak. TheOhtas or Doll Being provides a good example.Doll Being, about twelve inches tall, was madeof wood, had human hair, and was dressed inthe style of clothing used by Lenape women.This Doll Being had to be danced once everyyear. If for some reason the dhtas Kenkan orDoll Dance could not be held, then the familyhad to "feed" the Doll in a rite involving corn-meal mush. If this was not done something badwas sure to befall the owners of the Doll Beingor their relatives.

Pottery face from tobacco pipe and effigyface on cobblestone. Minisink site, War-ren Co., N.J.

effigy face pendantssuspended upside-down

Of the higher deities, only the "Living SolidFace" or Mesingw was represented in artisticform on masks, maskettes, and on effigy facependants, cobblestones, pottery vessels, andtobacco pipes. Curiously, most effigy face pen-dants representing the Mesingw were per-forated at the neck so that they were suspend-ed upside-down, and faces on tobacco pipeswere located at the back of the bowl. In thisway the Mesingw always looked up at thewearer or back at the smoker.

Effigy face on claytobacco pipe

In addition the Mesingw, wemahteke'nis ordwarf-like beings about three feet high, wereonce considered the most powerful spiritforces in the forest. These dwarfs, dressed allin leather, helped lost hunters find their wayhome, and were especially kind to children lostin the woods. Seeing a forest dwarf impartedgreat power, strength, and stamina to thebeholder.

Guardian spirits were important to everyLenape Indian. Guardian spirits normally cameonly to persons who had a special dream, orwho had fasted, made sacrifices, and hadisolated themselves in forests or on mountaintops. In a weakened condition and with theproper mental attitude, the Indian might bepitied by a spirit who would then visit him andsafeguard him thereafter. Guardian spirits,most often sent by Kishele'mukdng, were nor-mally animals and birds but might be plants,any of the spirits, inanimate objects, or evenghosts. The wolf, dog, owl, and trees werecommon guardian spirits. If no guardian spirit

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Mesingw carved on

center pole of theBig House in Copan,Oklahoma.

came to an Indian he would feel most unfor-tunate and distressed, for he would then feeldeprived of the guidance and protection of thesupernatural. Dreams might likewise be impor-tant because they gave assurance of spiritualguidance and the confidence to face life and itsadversities.

The Big House ceremony was one of themost important annual events in the lives ofthe Lenape Indians who had migrated toOklahoma, and to the Munsee Indians ofCanada. However, there is good evidence thatthis ceremony started in Lenapehoking manycenturies ago. The purpose of the Big Houseceremony was to thank Kishelemukong, theCreator in the twelfth and highest heaven, andhis spiritual helpers here below. This religiousevent reminded the Lenape Indians that thespirit powers made all things possible. Unlessthe Big House ceremony was observed once ayear, they believed the crops would fail and thepeople would lose the favor of the Great Spirit.

In historic time the Big House ceremony washeld in a large log building--the Big House orXingwikapn. It has been said that the floor sug-gested the flatness of the earth, the four wallsrepresented the four quarters of the universeand the roof represented the sky in which theCreator lived. The center post, the most impor-

Dried deerskin drum and sacreddrumsticks used in the Big Houseceremony.

tant feature in the Big House, symbolized thestaff of the Great Spirit with its base upon theearth and its top reaching to the hand ofKishelemukdng. Two faces were carved on theeast and west sides of this post, four faces werecarved on the posts of the eastern and westerndoor frames, and six additional faces werecarved on the posts of the north and southwalls of the Big House. These twelve faces,representing the Mesingw or Masked Being,were painted red on the right side and black onthe left. It is believed that these markingsrepresented the duality in the world-day andnight, hot and cold, right and wrong, male andfemale. Twelve was the sacred Lenape number.There were twelve masks, twelve heavens, andthe Big House ceremony lasted twelve days.

A man dressed from head to foot in a bear-skin costume also wore the red and blackpainted mask of the Mesingw. This Me's-inghdlikan impersonated the Masked Beingand brought his presence into the Big Houseceremony. The Mesinhdlika'n could not speak,but used a turtle shell rattle and a stick to com-municate his thoughts.

Mesinghdlikan

During the solemn Big House ceremony,selected people recited their visions, peopleprayed, danced, and sang the sacred songs.Red cedar was burned to purify the people andall things, and its smoke carried the prayers ofthe people up to the twelfth heaven where theCreator lived.

Today few Delaware Indians receive a vision,the sacred objects have been placed inmuseums, and, sadly, few Delaware Indians areable to speak the language or recite theprayers.

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A medicine man, wearing a wolfskin headdress, uses herbs, incantations, and a turtle shell rattle tocure a sick person lying on a bearskin rug.

CURINGMost Lenape believed that sickness, acci-

dent or death did not result from naturalcauses. They believed instead that super-natural forces or evil influences were responsi-ble for human misery. Maladies such asparalysis or lameness were said to be cause bymetteinnu, wandering ghosts or spirits. Insanitywas believed to result from a family's failure toperform certain inherited ceremonials, andcongenital malformations that afflictedchildren were blamed on spirits who were of-fended because their parents did not keep uprequired rituals. Such problems could beprevented or mitigated by performing theneglected rituals or other spiritual practices.

Every family knew the medicinal value ofsome herbal teas, poultices, and decoctionsto cure ordinary sicknessess, injuries, andhurts, but for serious physical problems, and toprevent death, the Lenape and Munsee Indians

consulted two kinds of medical practitioners.The ne'ntpike's, or herbalists, cured diseasesand healed wounds and infections by applyingnatural remedies. However, the meteinu ormedew not only knew the properties of herbalplants, barks and roots, but also claimed toknow how to deal with witchcraft and other oc-cult practices. It was believed that meteinucould cure illnesses of supernatural origin andcould chase away evil spirits. Both types ofmedical practitioners usually started their pro-fessions as a result of dreams or visions. Ex-perienced older professionals would thenteach them the special rituals associated withthe selection and use of medicinal plants, theirpowers for diagnosing of healing illnessess,and the prayers and proper preparationsassociated with the use of each plant.

In selecting the required medicinal plants infield or forest, an herbalist would stop by thefirst specimen, leaving it untouched. Aceremony would then be performed to appease

32

the spirit of the plant. Following this the her-balist would dig a small hole on the east sideof the plant's roots and place a pinch of nativetobacco into the hole as an offering to theman&tuwak or spirits who cared for the plants.After addressing the plant and its spirit, themetelnu would then pick other plants of thesame sort.

Each plant was carefully gathered accordingto the needs of the patient's body. In thepreparation of an emetic, for example, waterhad to be dipped from the stream against thecurrent, and bark for the infusion had to bepeeled upward from the tree. Cathartics wereprepared by dipping the water with the flow ofthe current, while the bark was alway peeleddownwards. If the individual was experiencingpains in the abdomen, the herbalist tried not toshake the roots of the herbal plant for fear thatthis might worsen the patient's condition.There was always a sympathetic relation-ship between the handling of the herb and thehandling of the patient.

Proper diagnosis of disease was important tothe treatment and usually took the form ofdivination. If the roots of a selected plant ap-peared rough and knotty the patient would bedifficult to cure, but if the roots were clean andwell-formed, an easy cure was assured. In alove potion, rough and knotty roots presaged astormy relationship, but smooth roots prom-ised a loving companionship.

One of the more important structures in anyLenape settlement was the sweat lodge orpim£wakan, used for ritual, cleaning, and cur-ing all manner of sickness. In use, one wouldenter the small hut where red-hot stones hadbeen gathered. Water poured on these stonesproduced steam that would surround the per-son and cause sweating. After a time, when itwas believed that the sickness or evil had beensweated out of the body, the individual wouldplunge into a nearby stream.or be doused withcold water to close the pores. Wrapped inblankets, the person would then lie by a fire todry and rest.

A child perspires inside a sweat lodge while an herbalist applies a poultice to an injury, and a man witha badly healed leg waits for attention.

33:/i\V

THE MEDICINE BUNDLE

One of the most important possessions of aDelaware or Munsee Indian was a medicinebundle. It consisted of a small bird- or animal-skin bag or pouch containing plants, roots, andother materials including stones, animalskulls, teeth, feathers, and magic or specialsubstances revealed in dreams or visions.Medicine bundles protected their owners andkept them well. Herbs were also important inmarriage bundles and witches' bundles. A mar-riage bundle often consisted of a male andfemale figurine made from dried roots,together with love medicine includingmatapipalingo, the cardinal flower (Lobelia car-dinalis). It was believed that as long as the bun-dle remained knotted and intact, the marriagewould endure.

Little is known about witches' bundles, sincethey were usually buried with the nuchihewe orwitches so that their evil influence would notharm anyone who might chance to comeacross them. It is said that they containedwampum beads, hair, feathers, claws, teeth, orother parts of birds or animals capable of do-ing evil. Witches annoyed people, especiallythe sick; they killed people, and through theuse of powerful medicines tried to get revengeon their rivals and enemies. A witch's spell wasparticularly difficult to break because it wasbelieved that no one was as powerful as awitch.

34

LIFE CYCLE

While still very young, children accom-panied their mothers to the gardens. Theyhelped to collect wild plants, berries, nuts,eggs, shellfish, and other edible and usefulsubstances and also collected firewood. Intime, the boys were taught to fish and hunt,learning the skills used to track, trap, andsnare animals and to kill game animals withbow and arrows. Girls continued to help theirmothers and other women of the household.They cared for children, learned how to cook,tan, prepare skins for clothing, make pottery,and do the many other tasks expected ofwomen.

Boys were usually considered mature whenthey killed their first deer, and after they hadreceived a vision or Guardian Spirit. Girls wereconsidered mature once they had their firstmenstruation. Marriage might be consideredwhen the girl was thirteen or fourteen and theboy about eighteen. Marriage was usually asimple affair. The boy, having met a girl ofsuitable qualities, would ask a female relativeto arrange for the consent of both families. Theboy would then send venison to the parents ofthe girl as testimony of his ability as a hunter,and the girl would return maize or other foodthat she had prepared.

A mother removes her child from the cradleboard as another women (right) inserts the child's um-bilical cord under the bark of a young sapling. An elderly woman pounds corn in a tree-trunk mortar us-ing a knobbed pestle attached to a sapling that serves as a spring to help lift the heavy stone pestle.

After marriage, the young couple usuallymoved into the girl's mother's house. Theymight live there for most of their married life,together with the families of her sisters. As thefamily grew, however, the man might build aseparate house for his wife and family. Thishouse then became her property.

Some men had more than one wife. Thismight happen when there were too few men forthe number of women. In such case a manmight be asked to also marry and care for hiswife's sister, or perhaps the widow and childrenof one of his deceased brothers. Divorce waseasy and either party could break the marriageties.

During menstruation, a woman went to livein a special women's hut built some distancefrom the dwelling houses. A pregnant womanabout to give birth also went to live in this hutwhere she received the help and encourage-ment of women who had already gone throughchildbirth. Throughout her pregnancy, she hadto refrain from eating certain foods, especiallybird and animal livers. She could not eat otherkinds of meat except with sticks, otherwise shemight pollute the food that nourished bothmother and child. Soon after birth, thenewborn infant was washed, diapered withmoss or cattail fluff, and tied to a cradleboardwhich the mother carried on her back with theaide of a tumpline around her forehead. Thecradleboard and baby might also be hung froma tree branch or leaned against a house whilethe mother was doing other work. The baby

boy's placenta and umbilical cord were usuallyburied in the woods to instill a love for theforest and its animals. For a girl the umibilicalcord might be buried near the house toengender a love of the home. Some DelawareIndians selected a fine young sapling, andmaking a slit under the bark, inserted the um-bilical cord. It was believed that as the treegrew tall and strong so too would the child.Children were nursed for two to three years,but as they grew stronger they shared thefoods eaten by the other members of the fami-

Old people were usually respected andtreated with affection. Gray haired personswere revered as having been especially favoredby the supernatural beings. It was believed thatthey must be very wise and prudent.from hav-ing lived so long. Even when they could nolonger hunt or perform the household chores,old people would be given meat and provisionsby younger members of the band. Old menbusied themselves by carving wooden bowls ormortars. They made bows and arrows, knivesand other useful objects which they traded forskins, meat and other necessities. These oldmen preserved and related the cherishedmyths, legends, and songs which were of greatinterest to the younger folk. Old women madepottery, wove bags, plaited mats, tanned hides,sewed clothing and helped as much as theirstrength would allow. Many older women wereheld in high esteem as herbalists and curers.

36

DEATH AND BURIAL

Death, whether brought about by witchcraftor natural causes, was a great calamity.Friends and relatives gathered, and the bodywas prepared for burial, which usually tookplace before noon on the following day. Ashallow grave was dug and the body, dressed innew clothing, was interred. In prehistoric timesthe dead were usually flexed or folded, theknees being drawn up against the stomach andthe arms folded across the chest. In historictimes, however, most of the dead were extend-ed in the manner of the white people's burials.In earlier times the deceased were enclosed insheets of bark, but wooden coffins were laterused. The Lenape always cut a small notch intothe coffin near the head, and painted this witholhmin (red paint) so that the soul of thedeparted could find its way to or from thebody. The souls of the good made a twelve yearjourney to the twelfth heaven whereKishelemukong dwells. There they lived muchas they did on earth but without pain, sickness,

suffering, or sorrow.Lenape Indians apparently did not fear the

dead and frequently buried them close to theirhouses. In wintertime when it was impossibleto dig a proper grave in the frozen earth, thedeceased were sometimes deposited in anempty storage pit. Occasionally, when a per-son died away from home, the individual wouldbe buried there, but later the skeletal remainswould be removed for reburial at a site near thehome or in an ossuary or communal grave.

Food, gifts, and useful objects including apot, axe, or tobacco pipe were sometimesplaced in the grave of the deceased for use inthe afterlife. At appropriate intervals, the fami-ly and friends of the deceased also prepared a"feast of the dead." At such times prayers wereoffered and someone consumed the food in-tended for the deceased. In historic times,graves were marked with a diamond-headedwooden post for a male, and with a diamond-pointed cross for a woman. These too werepainted with olaman to help the departed findtheir way.

An aged man has died and his body is folded or flexed inside a shallow, skin-lined grave. The mournersoffer grave goods.

'0i*--W#ffJ&. 37

After 1600, European explorers and traders introduced many strange items to the Indians. In exchange, In-dians gave furs and foodstuffs.

THE HISTORIC PERIOD

The coming of Dutch, Swedish, and Englishexplorers, settlers, and traders changed thelives of the Indians. European glass beads andbottles; iron axes, adzes and hoes; brass ket-tles and ornaments of metal, cloth andclothing; guns and knives--all were irresistibleto the Indians who wanted such objects fortheir social prestige, utility, or decorative ap-peal, and in the case of rum, for its systemic ef-fect.

The Indians could obtain the desirable tradeitems by selling the pelts of beaver, bear, otter,and deer. White traders valued such furs forprofit while the Indians used them mainly forrobes, blankets, and pouches. To satisfy thewhite traders' demands, the Indians began tohunt and trap so persistently that fur-bearing

animals soon became scarce, and the Indianshad to look beyond their own territorial hunt-ing grounds for pelts that would puchase thewhite man's goods. This inevitably broughtthem into conflict with other, often morepowerful, Indian tribes to the north and west,with frequently deadly consequences.

As more and more Europeans settled inLenapehoking, the condition of the Indiansrapidly deteriorated. At first the Lenape In-dians willingly shared their lands with the morepowerful foreigners. However, the Europeansettlers followed a way of life that was so dif-ferent that they could find little reason forfriendship or common understanding with theIndians. The Europeans and Indians also hadvery different attitudes toward naturalresources and their use. Indians believed thatKishelZmukdng had created the land with its

38

plants and animals for the use and enjoymentof all people. Land and resources could not beowned by any individual or group. It wasbelieved that farmers or hunters prosperedbecause they lived according to the wishes ofKishelemukdng and the benevolent spirits. In-dians saw themselves as a part of nature, not aslords over it. In contrast, the European settlersbelieved that land could be owned outright andthat nature had to be tamed and improved byhuman effort.

European colonists had come from an over-populated part of the world where property waswealth, and where land had been divided andsubdivided for so many generations that theidea of unused fields or forests was simplyunknown. What the white man could not get bypurchase or treaty was soon obtained bytrickery, murder, contagious diseases, and thewars that resulted from the fur trade. Many in-nocent Indians were killed because of simplemisunderstandings, lack of communicationand racist attitudes. The massacre of eightypeaceful Hackensack men, women andchildren by Dutch soldiers at Pavonia (nowJersey City) is one case among many.

In addition many Indian bands weredecimated by smallpox, measles, influenza,cholera and other diseases brought by theEuropeans-. The Lenape had no immunityagainst such sicknesses, and in some parts

more than half of the native people were quick-ly annihilated by such contagious diseases.

In little more than a century following theEuropean colonizations, the Indians werepushed out of Lenapehoking. At the Treaty ofEaston, in 1758, the Lenape and Minisink In-dians relinquished title to all of the lands whichhad been theirs for thousands of years.Lenapehoking was now part of a growingEnglish colony. Only one small area, con-sisting of 3,044 acres in Evesham Township,Burlington County, New Jersey, was set asidefor the use of the Lenape Indians who livedsouth of the Raritan River; however, only thosewho had converted to Christianity went to livethere. Governor Bernard named this theBrotherton Reservation. It was also known asIndian Mills. Brotherton was the first and onlyIndian reservation in the State of New Jersey,but not the first one in the country as so manywriters have said. But even at Brotherton theChristian Indians were constantly harassed bynearby white settlers who wanted the Indians'lands. Finally in 1801, distressed bydeteriorating conditions, and saddened by thethoughts of being separated from kinsmenwho had migrated westward, the Indians ofBrotherton sold their remaining lands andmoved west as well. Some of these Indians whomarried whites, or who had farms in remoteareas, stayed on their privately owned lands.

settlers fenced in their property and forced the Indians from their land.

The late Nora Thompson Dean "TouchingLeaves," one of the last full-blooded LenapeIndians.

THE LENAPE INDIANS TODAY

Today most descendants of the Lenape orDelaware Indians live in Oklahoma, Kansas,and Wisconsin. The Munsee-speaking people,for the most part, moved north into Ontario,Canada. According to the 1980 federal census,there were 8,394 Indians living in New Jersey,but only a small percentage of these are ofLenape or Munsee descent. The others, in-cluding Cherokee, Iroquois, Navajo, Powhatanand Sioux moved here to work on farms and inindustry. In recent years the New Jerseylegislature has officially recognized three In-dian groups: The Powhatan-Renape Nationwith headquarters in Mount Holly, BurlingtonCounty; the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape Tribeheadquartered in Bridgeton, CumberlandCounty; and the Ramapough Mountain Indianswhose offices are in Mahwah, Bergen County.The Lenape or Delaware Indian descendants inthe State of New Jersey are represented by theNew Jersey Indian Office in Orange, EssexCounty.

40

Na Lenu ok Nel Mwekaneyema

Lomwe ,hund lenuwa xingwi shingeking wiku. Xuhanu na lenu,shek welahele mwekane. Xaheli lokwik pemetunheyok na mwekane okna lenu. Luwe kweten kishkwik na mwekane, "Nepehta ju, alaitam!Alashi a ta nemelao xaheli xanikok luwaneyung." Na tolemskaneyonutxanikweyok na lenu ok nel witisa.

Na enda temakaneteting enda pemeskahtit wixkawchi pwendao namwekane keku ta pe sheshewihelat temakaneteting kixki. Namwekane luwe, "Nahkihela! Nahkihela! Bendam keku! Na et mahna shixikwe pe sheshuhwit!" Na ika alihelalan na mwekane, tolemitendahkanihin na xkuk, xantki wenihela nel xkuka.

Na enda kishi alaihtit, machiyok. Na lenu alemi wixenu, oktoxamao haking na mwekane. Xantki na mwekane mata mitsi; manun-gingwexin shek. Na lenu telao na mwekane, "Keku hach ktelsi?Ku hach katupwi?" Na mwekane luwe, "0, gatupwi ta, shek gatawatun wenji haking enda xamian! Keku hach wenji mata gaski mitsiehendalipwing tali?" Na lenu luwe, "0, somi! Kaski wipumi,nepehta yushe lematahpi!" Na mwekane keleksewingwexin. Tolemimitsin. Wipumao nel witisa.

The Man and His Dog

A long time ago there was a man who lived in a bigforest. The man lived alone, except for his dog. On manyevenings they would talk together this man and his dog. Then oneday the dog said, "All right my friend, let's go hunting! Itseems like I can smell many squirrels toward the north." So theyleft to go squirrel hunting this man and his friend.

While they were walking along a little path the dog suddenlyheard something making a rattling noise by the path. The dogsaid, "Stop! Stop! I hear something! It might be a rattle-snake rattling!" Then the dog grabbed the snake, and began toshake him, and shook him until he had killed the snake.

Then when they had finished hunting, they went home. Theman began to cook, and he fed the dog on the ground. But finallythe dog wouldn't eat; he just had a scowl on his face. The mantold the dog, "What's wrong with you? Aren't you hungry?" Thedog replied, "Oh yes, I am hungry, but I want to know what thereason is that you feed me on the ground! Why can I not eat atthe table also?" The man said, "Oh well, you can eat with me,you can come and sit right here!" The dog smiled. He began toeat. He was eating with his friend.

Nora Dean

41

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Adze - a heavy woodworking tool with blade attached at right angles to the handle (p. 11).Anadromous - ocean fish that swim upriver to spawn, including shad, salmon and sturgeon.Artifact - any tool, weapon, or other object made by human hands.Atlatl - Aztec word meaning spear-thrower; a hooked, lever-like device used to hurl spears (p. 9).Axe - an early chopping tool mounted in a wrap-around handle. The axe heads were usually full-grooved orthree quarter grooved (p. 8, 11).Band a simple society of hunters and gatherers usually related by birth or marriage.Bast - inner bark of the linden and certain other trees, split into strips and used for tying.Beringia - the Ice Age "land bridge" that connected Siberia with Alaska (p. 4).Bola or bolas - a throwing weapon, used to entangle birds and animals, usually consisting of three stones orweights attached to the ends of cords (p. 10).Caribou • a large deer-like animal found in Canada and Alaska, related to the reindeer.Celt - an ungrooved axe with blade set into a wooden handle (p. 15).Divination - prediction of the future, or other unknown condition, by religious or magical means.Effigy - a carved image or likeness, usually of a person or deity (p. 28, 29, 30).Egalitarian society - one in which most people have equal status and importance.Fishweir - a basket or fence-like trap built across an inlet or stream to catch fish.Flintknapper - one who shapes artifacts out of stone.Gorget - a stone ornament with two holes, probably worn around the neck ("gorge" in French) (p. 14).Gouge - a hollow adze used in making dugout canoes and for other woodworking (p. 22).Guardian Spirit - supernatural being; protects individuals to whom it reveals itself in dreams or visions.Hominy - dried corn processed with water and wood ash (lye) to remove the hull. Boiled and used as food.Horticulture - garden farming with hand tools such as hoes and dibbles (p. 17).House pattern - stains left in soil by rotted posts which describe the size and shape of earlier houses.Lenapehoking - Lenape word meaning "the Land of the Lenape," now New Jersey, southeastern New YorkState, eastern Pennsylvania, and northern Delaware.Mast - acorns, chestnuts, and fruits of other forest trees used as food by deer, bear, and other animals.Matrilineal society - where inheritance and descent are traced through the mother.Mesingw - the Living Solid Face, or Keeper of the Game, who protects animals and provides meat food for theIndians (p.29).Meteinu - a medicine man or healer who used both herbal medicines and magical practices.Munsee • the historic name for the Indians of Lenapehoking who once lived north of the Raritan River; alsotheir language.Mush - cornmeal boiled in water and used as food.Nentpikes • a healer who used only natural remedies; an herbalist.Ossuary - a storage place for the bones of the dead, a mass grave for reburials.Pendant - an ornament usually suspended from the neck or ears (p. 14, 15).Poultice • a medicinal paste spread on a bandage and applied to the skin to cure a wound (p. 33).Pow wow • a council or get-together among American Indians.Projectile point - a general term for spearpoints, arrowheads or similar weapons.Sapan - a mush or porridge made from cracked corn to which beans, meat, or fish were sometimes added.Runtee • a perforated shell disk (p. 26).Shell Midden • a garbage heap resulting from shells discarded when clams, and other shellfish are eaten.Sinew - animal tissue connecting muscle to bone. Used by Indians as thread or cord.Sympathetic relationship - one in which the handling of one object produces similar effects on another.Tumpline - a strap around the forehead or chest used to carry loads on the back (p. 24).Tundra - a treeless semifrozen subarctic plain.CJnami - the historic name for the Indians of Lenapehoking who once lived south of the Raritan River. TheLenape Indians; also their language.Walum Olum - an alleged history of the Lenape migration from Siberia to the Atlantic coast.

Note- The words listed above have been defined in terms of their use in this book, some words mayhave different meanings in other contexts. Page references are to illustrations.

42

INDEX

Adze 11Archaic - 8, 10Atlatl - 9Awl, - 23Axe - 8, 11Bannerstone - 9Bark vessel - 12, 19Basket- 11, 19, 22Beringia - 4Big House Ceremony - 31Birth - 11, 35,36Bow and arrow - 13, 20, 21, 26, 36Brotherton Reservation - 39Canoe - 8, 10, 24Ceremonies - 1, 16, 25, 31,32Celt - 15, 17Children - 26, 32, 35, 36Clothing - 6, 24, 26Copper - 14Corn - 17, 19, 35Cornmeal - 21, 30Curing - 32-33Dance - 25Death and burial - 2, 11, 14-15, 25, 32, 37Delaware Indian - 2Dog -10, 24, 30,41Dreams - 31, 32Drill - 11Drum - 25, 31Elderly - 25, 36Entertainment - 6, 25European traders - 38Farming (horticulture) - 10, 16-17, 39Fishing- 10, 16, 21, 36Foods - 6, 9-11, 17, 19, 20-21, 36

Food drying and preservation - 11, 24Food preparation - 6, 7, 11, 21, 17, 24Food storage • 11, 17, 19

Games - 25Gardens • see farmingGorget - 14Harpoon - 13, 22Hoe - 17, 22Household items - 11, 16, 19, 22, 38; see also

pottery, baskets, millingstonesHousing - 6, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20Hunting -5, 10, 13, 20-21, 22, 38Language - 2Lenape - 2

Lenni Lenape-2Knife-7, 11, 23, 36Marriage and divorce - 34, 35, 36Mastodon - 5, 6Medicine - 32-34; see also sweat lodge

Medicinal herbs - 11, 32-34Medicine bundle • 34

Men's occupations - 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 16, 17,20,21, 36, 38Millingstone - 11, 23Moccasins - 21, 25, 26Munsee - 2, 16, 40Musical instruments - 25Myths • 3, 25Ornaments - 26, 27, 30Paleo-lndians - 4-7Pendant - 14, 26, 30Pottery - 6, 11, 12, 16, 18,19, 22, 24, 28, 37Pow-wow - 1Religion - 6, 29-31

Big House Cermony - 31Creator (Kishelemukong)- 29, 31, 37, 39Divination - 33Mesingw - (Living Solid Face) 28, 29-31Spirits - 29-31Vision quest • 30, 35

Sewing - 6, 7, 22, 26Social structure - 1, 2, 11, 16, 18, 20Spearpoint - 9, 15, 23Stone boiling - 10Sweat Lodge - 27, 33Tattooing - 27Tobacco - 17, 19, 33Tobacco pipe - 19, 28, 30Tools - 5-7, 9, 11, 17-18, 22-23, 38Trade - 5, 14, 15, 22, 38Traps - 21Travel and transportation - 8, 14, 24Tribe - see social structureTurtle - 3Unami - 2, 16, 40Vision - 30, 32, 35Weapons - 5, 9, 10, 13, 20, 22, 23, 38 39Weaving - 10, 18Witchcraft - 32, 34, 37

Witches' bundles - 34Women - 18, 35Women's work - 7, 11, 17, 20, 21, 22-23, 27,28, 35, 36

43

English

LENAPE WORDS USED IN THE TEXT

Lenape Page

awlaxebasketBig House Churchbreechclothburden strap (for shoulders)canoecardinal flowerChestnut treeclay potcradleboardcup and pin gamedeerhoof rattlesears of corn braidedElm treeflutegougeherbalisthoehouseIndian dice gameiron potjackstraws gameknifeleggingsmatmedicine manmoccasin gamemoccasinsmortar (to pound corn in)pestle (to pound corn with)pipepotrattlerocksheltersifter basketskirtspiritSpirit of the EastSpirit of the NorthSpirit of the SouthSpirit of the Westspiritsstone potsweat-lodgeThunder BeingsTulip treetumpline (worn on head)whistlewitchwooden bowlWoods-dwarf

kepweshikantemahikantanghakanXingwikaonsakutakanhapismilxulmatapipalingoOpimenshisiskuwahusampisunkokoleshshuhwikahshaxapxongweLokanehunshiahpikonpkwitehikannentpikeskwipelenaywikewammamanduhwinwekathusselahtikankshikankakunaanakanmeteinuchipahkwinalitinlenhaksenakohokankwenusenekwhupokanhusshuhenikanekaongwitepawenikantepethunmanetuMuxumsa WehenjiopangwMuxumsa LuwanantuUma ShawnaxaweshMuxumsa EheliwsikakwmanetuwakahsenhuspimewakanPethakhuweyokMuxulhemenshikelambisunputachikannuchihewelokensWemahtekenis

2311193126248; 24341812352525171825223222182538252326182925262222301225131926292929292929123329242425341230

44

SELECTED PLACE-NAMES OF LENAPEHOKING

(TRANSLATED BY TOUCHING LEAVES)

Piace-Name Lenape Form Meaning

Alexauken (Creek).AllamuchyAllowayAssiscunkAssunpinkCheesequakeCinnaminsonConaskonkConshohockenHackensackHobokenKaskeskickKeskachaneKittatinnyLackawannaMacanippuckMachkachsinManahawkinManasquanManayunkManhattanManunka ChunkMassepeageMatinnekonckMatockshoningMauch ChunkMonongahelaNeshanicNescopeckPakim PondPassaicPassyunkPenungauchungSanhickanSuwanhackinghTaconyTamaques ParkTobyhannaTulpehauken BrookTunkhannockWatchungWickatunk

AlaxhlikingAlemuchingAlewiAsiskungAhsenpingChiskhakeAhsenamensingKwenaskungKanshihakingAhkinkeshakiHupokenKahkaskwekKeshakhaneKitahteneLekaohaneMekenipekMaxkahsenMenahokingMenaskungMeneyungMenatingMenangahchungMesipekMahtenekungMahtaks'haningMaxkwchungMenaongihelaNishhanekNiskepekPakimPahsaekPahsayungPenaongohchungSanghikanShewanhakingTekhaneTemakweTepihaneTulpehakingTlnkhanekOhchungWikwetung

"barren land""place of cocoons""more""muddy place""rocky place that is watery""land which has been cleared""rocky place of fish""place of tall grass""elegant land""place of sharp ground""tobacco pipe""where the grass rustles""swift stream""big mountain""sandy creek; sandy river""last creek""red rock(s)""where the land slopes""place to gather grass""place to drink""place that is an island""where the hills are clustered""water from here and there""place of rough ground""prickley pear creek""at the hill of the bears""where the land erodes""two creeks""dirty water""cranberry""valley""in the valley""the downhill place""fire-drill""at the salty place""cold river""beaver""cold water creek""turtle land""small creek; little river""hilly place""the finishing place"

45

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYco•

Brawer, Catherine Coleman, ed.1983 MANY TRAILS: INDIANS OF THE LOWER HUDSON

The Katonah Gallery, Katonah, N.Y.

cVALLEY.

Goddard, Ives1978 "Delaware," in Bruce G. Trigger ed., HANDBOOK OF

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, vol. 15 NORTHEAST. Smith-sonian Institution, Washington, D.C. pp. 213-39.

Harrington, Mark R.1921 RELIGION AND CEREMONIES OF THE LENAPE. Indian Notes

and Monographs, Misc. Pub. 19. Museum of theAmerican Indian, Heye Foundation, New York.

Heckewelder, John G. E.1971 HISTORY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIAN NATIONS

WHO ONCE INHABITED PENNSYLVANIA AND THE NEIGHBORINGSTATES (1819). Reprint Edition, The Arno Press andthe New York Times, New York.

Kraft, Herbert C.1972 A DELAWARE INDIAN SYMPOSIUM. Anthropological Series

no. 4, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commis-sion, Harrisburg, PA.

19 75 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TOCKS ISLAND AREA.Hall University Museum, South Orange, NJ.

Seton

1984

1986

Newcomb,1956

THE LENAPE INDIAN: A SYMPOSIUM,sity Museum, South Orange, NJ.

Seton Hall Univer-

THE LENAPE. New Jersey Historical Society, Newark,N.J. (in preparation)

William W."The Culture and Acculturation of the Delaware Ind-ians," ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS no. 10, Museum ofAnthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Weslager, C. A.1972 THE DELAWARE INDIANS, A HISTORY. Rutgers University

Press, New Brunswick, NJ.

1973 MAGIC MEDICINES OF THE INDIANS. The Middle AtlanticPress, Somerset, NJ.

1978 THE DELAWARE INDIAN WESTWARD MIGRATION. The MiddleAtlantic Press, Wallingford, PA.

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