Who Are the Lenape?
The Lenape (Lenni Lenape, "True People" or "Original People"), also known as Delaware, are an Algonquian-speaking people who originally inhabited Lenapehoking—the region surrounding the Delaware River including present-day New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, southeastern New York, and northern Delaware. Today numbering approximately 16,000 enrolled members across tribal nations in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ontario, and small communities remaining in the East, the Lenape were among the first Native peoples to encounter European colonizers, including the Dutch who purchased Manhattan and the English Quakers under William Penn. Revered by other Algonquian peoples as "Grandfathers"—the ancient root from which many eastern tribes descended—the Lenape experienced centuries of displacement before arriving in their current scattered locations.
Lenapehoking: The Original Homeland
**Lenapehoking**, the Lenape homeland, stretched from the Hudson River to the Delaware Bay, encompassing some of the most valuable real estate in modern America—including Manhattan Island. The Lenape lived in villages along rivers and the coast, practicing agriculture (corn, beans, squash), hunting, fishing, and gathering shellfish. They divided into three main clans or phratries: **Turtle** (Unami), **Turkey** (Unalachtigo), and **Wolf** (Munsee), each associated with geographic areas and speaking related dialects. Leadership was relatively decentralized; sachems (chiefs) led through consensus rather than command. The famous "sale" of Manhattan (1626) exemplifies the cultural misunderstanding defining early contact: the Lenape likely believed they were sharing use of the land, not transferring ownership—a concept foreign to their worldview. William Penn's "Great Treaty" (1682) established relatively peaceful relations with the Lenape, but Penn's sons later executed the infamous **Walking Purchase** (1737), defrauding the Lenape of vast territories through a rigged "walking" race.
The Long Migration
No eastern people experienced more displacement than the Lenape. European diseases, land fraud, and colonial warfare pushed them from Lenapehoking in successive waves. By the mid-1700s, most Lenape had relocated to the Ohio Valley, where they became involved in French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion. The American Revolution further displaced them; they signed the first treaty between the new United States and any Native nation (1778), but American promises were quickly broken. The Lenape moved to Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and finally Indian Territory (Oklahoma), arriving around 1860. Along the way, some Lenape settled permanently: the **Stockbridge-Munsee** joined the Mahican in Wisconsin; **Munsee-Delaware** communities formed in Ontario; small groups remained or returned east. Each migration involved loss—of territory, population, and cultural knowledge—yet the Lenape maintained identity across 2,000 miles and two centuries of forced movement. Their history exemplifies the indigenous experience of serial displacement that only ended when there was nowhere left to push them.
The Walam Olum Controversy
The **Walam Olum** ("Red Record") was presented in the 1830s as an ancient Lenape pictographic chronicle recording migration and history over centuries. Long treated as authentic, scholarly consensus now considers it a 19th-century forgery, probably created by Constantine Rafinesque who claimed to have obtained it. The controversy illustrates challenges in Lenape cultural preservation: so much was lost during displacement that fraudulent materials could gain credibility. Authentic Lenape traditions include the **Big House Ceremony** (Gamwing), a twelve-day ceremony renewing the relationship between the Lenape and the Creator, which continued among Oklahoma Delaware until 1924. The **Doll Being** (Misinghalikun) was an important spiritual entity; carved face effigies appeared in rituals. Today, Lenape communities work to document and revitalize authentic traditions, languages, and ceremonies, separating genuine cultural knowledge from colonial-era fabrications while acknowledging that some knowledge was irretrievably lost during centuries of displacement.
Contemporary Lenape Nations
Lenape descendants today belong to several distinct nations. The **Delaware Nation** and **Delaware Tribe of Indians**, both headquartered in Oklahoma, descend from those who completed the long migration west. The **Stockbridge-Munsee Community** in Wisconsin incorporated Munsee Lenape with Mahican peoples. **Munsee-Delaware First Nation** and **Moravian of the Thames First Nation** in Ontario maintain Lenape presence in Canada. Small state-recognized groups exist in New Jersey (Ramapough Lenape) and Delaware (Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware), though federal recognition remains elusive for most eastern communities. The Lenape language is critically endangered: perhaps 50 speakers remain, mostly elderly Oklahoma Delaware. However, revitalization efforts are intensive, with language programs, dictionaries, and apps developed. The **Lenape Center** in Manhattan works to restore Lenape presence in their original homeland, while Oklahoma tribes operate casinos, businesses, and cultural programs. From Manhattan to Oklahoma, the "Grandfathers" persist, their diaspora reflecting American history's full sweep of indigenous dispossession.
References
- Weslager, C. A. (1972). The Delaware Indians: A History. Rutgers University Press.
- Kraft, H. C. (2001). The Lenape-Delaware Indian Heritage: 10,000 BC to AD 2000. Lenape Books.
- Grumet, R. S. (1995). Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in Today's Northeastern United States. University of Oklahoma Press.
- Fur, G. (2009). A Nation of Women: Gender and Colonial Encounters Among the Delaware Indians. University of Pennsylvania Press.