Lenni-Lenape Indian

Lenni-Lenape Indian. Lenni-Lenape, meaning “real men” or “native genuine men”, is the name these Indians gave to themselves. The English settlers called them the Delaware after the river.    

The Lenni-Lenape Indians built their settlements on both sides the Delaware River in nearby lands reaching to the Atlantic Ocean. The land was lush. Trees were everywhere. The forest teemed with deer, elk, bear and birds.

The Lenni-Lenape Indians were primarily hunters. When a young man reached age 15, he was permitted to join a hunting party. With his bow of hickory and his arrow of reed tipped with stone, he was ready to make his kill. Elk and bear were the prime targets.

Fishing and the gathering of shellfish were also important. The Lenni-Lenape Indians caught fish with hook and line, with a spear or harpoon, or with large nets. To reach the sea, the Lenni-Lenape Indians built trails through the forest.

The Minisink Path, for example, started from near Minisink Island in the Delaware River and threaded its way across New Jersey to the Atlantic coast. Temporary dwellings were set up near the ocean. Much of the meat of the shellfish was carried home. The shells were used for making pottery and ornaments.

The Lenni-Lenape Indians were also farmers. The women planted corn, squash and beans. Storage cribs were built to store the harvests. The Lenni-Lenape Indians rarely went hungry.
Every Lenni-Lenape Indian village was dominated by the Big House, the extra-large wigwam that stood in a clearing overlooking the river.

The Big House was the meeting place. Many religious ceremonies were held there. Wigwam were scattered nearby through the forest. There the women made pots, wooden bowls, and birch-bark canoes, drums and rattles, tomahawk and war clubs.

The old Lenni-Lenape Indians way of life was interrupted by the coming of the Dutch, the Swedes, and the English to the New World. As the European population increased, bands of Lenni-Lenape Indians began to move west. Many moved to Ohio and Indiana. In 1744 David Brainerd, a preacher, went among the Lenni-Lenape Indians who remained in New Jersey. He founded one church at Crosswicks, and another at Cranburry. At 1758 Brotherton, the first Indian reservation in the United States was established in southern New Jersey. But it was not successful.

After the French and Indian war, some Lenni-Lenape Indians moved to Kansas, to Oklahoma and Texas. On July 4, 1866, the Lenni-Lenape chiefs signed a treaty with the United States Government and moved to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

Few pure Lenni-Lenape Indian are left today. About 400 are on the reservation in Oklahoma. A few live in southern Ontario, Canada.