When the Europeans arrived, the Lenni Lenape were living in permanent settlements with
long established social and political organization. The Lenape that lived in this area were
the Unilatchigo or southern people whose symbol is the wild turkey. They were a
peaceful people who welcomed others to their homelands. They were fishermen, hunters
and traders, and had been farmers for about 1,000 years.
Trade routes had been long
established and the Lenape had shared not only ideas but art forms and other cultural
expressions with many native cultures. So when they met the Europeans they treated
them as just another culture, with respect and kindness. The farmers grew many of the
crops that are grown today in this area, including different kinds of corn, beans, melons,
pumpkins, squash and sunflowers. Many berries, fruits and vegetables including
cranberries were also grown. They fished in the rivers, creeks, and traveled to the ocean.
Methods of fishing were much the same as we would use today including, nets, baskets
and lines with hooks. The hunters used bows and arrows, blow guns and traps for the
abundant wildlife that inhabited the area. Their society was Matriarchal and women
had a prominent place in council, and were accorded great respect. Being Chief was not
an inherited right, but Chiefs and Clan Mothers were voted for by the Clan. It was very
much an equal society, in which each person had their own “chores” and both men and
women raised the children.
Women worked hard and had their own responsibilities within
the clan. Their tasks were many including preparing animal skins, for clothing and many
other uses. They decorated them with shells, bone, stones and wood using deer hair and
sinew, and porcupine quills. They also wove mats of rushes, cattails and reeds for the
floors and walls of the wik-wums. The men hunted and traded, which they loved. They
carved wooded bowls, spoons, tools and ceremonial items, and made many things out of
stone including arrowheads. They prepared the wik-wums and lodgehouses, canoes and
toboggans. They prepared the land for planting and made wampum, which was their
method of keeping notes of a meeting or event. All marriages were inter-clan and the
bridegroom would move into his wife’s house.
They loved their children dearly, and
discipline was administered only by words and example, not by any other means; they
were never punished physically. Growing up in a Lenape household was not all play, as
there was much to learn. They had skills to learn and practice, and chores to do, though
they did have lots of time to play with their friends and pets. They were great story tellers,
and wonderful stories have survived this day.
The Lenape lived within the natural rhythms
of life, at one with nature, in which spirituality was a part of everything they did and
encountered. Believing that they were placed here by the Creator as the “Keepers of the
Land and Water” they had great respect for the earth and all it contained, and felt they
were responsible for the care and nurture of all The Creator provided. The Corn Planting
in the Spring, Roasting Ears of Corn in the late summer, Thanksgiving in October, and the
Winter Solstice and the Big House Ceremony. These were both spiritual and festive
occasions. Each stage of life had major significance and was marked by ceremony,
including birth, maturity, marriage and death.The idea of private property or gathering of
wealth was alien to the Lenape as they shared all they had. Everything was sacred, and
treated with respect. They were the original recyclers! For example they used wooden
and gourd bowls and containers, cedar shavings for diapers, and everything from the
animals they hunted were used, right down to the deer’s hoofs for rattles and decoration.
They had no concept of owning things, especially land the way the Europeans had, which
caused many problems that are still with us today. One could not own Mother Earth, she
was to be respected and honored. Wanishi!