The Delaware Tribe, also known as Lenape, originally lived in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Today, they are mainly found in Oklahoma. They spoke Algonquin languages and had a matriarchal clan system. They had complex relationships with Europeans and Americans, including supporting the colonists in the Revolutionary War. They were eventually forced onto reservations in Oklahoma and were recognized as a separate, federally recognized entity.
The Delaware Tribe is a Native American group traditionally from the East Coast of the United States. Prior to European contact, they were located in the present-day states of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Today, the largest concentration of this ethnic group is found in Oklahoma, the area into which many Native Americans moved in the 1800s.
Also known as Lenape, the name comes from the culture’s word for “the people.” After European colonization, the group was given its common name due to its proximity to the Delaware River, after a British lord. The Delaware tribe originally spoke dialects of the Algonquin language group, especially Unami and Munsee.
The Delaware tribe had a long-standing model for surviving outside the environment. They subsisted on planting corn and beans and small amounts of hunting and fishing. The Delaware Indians lived in large settlements divided into matriarchal clans that received land from a unified collective.
First contact with Europe was made in 1524. Early French explorers identified Native Americans near the area now known as occupied by the Delaware tribe. A century later, Dutch settlers began trading with the Lenape, especially beaver pelts. In the 1700s, Lenape Indians were targeted by the Moravian Church for converting to Christianity. This relationship continued when the Delaware tribe later moved west.
The tribe’s relationship with American settlers and the government was complicated. They originally sided with the French during the French and Indian War, but quickly switched sides after the British made gains. The tribe then joined Pontiac’s War against the British and ultimately supported the colonists during the American Revolutionary War. The Lenape Indians helped supply the Continental Army and recognized the new nation before its victory.
In the 1800s, the Lenape were slowly driven off their lands. Many fled to Ontario in Canada where reservations were established for the tribe. Later, the rest was left to reservations established in Oklahoma, then called Indian Territory. While the Delaware tribe did not suffer the same level of genocide as other American Indians, they were forced to purchase their land in Oklahoma from the Cherokee, leaving a question as to whether or not they were part of the Cherokee Nation. This debate was eventually resolved and the Delaware Tribe was found to be a separate, but federally recognized entity.
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