The Lenapé people are a nation
of Algonquian Indians who lived in their homeland of
Lenapehoking, in what is now eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
northern Delaware, and the Hudson River valley of New York, when
the Europeans first came to this Turtle Island.
At first we welcomed these newcomers in
their floating islands, for the Creator had given us a big land
with room for all. But soon the newcomers were telling us that we
could no longer hunt and fish on "their" land, and this
was strange to us, for no man can own our mother Earth. But we
could not resist the onslaught of newcomers, so we removed
ourselves further and further west.
We moved to central Pennsylvania,
then western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and
finally to Oklahoma [the Indian Territory], where most of our
cousins live today. The majority of Lenape' in Pennsylvania
are people whose ancestors did not move with the rest of the
Native nations, but married or blended into the colonial westward
expansion. Our ancestors hid their Native heritage to avoid
persecution and discrimination. Many of us are only now returning
to our Native roots, and learning how to return to our Native
ways.
Delaware Tribal HomepageLenni Lenapé Historical Society and
Museum of Indian CultureThe Center Pole (A Lenapé personal
website)The Lenni Lenapé: Original People of the
Schuylkill WatershedThe Lenapé: A Study of Hudson Valley
IndiansDelaware HistoryThe Lenni Lenapé