Delaware Tribe of Indians Lenape

About the Seal Colors: Red and black are the main colors used by the Lenape. These are on a white background. Mesingw Face: The Mesingw face in the center of the seal is the Keeper of the Game Animals on which the Lenape depended for food. The face was carved on the center post of the Big House Church (“Xingwekaown”), a wooden structure which held the tribe’s historic religious ceremony (though no longer practiced). Clan Symbols: These represent the three clans of the Lenape: Turtle, Wolf and Turkey. Fire Drill: The Fire Drill next to the Mesingw face is used to build ceremonial fires. Prayer Sticks: These are around the outer edge of the seal and represent the twelve prayer sticks that were used in the Big House Church. Cross: There is also a Christian cross to represent those Lenape who accepted Christianity. Some of the Lenape people had converted to Christianity as early as the 17th Century. https://delawaretribe.org/home-page/about-our-tribal-seal/

The Hudson River Valley is part of Lenapehoking - or the Lenape homeland. As residents of the southern Hudson Valley and the New Jersey coastline, they were some of the first Indigenous people in the Northeast to make contact with Europeans, and therefore among the first to bear the brunt of disease, violence, and forced removal. In the Hudson Valley, Manhattan, Tappan, Ramapo, Neversink, Wappingers, and Esopus are all place names derived from Lenape tribal names or words. ​

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Editor's Note: This introduction to the Delaware Tribe of Indians Lenape and more information can be found here: https://delawaretribe.org/
​The name DELAWARE was given to the people who lived along the Delaware River, and the river in turn was named after Lord de la Warr, the governor of the Jamestown colony. The name Delaware later came to be applied to almost all Lenape people. In our language, which belongs to the Algonquian language family, we call ourselves LENAPE (len-NAH-pay) which means something like “The People.” Our ancestors were among the first Indians to come in contact with the Europeans (Dutch, English, & Swedish) in the early 1600s. The Delaware were called the “Grandfather” tribe because we were respected by other tribes as peacemakers since we often served to settle disputes among rival tribes. We were also known for our fierceness and tenacity as warriors when we had to fight, however, we preferred to choose a path of peace with the Europeans and other tribes.

Many of the early treaties and land sales we signed with the Europeans were in our people’s minds more like leases. The early Delaware had no idea that land was something that could be sold. The land belonged to the Creator, and the Lenape people were only using it to shelter and feed their people. When the poor, bedraggled people got off their ships after the long voyage and needed a place to live we shared the land with them. They gave us a few token gifts for our people’s kindness, but in the mind of the Europeans these gifts were actually the purchase price for the land.
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Our Delaware people signed the first Indian treaty with the newly formed United States Government on September 17, 1778. Nevertheless, through war and peace, our ancestors had to continue to give up their lands and move westward (first to Ohio, then to Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and finally, Indian Territory, now Oklahoma). One small band of Delawares left our group in the late 1700s and through different migrations are today located at Anadarko, Oklahoma. Small contingents of Delawares fled to Canada during a time of extreme persecution and today occupy two reserves in Ontario (The Delaware Nation at Moraviantown and The Munsee-Delaware Nation). https://delawaretribe.org/home-page/about-the-tribe/

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Although Lenape people still live in the Northeast, most were forcibly removed multiple times to several different locations, including Wisconsin, Ontario, and Oklahoma. You can learn more about the Lenape by visiting these websites:

- Delaware Nation -  delawarenation-nsn.gov 
- Delaware Tribe - delawaretribe.org
- Stockbridge Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians - mohican.com
- The Lenape Center -  thelenapecenter.com

Canadian First Nations:
- Munsee-Delaware Nation, Canadian reserve near St. Thomas, Ontario.
- Moravian of the Thames First Nation, Canadian reserve near Chatham-Kent. http://delawarenation.on.ca/. 
- Delaware of Six Nations (at Six Nations of the Grand River), two Canadian reserves near Brantford, Ontario.