The Delaware Indians: A History

Front Cover
Rutgers University Press, 1972 - 546 pages
"One of the best tribal histories . . . the product of decades of study by a layman archeologist-historian. With a rich blend of archeology, anthropology, Indian oral traditions (he gives us one of the best accounts of the Walum Olum, the fascinating hieroglyphics depicting the tribal origins of the Delaware), and documentary research, Weslager writes for the general reader as well as the scholar."--American Historical Review

In the seventeenth century white explorers and settlers encountered a tribe of Indians calling themselves Lenni Lenape along the Delaware River and its tributaries in New Jersey, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, and southeastern New York. Today communities of their descendants, known as Delawares, are found in Oklahoma, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Ontario, and individuals of Delaware ancestry are mingled with the white populations in many other states. The Delaware Indians is the first comprehensive account of what happened to the main body of the Delaware Nation over the past three centuries.

C. A. Weslager puts into perspective the important events in United States history in which the Delawares participated and he adds new information about the Delawares. He bridges the gap between history and ethnology by analyzing the reasons why the Delawares were repeatedly victimized by the white man.

 

Selected pages

Contents

The Delawares Today
3
The Homeland of the Delawares
31
How the Delawares Lived
50
The Walam Olum
77
Early Relations with the Dutch
98
Rivalry for the Land
113
The Duke of York Takes Over
137
The Delawares and William Penn
155
Keeping Peace in New Jersey
261
Turmoil in Ohio
282
Haven in Indiana Territory
329
From Missouri to Kansas
359
On to OklahomaThe End of the Road
399
Delawares vs the Cherokee
440
Conclusion
457
and Reservations
467

Pennsylvanias New Indian Policy
173
Trouble on the Susquehanna
196
The Warriors Shed Their Petticoats
221
Voucher for Annuities Paid the Delawares in Missouri
501
Delaware Indian Members M Company 6th Kansas Vol
514
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

acres American annuities Archives band beads Beaver became Big House Brother Brotherton Buckongahelas called Captain Captain Pipe ceremonies Charles Cherokee Christian claimed Colonial Records commissioners Congress Council County Creek deed Dela Delaware chiefs Delaware Indian Delaware language Delaware River Delaware tribe dians Dutch English European families Five Nations Forks Frémont French Governor Heckewelder Historical Society History horses hundred hunting Ibid Indian Affairs Iroquois James Jersey Journeycake Kansas Ketchum Killbuck killed King lands later Lenape letter liquor living Mahican ment Miami miles Minquas mission Moravian moved Munsies native Netawatwees Nutimus Ohio Oklahoma party peace Penn's Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pratt present purchased Rafinesque reservation sachems Sassoonan settled settlement settlers Shawnee Shingas Sir William Johnson Six Nations sold Susquehanna Swedes Teedyuskung territory tion town trade treaty tribes Tuscarawas United Valley villages Walam Olum wampum wares warriors Washington White Eyes White River women wrote Wyandot Zeisberger

References to this book

About the author (1972)

C. A. Weslager, History Professor Emeritus of Brandywine College of Widener University, is the author of twenty-three books dealing with the Dutch, English, Swedish, and American Indian occupation of the Delaware River valley. Formerly president of the Eastern States Archaeological Federation and the Archaeological Society of Delaware, he is also a Fellow of the Archaeological Society of New Jersey and the Holland Society of New York.

Bibliographic information

PealkiriThe Delaware Indians: A History
AutorClinton Alfred Weslager
PublisherRutgers University Press, 1972
ISBN0813514940, 9780813514949
Length546 pages
  
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