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Lenape Indians

When the Dutch arrived in The Bronx in the 17th century they encountered Native Americans known as the Lenape, meaning the real or true people (Bolton 3). The Lenape, who were also known as the Lenni Lenape or later as the Delaware Indians, lived in bark covered houses (long houses) and sustained themselves on corn which they grew and by hunting and fishing in the wilderness of The Bronx (Bolton 16). 

Bark Covered Long House

Lenape society divided itself into clans based on the maternal line. Further subdivisions arose via language dialects or by “chieftaincies” (Bolton 9).  In the 17th century the Bronx was divided between two sub groups of Lenape: the Siwanoy on the eastern shore and the Weckquaesgeek in the west (Bolton 136). In addition to the western Bronx, the Weckquaesgeek Lenape’s territory also included Yonkers, much of the western part of Westchester County and the upper part of Manhattan. In fact, a Sachem or chief of the Weckquaesgeek by the name of Rechewac is known to have been headquartered in Manhattan at what today is 94th Street and Park Avenue--proving the timeless appeal of a Park Avenue address (Bolton 10).

The Weckquaesgeek Lenape in the Bronx called the area encompassing University Heights, Keskeskeck (Jones 424).  The name was recorded in a legal document when the Dutch West India Company purchased Keskeskeck on August 3, 1639 from Lenape sachems Freequemeck, Rechgawar and Packanmans (Schwab 3). Over the centuries war, disease and an influx of new settlers pushed many of the Lenape westward into the Ohio valley. On July 4, 1866 the Lenape signed a treaty with the United States government that provided them land in the Oklahoma territory.  Today, the majority of Lenape reside in Oklahoma (Indian Artifact.com Lenni-Lenape Indian).

Present Day Lenape Bumper Sticker

Works Cited

Bolton, Reginald Pelham. Indian Life of Long Ago in the City of New York. New York: Crown Publishers, 1972.
Indian Artifact.com Lenni-Lenape Indian. 2008. 30 March 2011 <http://www.indians-artifact.com/indians%20of%20north%20america/lenni-lenape%20indian.php>.
Jones, Theodore Francis. New York University 1832: 1932. New York: The New York University Press, 1933.
Schwab, John Christopher. The Revolutionary History of Fort Number Eight on Morris Heights, New York City. New Haven: Privately Published, 1897.

Photo Credits

                        http://www.americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/online/catlinclassroom/catlin_browsepagetribe.cfm?StartRow=20

http://www.phillyarchaeology.org/more/nativeamerican/background.htm

http://www.felihkatubbe.com/Lenape/

http://www.vivianb1.com/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/sapa/planyourvisit/new-netherland-the-dutch-commercial-colony.htm

 http://www.redeaglecreations.net/print/specialscatalog.html