While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
The name Delaware is of English origin,
coming from the voyage of Lord Delaware to the Delaware River region. The
true name of the Delaware—what he calls himself—is Lenape. In the
pronunciation of this name the a is as in father. The final e
is a separate syllable, and is sounded as a in fame. The
accent of the word, Lenape, is on the a.
The name often appears in the early writings with the
adjective prefix lenni. The exact meaning of this word has been the
subject of much discussion. Mr. Heckewelder is the best authority, and he
says it means “original, pure.” The tribe always insisted that it was the
original Indian tribe or people. This distinction was conceded to them by
many other tribes, even those of different linguistic stocks. The author
has often heard them boast that they were the “Original men.”
The Lenape were separated into three sub-tribes:—
1. Minsi, or the Wolf
2. Unami, or the Turtle
3. Unalachtigo, or the Turkey
The word Minsi signifles “people of the stony country,”
mountaineers, for the Minsi lived when first known to white men in the
hill country about the head of the Delaware River. They were spoken of as
Monseys, Minisinks, Munsees, and Muncies by the early writers.
The word Unami means “the people down the
river.” This people lived on the Delaware River below the Lehigh.
The word Unalachtigo implies a “people who live
near the ocean.” They lived originally near the present site of
Wilmington, Delaware.
It was with the Unami and the Unalachtigo that William
Penn made his famous treaty. The Minsi had no part in that transaction. It was not until 1737 that they were
called on for cessions of land.10
The Wolf, the Turtle, and the Turkey were then totemic
animals of the Delawares. In theory the Minsi sub-clan were descended from
the Wolf—not the wolf as we know it, but an ancient animal with
supernatural powers. And so with the Unami, and Unalachtigo; they came
from the Turtle and the Turkey. The Unami were accorded the most honorable
place, being descended from the great Turtle, the primal being, older than
the earth as we know it, and who yet bears the world on its back as it
stands deep in the primeval ocean. And these animals were referred to in
metaphor—by or to some property or characteristic they possessed—and the
metaphorical expression attached to the subclans,
thus:
1. Wolf, Tuk-sit, Round-paw
2. Turtle, Pa-ko-an-go, The Crawler
3. Turkey, Pul-la-ue, Non-chewing
The sub-tribes are composed of clans—or are separated
into clans or gentes. Each sub-tribe has twelve clans, as follows:
The
Delaware composed in their own tongue, with the aid of hieroglyphics, the
Walum Olum, a history of their tribe, and an account of its
migrations. It is the only aboriginal record of the North American
Indians. Its value is just beginning to impress students.
Footnote
10 This follows Brinton's Lanape and their Legends.
It is the best authority.
