Lenape Resources

Lenape [pronounced as if spelled “lun-NAH-pay”] means something like “The People.” It is common for many groups of people around the world to use a name that has a similar translation. They are also often called the Lenni Lenape. English settlers named them the Delaware because they lived in villages along the Delaware River.

Delaware. (2020). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://school.eb.com/levels/elementary/article/Delaware/353046

Frequently Asked Questions about the Lenape or Delaware Tribe. (2013). In Official Website of Delaware Tribe of Indians. Retrieved from http://delawaretribe.org/blog/2013/06/26/faqs/#Name.

Schutt, A.C. (2020). Delaware. In World Book Student. Retrieved from https://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=152940

Database:

eBooks:

The Lenape by Michael DeMocker

About the author: Michael DeMocker graduated from the Boston University College of Communications with a B.S. in Broadcasting & Film. He is also the author of several non-fiction books for children. 

The Delaware (Lenape) by Joseph Stanley

From the publisher: This book traces the Lenape from their pre-colonial beginnings to modern life on reservations. This series introduces readers to the historical challenges and losses Native Americans have endured, while looking at how their cultures have survived and thrive today.

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Videos:

The videos below are created by Lenape Lifeways Educational Programs. Viewers accompany John Kraft through the reconstructed Lenape Village. John Kraft is the Director of Lenape Lifeways Educational Programs, an archeologist, and educator who has presented programs on the Lenape or Delaware. He is the son of archaeologist Dr. Herbert Kraft, Professor Emeritus and former curator of the Museum of Archeology at Seton Hall University. Dr. Kraft devoted 50 years to the academic study of the prehistory of the Delaware River Valley and was an acknowledged authority on the Lenape or Delaware people. Dr. Kraft died in 2000. 

Other Digital Content:

The Lenni-Lenape Indians were the first known settlers of the area that is Philadelphia. Chet Brooks of Oklahoma is a member of the tribe, and he has devoted the past 36 years to studying and preserving Lenape history and tradition. Listen to the NPR segment to learn more. 

Google Arts & Culture is an online platform through which the public can view high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.

To find Lenape cultural artifacts, click here. 

Native-Land.ca is a website run by the nonprofit organization Native Land Digital. We strive to map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see the history of their countries and peoples. We also strive to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages across the world in a way that goes beyond colonial ways of thinking in order to better represent how Indigenous people want to see themselves. To see which native lands we inhabit, click here.

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