Significant dates in Lenape-European Relations: 1609-1860s
Henry Hudson anchored in the Delaware Bay
English captain named the Bay after De la Warr, governor of Virginia
1st trading settlement, Fort Nassau, was established by the Dutch near Gloucester to accomodate fur trade with the Lenape.
Lenape in full swing of profitable fur trade with Europeans. Quote from an anonymous Lenape, The beaver does everything perfectly well. It makes kettles, hatchets, swords, knives, bread; in short, it makes everything.
Johann Printz, governor of New Sweden, writes that it would be desireable to drown all the Lenape in the Delaware.
Most Lenape are demoralized by continuing European expansion and domination, decimation of the beaver and other fur-bearing animals and dependence on Europeans for trade goods. They have begun tell or abandon lands, moving westward. Land was sold for goods, not cash.
Walking Purchase Deed, in which the Lenape agreed to sell land bounded by a distance that man could walk in a day and a half. Colonists cleared a path through the woods and sent fast runners, one of whom covered 55 miles. This resulted in an area of 1200 square miles, far more than had been expected, being turned over to the colonists. This poor treatment of the Lenape was controversial, even among the colonial population.
All remaining Lenape lands were purchased through a series of treaties.
Brotherton Reservation was established in Burlington County with funds from prior land sales. This reservation was primarily occupied by Christianized Lenape. Organizer and missionary John Brainerd believed that Native Americans would fare best if they acted European, so hunting was not allowed. By 1801, only 63 individuals were left on the reservation and most moved on to New York or Michigan.
Delawares settled in Anadardo, OK. Four hundred seventy-one remained after the War.
©1998 robert d. owens