In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

lenape The Arrival of the Whites Introduction by Jim Rementer Many accounts and history books tell of the arrival of the Europeans in America from theviewpoint of the Europeans. In this account wewill look at various stories told by the Lenape, or Delaware, Indians of the same event. The people who called themselves Lenape lived originally in what is now New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and southeastern New York. Population estimates for the Lenape at the time of the arrival of the Europeans vary and range all the way from eight thousand up to twenty-five thousand. Two main divisions of the Lenape existed in the old homeland. In the northern area were found the speakers of the Munsee dialect; they ranged into the area of today’s New York City and north into the Catskills. In the area generally south of the Raritan River were found the Unami speakers. The Unami dialect was divided into Northern Unami, the dialect mainly used by the people with whom the Moravian missionaries worked, and Southern Unami. The southern dialect was used by both Lenape groups in Oklahoma. Storytelling always held an important place in the lives of the Lenape people. In the days before movies, television, radio, and the written word, it was not only a form of amusement but also the only means of passing down tribal history and legends. As Francis Pastorius wrote of the Lenape in 1698, ‘‘They are people of the forest who instruct and teach one another by means of tradition, from the aged to the young’’ (Pastorius 1912, 433). Lenape stories can be divided into two major categories: athiluhakàna (wintertime stories) and achimëwakàna (stories that can be told at any time). Wintertime stories should only be told during that season because doing so at other times will cause the teller to have various insects and other pests go after him or her. The Lenape had a solution for this possible problem should they have to relate such a story in other seasons. The teller would precede the story with the Lenape statement, ‘‘Tèlën òk nisha shkakwxèsa ntapapi!’’ (I am seated on twelve skunk hides!). This was apparently a potent enough threat to keep the pests away. The Lenape said there were people gifted in storytelling, even as recently as the 1900s. Most were men, but some women storytellers were also known. In fact many Lenape speakers, if asked to tell a story, would begin with the disclaimer, 50 lenape ‘‘Well, I’m not a storyteller, but I will do my best.’’ The following small scene gives an idea of how a story session might have taken place in precontact times: It is the middle of winter, and the night is cold. Somewhere in a village along what would later be known as the Delaware River, there is a gathering of Lenape people who have come together in a wikëwam to listen to an elderly man tell athiluhakàna (wintertime stories). Inside the wikëwam a fire is burning, and it is warm but there is very little smoke. People are sitting around waiting.Then the old man opens a small deerskin bag he carries with him. He reaches in and soon pulls out a small figure carved of bone. He looks at it and says, ‘‘Wèwtun ëwèsi athiluhakàn’’ (Thewintertime storyof the mermaid). And so he begins, ‘‘Nìki lòmëwe wàni Lenape . . .’’ (Once a long time ago the Lenape people . . .). And his stories continue for several hours into the night. The stories are wonderful , the year is 1590, and the world of the Lenape is about to change forever. Unfortunately, the earliest Europeans to arrive in the Lenape homeland had little interest in the traditional stories. Their main interest was in trading for furs or trying to acquire the land. As shown in the book Mythology of the Lenape, by John Bierhorst, only five stories were written down prior to 1760. From 1760 until 1825 only twenty-five additional stories or pieces of stories appear in manuscripts. One possible reason, other than lack of interest, is that a pidgin trade language had come into use for dealings between the Europeans and the Lenape. Such a pidgin language would not have been a good vehicle for relating complicated stories. Pidgin Talk Lenape pidgin was a contact language used between the Lenape and the Europeans during the colonial period. According to linguist Ives Goddard, ‘‘Pidgin...

Share