A unique peculiarity of the political condition of the Lenape was that for a certain time they occupied a recognized position as non-combatants—as "women," as they were called by the Iroquois.
Indian customs and phraseology attached a two-fold significance to this term.
The more honorable was that of peace-makers. Among the Five Nations and Susquehannocks, certain grave matrons of the tribe had the right to sit in the councils, and, among other privileges, had that of proposing a cessation of hostilities in time of war. A proposition from them to drop the war club could be entertained without compromising the reputation of the tribe for bravery. There was an official orator and messenger, whose appointed duty it was to convey such a pacific message from the matrons, and to negotiate for peace[172].
Another and less honorable sense of the term arose from a custom prevalent throughout America, and known also among the ancient Scythians. Its precise purpose remains obscure, although it has been made the subject of a careful study by one of our most eminent surgeons, who had facilities of observation among the Western tribes[173]. Certain young men of the tribe, apparently vigorous and of normal development, were deprived of the accoutrements of the male sex, clothed like women, and assigned women's work to do. They neither went out to hunt nor on the war-path, and were treated as inferiors by their male associates. Whether this degradation arose from superstitious rites or sodomitic practices, it certainly carried to its victims the contempt of both sexes.
In their account of the transaction the Delawares claimed that they were appointed as peace-makers in an honorable manner, although the Iroquois deceived them as to their object.
The Lenape account is as follows:—
"The Iroquois sent messengers to the Delawares with the following speech:—
"'It is not well that all nations should war; for that will finally bring about the destruction of the Indians. We have thought of a means to prevent this before it is too late. Let one nation be The Woman. We will place her in the middle, and the war nations shall be the Men and dwell around the Woman. No one shall harm the Woman; and if one does, we shall speak to him and say, 'Why strikest thou the Woman?' Then all the Men shall attack him who has struck the Woman. The Woman shall not go to war, but shall do her best to keep the peace. When the Men around her fight one another, and the strife waxes hot, the Woman shall have power to say: 'Ye Men! what do ye that ye thus strike one another? Remember that your wives and children must perish, if ye do not cease. Will ye perish from the face of the earth?' Then the Men shall listen to the Woman and obey her.'
"The Delawares did not at once perceive the aim of the Iroquois, and were pleased to take this position of the Woman.
"Then the Iroquois made a great feast, and invited the Delawares, and spoke to their envoys an address in three parts.