Religion and ceremonies of the Lenape

by M. R. Harrington

“The people could get along fine, if they followed the rules of the meeting—not only the Delawares, but the other people round about. For when the Delaware prays, he prays for things that will benefit everybody; he prays for the children as well as for himself; he prays for future time. But if anything comes to destroy the world, it will be too late to think of starting the Big House then.”

Penn’s Account.—William Penn seems to have been the first to attempt a description of Lenape rites, for he wrote in 1683, in the same letter we have quoted before:

“Their Worship consists of two parts, sacrifice and Cantico. Their sacrifice is their first fruits.... The other part of their worship is by Cantico, performed by round dances, sometimes words, sometimes songs, then shouts, two being in the middle that begin, and by singing and drumming on a board direct the chorus.... They are said to lay their altar on twelve stones.”

In this brief account should be noted the presence of two drummers; the fact that they did not use a drum, but a “board” which was probably, if Penn had taken the trouble to look more closely, a dried hide; the word cantico which resembles the modern Lenape words for “dance”—kĭʹnĭkä among the Unami and kĭʹntika among the Minsi; and finally the use of the sacred number twelve.

Zeisberger’s Account.—The earliest detailed account, however, of the great Lenape ceremonies is given by Zeisberger,[46] who, writing about 1779, says:

“Worship and sacrifices have obtained among them from the earliest times, being usages handed down from their ancestors. Though in the detail of ceremony there has been change, as the Indians are more divided now than at that time, worship and sacrifice have continued as practiced in the early days, for the Indians believe that they would draw all manner of disease and misfortune upon themselves if they omitted to observe the ancestral rites.

“In the matter of sacrifice, relationship, even though distant, is of significance, legitimate or illegitimate relationship being regarded without distinction. A sacrifice is offered by a family, with its entire relationship, once in two years. Others, even the inhabitants of other towns, are invited. Such sacrifices are commonly held in autumn, rarely in winter. As their connections are large, each Indian will have opportunity to attend more than one family sacrifice a year. The head of the family knows the time and he must provide for everything. When the head of such a family is converted, he gets into difficulty because his friends will not give him peace until he has designated some one to take his place in the arrangement of sacrificial feasts.

“Preparations for such a sacrificial feast extend through several days. The requisite number of deer and bears is calculated and the young people are sent into the woods to procure them together with the leader whose care it is to see that everything needful is provided. These hunters do not return until they have secured the amount of booty counted upon. On their return they fire a volley when near the town, march in in solemn procession and deposit the flesh in the house of sacrifice. Meantime the house has been cleared and prepared. The women have prepared firewood and brought in long dry reed grass, which has been strewn the entire length of the house, on both sides, for the guests to sit upon. Such a feast may continue for three or four nights, the separate sessions beginning in the afternoon and lasting until the next morning. Great kettles full of meat are boiled and bread is baked. These are served to the guests by four servants especially appointed for this service. The rule is that whatever is thus brought as a sacrifice must be eaten altogether and nothing left. A small quantity of melted fat only is poured into the fire. The bones are burnt, so that the dogs may not get any of them. After the meal the men and women dance, every rule of decency being observed. It is not a dance for pleasure or exercise, as is the ordinary dance engaged in by the Indians. One singer only performs during the dance, walking up and down, rattling a small tortoise shell filled with pebbles. He sings of the dreams the Indians have had, naming all the animals, elements and plants they hold to be spirits. None of the spirits of things that are useful to the Indians may be omitted. By worshipping all the spirits named they consider themselves to be worshipping God, who has revealed his will to them in dreams. When the first singer has finished he is followed by another. Between dances the guests may stop to eat again. There are four or five kinds of feasts, the ceremonies of which differ much from one another.

“At these feasts there are never less than four servants, to each of whom a fathom of wampum is given that they may care for all necessary things. During the three or four days they have enough to do by day and by night. They have leave, also, to secure the best of provisions, such as sugar, bilberries, molasses, eggs, butter and to sell these things at a profit to guests and spectators.”