Lenni Lenape (Delaware) People

Indigenous Peoples of Pennsylvania

Two of the most prominent Indigenous nations of southeastern and central Pennsylvania were the Lenni Lenape and the Susquehannock. The Lenape traditionally lived along the Delaware River and its tributaries, while the Susquehannock occupied lands along the Susquehanna River. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests long-standing regional connections, though by the 1300s these peoples were clearly distinct in culture and territory.

The Lenni Lenape

Lenape is an Algonquian word meaning “the people.” Lenni Lenape is often translated as “the original people.” Many neighboring Indigenous nations referred to the Lenape as “grandfather,” reflecting their antiquity and respected status in the region.

Although their precise origins are not definitively known, oral histories and archaeological evidence indicate that the Lenape are among the oldest continuously present Indigenous peoples in the eastern woodlands of North America.

In the early 1600s, the Lenape were among the first Indigenous nations to encounter European settlers. They were renamed the Delaware by English colonists, after Thomas West, Lord de la Warr, governor of the Jamestown colony. Despite being widely respected as skilled warriors, the Lenape emphasized diplomacy and coexistence—an approach that often left them vulnerable to exploitation by both colonists and rival nations.

Burial Sites and Modern Recognition

In 2022, the only known Native American burial site in Newlin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, was formally returned to the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma, one of the federally recognized nations representing Lenape descendants.

Approximately thirty tribal members were buried on a knoll overlooking the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek, with their heads facing east in accordance with Lenape funeral traditions.

After most Lenape were forcibly displaced from their homeland, the site was rediscovered in the nineteenth century. Several graves were disturbed, and at least one set of remains was taken to Swarthmore College in 1899. The site was formally recognized in 1909 by the Chester County Historical Society.

Additional Lenape sites remain nearby, including Indian Rock, a traditional territorial marker, and the former residence and burial place of Indian Hannah, the last known Lenape resident of Chester County, who died in 1802.

Alligewi (Allegheny) People

Lenape oral tradition describes an earlier people known as the Alligewi, often associated with the ancient mound-building cultures of the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. These communities constructed large earthworks, fortifications, and ceremonial mounds, many of which still exist today.

According to tradition, when the Lenape migrated eastward, they encountered the Alligewi and requested permission to settle among them. The request was denied, though safe passage eastward was granted.

Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)

The Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee, also originated in the interior of North America. Oral histories recount that they allied with the Lenape against the Alligewi, eventually driving them from the region. The Iroquois settled primarily around the Great Lakes, while the Lenape occupied lands farther south.

Over time, power imbalances emerged. By the 1500s, access to European firearms through French and Dutch trade enabled the Iroquois to dominate neighboring nations, including the Lenape. Lenape leaders were stripped of political autonomy and displaced westward into present-day Pennsylvania, Ohio, and beyond.

Displacement and Removal

Traditional Lenape beliefs held that land could not be owned or sold, as it belonged to the Creator and was meant to sustain all living beings. European concepts of land ownership, combined with military pressure and broken treaties, resulted in repeated forced removals.

By the nineteenth century, most Lenape communities had been displaced to reservations in Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, and ultimately Oklahoma, where several Lenape-descended nations remain today.