THE LENAPETHE LENAPE

◦The Lenape are of the Delaware Indian Nation, named for the river that flowed through a portion of their land

◦Lenape is translated as “common person”

◦ The whole region which the Lenape lived in is known as “Lenapehoking”◦Lenapehoking roughly translates to “land of the common people”◦This region encompasses the lands which are now Delaware, western Connecticut, eastern New Jersey, New York, and parts of eastern Pennsylvania

◦According to most Lenape people, they entered the lands of Lenapehoking about 10,000 years ago, and came from the west

LENAPEHOKINGLENAPEHOKING

LANGUAGES OF THE LENAPELANGUAGES OF THE LENAPE◦ The two main Language groups of Lenape are in the Algonquian language family.◦These two groups are known as Munsee and Unami

◦Munsee means ‘people from minisink’ [the stony country]. These people lived in the northern portion of Lenapehoking, which is the lower Hudson Valley and upper Delaware River region. Speakers of Munsee belonged to the Wolf Clan

◦Unami is the language which was spoken by those residing on the Atlantic coast and in the Delaware Bay area, which was the southern portion of Lenapehoking◦Within the Unami language, there are two sub-languages.

◦These are: Southern Unami, spoken by those living in the southern reaches of Lenapehoking. These Lenape belonged to the Turtle Clan Northern Unami/Unalachtigo, spoken by those living in the northern reaches of the Unami region. These Lenape belonged to the Turkey Clan

◦ Unami and Munsee are about as different from one another as Spanish and Portuguese are.

ALGONQUIAN

DELAWARE

MUNSEE UNAMI

SOUTHERN UNAMI

NORTHERN UNAMI[UNALACHTIGO]

BREAK UP OF LENAPE LANGUAGESBREAK UP OF LENAPE LANGUAGES

LENAPE LANGUAGE LINK

http://www.talk-lenape.org/sentences.php?resultpage=1&