Religion and ceremonies of the Lenape — John Shaqi
Religion and ceremonies of the LenapeHarrington, M. R. (Mark Raymond)
Religion
Religion and ceremonies of the Lenape
Harrington, M. R. (Mark Raymond)
Delaware Indians -- Religion
“When we come into this house of ours we are glad, and thankful that we
are well, and for everything that makes us feel good which the Creator
has placed here for our use. We come here to pray Him to have mercy on
us for the year to come and to give us everything to make us happy; may
we have good crops, and no dangerous storms, floods nor earthquakes. We
all realize what He has put before us all through life, and that He has
given us a way to pray to Him and thank Him. We are thankful to the East
because everyone feels good in the morning when they awake, and see the
bright light coming from the East, and when the Sun goes down in the West
we feel good and glad we are well; then we are thankful to the West. And
we are thankful to the North, because when the cold winds come we are
glad to have lived to see the leaves fall again; and to the South, for
when the south wind blows and everything is coming up in the spring, we
are glad to live to see the grass growing and everything green again. We
thank the Thunders, for they are the _manĭʹtowŭk_ that bring the rain,
which the Creator has given them power to rule over. And we thank our
mother, the Earth, whom we claim as mother because the Earth carries us
and everything we need. When we eat and drink and look around, we know
it is Gicelĕmû‛ʹkaong that makes us feel good that way. He gives us the
purest thoughts that can be had. We should pray to Him every morning.
“Man has a spirit, and the body seems to be a coat for that spirit. That
is why people should take care of their spirits, so as to reach Heaven
and be admitted to the Creator’s dwelling. We are given some length of
time to live on earth, and then our spirits must go. When anyone’s time
comes to leave this earth, he should go to Gicelĕmû‛ʹkaong, feeling good
on the way. We all ought to pray to Him, to prepare ourselves for days to
come so that we can be with Him after leaving the earth.
“We must all put our thoughts to this meeting, so that Gicelĕmû‛ʹkaong
will look upon us and grant what we ask. You all come here to pray; you
have a way to reach Him all through life. Do not think of evil; strive
always to think of the good which He has given us.
“When we reach that place, we shall not have to do anything or worry
about anything, only live a happy life. We know there are many of our
fathers who have left this earth and are now in this happy place in
the Land of Spirits. When we arrive we shall see our fathers, mothers,
children, and sisters there. And when we have prepared ourselves so that
we can go to where our parents and children are, we feel happy.
“Everything looks more beautiful there than here, everything looks new,
and the waters and fruits and everything are lovely.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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