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
The chief then gave thanks for everything he could remember, from the
heavenly bodies to the animals, trees, and herbs of the earth, not
forgetting corn, beans, and squashes; and prayer for successful hunting
and good health for all the people. At the summer meeting he prayed for
good crops also. When he had finished, bear’s fat was thrown on the two
fires, and the smoke rose and filled the place with its odor.
CEREMONIAL DRINK
At this point it was customary to pass around a vessel of drink made of
crushed wild strawberries, from which each person present swallowed about
a spoonful, a drink made at the Summer Ceremony of fresh fruit, but in
winter necessarily of berries dried for the purpose.
RECITAL OF VISIONS
The first man to relate his vision (my informant did not remember whether
he was the one who “brought in” the meeting or not) took up the turtle
rattle from its place at the foot of the post and began to shake it
rapidly, while the singers struck the drum of dry hide. He then recited
the story of his vision of power, still keeping the rattle shaking,
following this with his dance song, at the same time dancing and rattling
the turtleshell.
Any one who wished to dance was supposed to give wampum to the
vision-teller for the privilege. Some who were well off would give him an
entire string, others merely a few beads. These the vision-teller would
take, when he had quite a handful, to two officers who sat in a corner of
the building, whose duty it was to count the wampum, after which it was
kept by the chief or leader. Sometimes if a poor person who had no wampum
wished to dance, they would give him some to pay the vision-teller.
A translated example of a Minsi vision chant and dance song has already
been given. When the dream-teller finished the first verse of his dance
song, he exclaimed, “_E-ye-he-ye-ĕ!_” whereupon the singers took up the
strain and sang the verse several times, for the benefit of those who
wished to dance, omitting, however, the final exclamation, but those
who had bought the privilege rose and danced where they stood, instead
of circling around, as among the Unami. Each “set” ended with a whoop,
“_kwi!_”.
When the vision-teller finished dancing, he went around the house and
shook hands with everyone; then the turtle rattle was passed to another
man who had been blessed with a vision, and so on, until all those
qualified, who wished to recite their visions, had done so.
OTHER FEATURES
_The Prayer Cry._—From time to time during the night the prayer cry
“_Ho-o-o!_” was repeated twelve times, and the twelfth cry, they say,
was heard by the Great Manĭʹto.
_Feast._—The people were accustomed to eat a light supper before going
into the meeting; then about midnight the four attendants carried around
baskets with boiled meat and corn bread, and in the morning, before
leaving the Big House, a regular feast of venison was served in new bark
bowls and eaten with new bark spoons especially made for the purpose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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