The Lenâpé and Their Legends: With the complete text and symbols of the Walam olum, a new translation, and an inquiry into its authenticityBrinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
History
The Lenâpé and Their Legends: With the complete text and symbols of the Walam olum, a new translation, and an inquiry into its authenticity
Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Delaware Indians; Delaware language -- Texts; Picture-writing, Indian
The proper name of the Delaware Indians was and is _Lenapé_, (a as in
father, é as a in mate). Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull[48] is quite wide of
the mark both in calling this a "misnomer," and in attributing its
introduction to Mr. Heckewelder.
Long before that worthy missionary was born, the name was in use in the
official documents of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the synonym
in the native tongue for the Delaware Indians,[49] and it is still
retained by their remnant in Kansas as the proper term to designate
their collective nation, embracing its sub-tribes.[50]
The derivation of _Lenape_ has been discussed with no little learning,
as well as the adjective _lenni_, which often precedes it (Lenni
Lenape). Mr. Heckewelder stated that _lenni_ means "original, pure,"
and that _Lenape_ signifies "people."[51] Dr. Trumbull, in the course
of a long examination of the words for "man" in the Algonkin dialects,
reaches the conclusion that "Len-âpé" denotes "a common adult male,"
_i. e._, an Indian man; _lenno lenâpé_, an Indian of _our_ tribe or
nation, and, consequently, _vir_, "a man of men."[52] He derives these
two words from the roots _len_ (= _nen_), a pronominal possessive, and
_ape_, an inseparable generic particle, "denoting an adult male."
I differ, with hesitation, from such an eminent authority; but this
explanation does not, to my mind, give the precise meaning of the term.
No doubt, both _lenno_, which in Delaware means _man_, and _len_, in
Lenape, are from the pronominal radicle of the first person _né_, I,
we, mine, our. As the native considered his tribe the oldest, as well
as the most important of created beings, "ours" with him came to be
synonymous with what was esteemed ancient, indigenous, primeval, as
well as human, man-like, _par excellence_. "We" and "men" were to
him the same. The initial _l_ is but a slight modification of the _n_
sound, and is given by Campanius as an _r_, "_rhenus_, homo."
_Lenape_, therefore, does not mean "a common adult male," but rather "a
male of our kind," or "our men."[53]
The termination _apé_ is said by Heckewelder to convey the idea of
"walking or being in an erect posture." A comparison of the various
Algonkin dialects indicates that it was originally a locative,
signifying staying in a place, abiding or sitting. Thus, in Cree,
_apú_, he is there; in Chipeway, _abi_, he is at home; in Delaware,
_n'dappin_, I am here. The transfer of this idea to the male sex is
seen in the Cree, _ap_, to sit upon, to place oneself on top, _apa_, to
cover (animate and active); Chipeway, _nabe_, the male of quadrupeds.
Baraga says that for a Chipeway woman to call her husband _nin nabem_
(lit. my coverer, comp. French, _femme couverte_), is coarse.
_The Lenape Sub-Tribes._
The Lenape were divided into three sub-tribes:--
1. The Minsi, Monseys, Montheys, Munsees, or Minisinks.
2. The Unami, or Wonameys.
3. The Unalachtigo.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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