Delaware Nation
Delaware Nation is said to be North America’s Oldest Indigenous Nation and is one of three federally recognized tribes of the Delaware Indians in the United States. Their tribal jurisdiction is located within Caddo Country, Oklahoma and their tribal headquarters is located a couple miles north of Anadarko, Oklahoma.
The Delaware creation story tells us one day the rain came and the People prayed to their Creator as the waters rose. The Creator directed the People to a large hill and told them to camp upon it. As the rain continued to fall the water began to pool and rise around them, so they moved to the very top of this hill. As the water crept up toward them wetting their feet, the hill began to tremble and shake. Rising up with the People upon its back was the great Taakox, or turtle, who had been hiding beneath the hill for many years. Taakox saved the Delaware people and they survived upon his back until the waters receded.
The long history of the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware people as they are now known, reaches far back before the arrival of the Europeans. The Walum Olum (red score) is their recounting of where they come from. Recorded in what are known as mnemonic glyphs (somewhat similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs), these stories were traditionally shared through storytelling and at some point an individual decided to record the stories onto wooden strips. The assumption of interpreters of the Waum Olum in late 19th is that the oral tradition was passed down from one person to another. One interpretation of the late 19th century suggests two groups of people decided to leave their homelands in what is now modern day Siberia moving across the once frozen Bering Strait southward across the Yukon until arriving at the head waters of the Mackenzie and Columbia Rivers. From there one group would move southeasterly, and, over the subsequent generations, eventually arrive at Namaesi Sipu, or the Mississippi River. As the first inhabitants of what is now the northeastern United States, the Waopanachke or Lenni Lenape, were known as the grandfathers addressing other tribes within the Algonkian family as their grandchildren. The kinship ties among the tribes comprising the Algonkian group considered the Delaware to be the oldest existing tribe among them which suggests we were the first to occupy the region. According the Walum Olum not all the Delaware people moved into the four rivers area but one group remained along the eastern bank of the Mississippi while another group remained west of the river. From the Delaware who settled in the northeastern part of our continent would come our three clans; the Munsee (Wolf Clan), the Unami (Turtle Clan) and the Unalachtigo (Turkey Clan).
The Absentee Delaware, “absentee” being a description we were given early on, broke away from the main body of the tribe shortly after the American Revolution. European promises of the inclusion of a 14th state, an Indian state, were made as enticement to sign the first treaty in 1778 between the fledgling United States and the Indians. They were the first Indian nation to enter into a treaty with the newly formed government of the United States.
In 1793, the Delaware were given a land grant from the Governor General of Louisiana, which they would share with the Shawnees. This tract of land was located northwest of present-day Cape Girardeau, Missouri. After 1815, the Absentee Delaware continued south and southwest into Arkansas and the Indian territories while the main body of the tribe continued to reside in Ohio prior to entering into treaties which would bring about their relocation to southwest Missouri. After the Absentee Delaware began moving south, they would splinter into three groups; one group residing along the northeast Texas border, others near present day Nacagdoches, Texas, and the third group near present-day Byars, Oklahoma in McCurtain County. These Delaware, along with other bands seeking a place to live, would find themselves removed from Texas three times before eventually settling on Wichita allotments in the Anadarko, Oklahoma area. Known until the late 20th century as the Absentee Delaware, then the Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma, we are now the federally recognized Delaware Nation.
Kerry Holton (President)
Tel: (405) 247-2448
Fax: (405) 247-9393
PO Box 825
Anadarko, OK73005-0825
Website: http://www.delawarenation.com
The Lenape people were divided into three dialectal divisions, which later became the basis for the three Clans of the Lenape. These divisions were the Monsi (Munsee) or Wolf, the Unami or Turtle, and the Unilactigo or Turkey. Today the clans are known as the Tùkwsit (Wolf Clan), Pùkuwànko (Turtle Clan), and Pële (Turkey Clan). The Delaware Nation is the Pùkuwànko (Turtle Clan).
The Delaware Nation was the first Indian nation to enter into a treaty with the newly formed government of the United States; the treaty was signed on September 17, 1778.
The Oklahoma branches were established in 1867, with the purchase of land by Delaware from the Cherokee Nation; they made two payments totaling $438,000. A court dispute followed over whether the sale included citizenship rights for the Delaware within the Cherokee Nation. The Curtis Act of 1898 dissolved tribal governments and ordered the allotment of tribal lands to individual members of tribes. The Lenape fought the act in the courts but lost, and in 1867 the courts ruled that they had only purchased rights to the land for their lifetimes. The lands were allotted in 160-acre (650,000 m2) lots in 1907, with any land left over sold to non-Indians.
The tribe became federally recognized on July 5, 1958 as the “Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma.” They ratified their current constitution in 1972. In November 1999, the tribe officially changed its name to the Delaware Nation.[5]
In 2004 the Delaware of Oklahoma sued Pennsylvania over land lost in 1800. This was related to the colonial government’s Walking Purchase of 1737, an agreement of doubtful legal veracity.[6][7] The court held that the justness of the extinguishment of aboriginal title is nonjusticiable, including in the case of fraud. Because the extinguishment occurred prior to the passage of the first Indian Nonintercourse Act in 1790, that Act did not avail the Delaware.
As a result the court granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss. In its conclusion the court stated: … we find that the Delaware Nation’s aboriginal rights to Tatamy’s Place were extinguished in 1737 and that, later, fee title to the land was granted to Chief Tatamy-not to the tribe as a collectivity.[8]
The Delaware Nation tribal jurisdiction is located within Caddo Country, Oklahoma and their tribal headquarters is located a couple miles north of Anadarko, Oklahoma.
31064 State Highway 281
Building 100
Anadarko, OK 73005
Delaware Nation began language preservation efforts during the 70’s with tribal elders from the Anadarko community. This initial project created a vast amount of recordings that has since been our primary resource for many language projects. Continuous efforts through the decades have provided classes and built resources for Delaware Nation Citizen with hopes of producing Lenape language speakers. In this last decade Delaware Nation Cultural Preservation has made greater strides to preserving our language with implementing weekly lessons throughout the year and seeking grants to expand towards more outreach.
Today Delaware Nation seeks to serve its people while also preserving their culture. Without preserving the culture of a people, their history disappears. They have a phenomenal Cultural Preservation Department. Its mission is to preserve the culture, language, history, ancestral lands, sacred sites, objects of cultural patrimony, materials, and objects possessing ongoing cultural significance to the Delaware Nation through education, communication, and consultation with local, state, federal agencies and organizations. They also provide their members with many social service through their social services department. They provide enrolled members with temporary assistance in education programs, child care programs, financial services programs, and provide necessary support and referral to families in crisis. The Delaware Nation Housing Department provides assistance to low-income Native American families. In addition, the nation’s annual economic impact was estimated at $5 million in 2010.[1] Their tribal casino, Gold River Bingo and Casino, is located north of Anadarko.[4] In August 2012, the Delaware Nation opened Casino Oklahoma located in Hinton, OK.
Kerry Holton (President)
Tel: (405) 247-2448
Fax: (405) 247-9393
PO Box 825
Anadarko, OK73005-0825
Website: http://www.delawarenation.com
or
Street Address:
The Delaware Nation
31064 State Highway 281
Building 100
Anadarko, OK 73005
info@delawarenation.com
