-Special Customs in CeremonyBrielle Mattiello, Carrie He,

Roberto Solano, Franco Iroldi, Tom Rusch

Gamwing as it was called by the Lenape; or the Big House Ceremony, was an annual event, during which people gave thanks to the Great Spirit and demi gods. The Big House building in which the ceremony, it took place stood as a metaphor of the Lenape conception of the universe.

They had no fences, they were friendly. Kids had to prove that they were grown

up. Girls- spent time alone thinking when she

will be a sife& mom. Boys- spent a lot of time in the woods. On the floor of the Big House is an oval

dancing path, symbolizing the Milky Way, or White Path of life. The White Path is the route of life which man proceeds, heading west, where life ends and the spirit continues along the Milky Way to the Spirit World.

Long House Ceremony

Lenape Rituals Sometimes they had ceremonies to

honor the good spirits or drive the evil ones away

Celebrated: rising of the maple sap and the planting of the corn.

Ritual for the 1st green corn of each year and a celebration of harvest.

Also good things, that are modern such as: birth, marriage; and a successful hunt.

One ceremony in the village, when a man would dress up in bearskin with a red and black painted mask.(mesingw)

Mesingw was responsible for watching over the animals, on special occasions he came to scare young children, he didn’t talk but used a turtle shell rattle and stick to communicate his thoughts.

One of the more important structures in any Lenape settlement was the sweat lodge or pimewakan, used for ritual, cleaning, and curing all manner of sickness.

One would enter the small hut where red-hot stones had been gathered. Water poured on these stones produced steam that would surround the person and cause sweating. After a time, when it was believed that the sickness or evil had been sweated out of the body, the individual would plunge into a nearby stream or be doused with cold water to close the pores. Wrapped in blankets, the person would then lie by a fire to dry and rest.

The Lenape believed that certain rituals, such as fasting, gave them special power to influence spirits. It was the custom for boys – and sometimes girls – to mark the time when they became adults by going away alone for many days to fast and dream.

The special power they received at this time might enable them to have visions, and some of them might find a guardian spirit. This special guardian could take the form of a fox, a hawk, a small ant or even a rock and could protect the individual for life or tell them what their future would be.

The lenape worshipped Light and its representatives, the sun, fire, “a special messenger, to the sun” the four winds. The lenape women and children could give names to the stars, they thought their year began after the first seeing of the February moon. When it was time to start planting, it was based on the rising of the Taurus in a certain quarter. They realized that there was 12 moons a year.They kept a record of the years by adding a black bead of wampum for each year in a belt kept for the purpose. Their picture writing was scratched on stones or cut or painted on bark or wood. It was like a timeline in the olden days.

Before the funerary period of 11 days and the feast on the 12th day, the body was taken and washed. The body would be wearing the best clothing he or she had. After the 12th day span, the body would be taken to where they would be buried. The whole the person was buried in was shallow, approximately 3-4 feet deep in the ground. The body would then be placed in the fetal position with their knees up to their chest and their arms wrapped around the chest. With the body, they would put the person’s goods and belongings to aid the person on their journey to the sky world( their heaven.) and to help the soul live in the sky world. The goods put in there depended if a man died or if a woman died. A man might have his hunting gear, some fishing tools, a pair of clothing, food and trinkets. ( A trinket was a small ornament or a piece of jewelry.) A woman might have leather to make clothing, a sewing kit, food, cooking tools and trinkets. A child might have toys, food, clothing, and trinkets.

On the burial day, there would be a long time of silence. The body was then placed in the hole, with the goods, ocher was then put on the body, which was a red powder used for burials, and the body was finally covered with soil. A post would be planted at the head end of the grave and be painted with symbols from that person’s life. The person was dead, and therefore, the name of the deceased was also dead.

Smoking was important to many Native American Indians. The tobacco and the pipes for smoking were thought to be sacred. They were to be treated with respect and used for the proper rituals. Tobacco smoke was used as an offering to the spirits. Sometimes tobacco was burned as incense or thrown onto the fire when the person called a spirit for help. And sometimes shamans smoked to drive disease from a sick person’s body.

The chiefs and councilors smoked before making important decisions, before trading, and before declaring war or agreeing to peace.

The Lenape dried the leaves of the plant and blossoms of the wild tobacco plant , then they used them as medicine. Indian tobacco was also popular. The plant was mixed with other herbs and bark to produce different affects.

1. http://www.lenapelifeways.org/lenape3.htm2. http://www.getnj.com/jchist/10.shtml3. http://www.anthro4n6.net/lenape/4. http://www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/astro6/delaware

_ind/BIGHOUSE.HTML5. http://maureen-zieber.suite101.com/lenni-lenape-people-

and-the-concept-of-death-a173930