RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on Dec 26, 2023 11:30:46 GMT -7
Hey, gang. I’ve run into a research question for an ambitious project I’m working on. Simply:
What were the death rituals of the Delaware in the 18th Century?
More specifically, I’m looking at the 1750s and how the Lenape treated their war dead after an engagement. The various captivity narratives I’ve researched are remarkably silent on the topic.
This is my first attempt to provide a weekly discussion topic for the forum. I’ve been out of touch (we’re still in crisis mode here…) but miss the rambling discussions and shared knowledge. Let’s see how this goes…
R
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Post by bushfire on Dec 26, 2023 12:41:34 GMT -7
I think that’s a great idea, this is my favourite forum to visit. I just wish there was more to read, admittedly I rarely have much of value to contribute. I do enjoy soaking it up though.
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on Dec 26, 2023 12:54:19 GMT -7
Brother…
Ask questions! If you’re curious, post a topic! I was most active before you came along, but I really dig pouring into the research to grab the snippets. Occasionally I’ll build a spreadsheet to compile data. I have problems, but they seem harmless enough. Ha.
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Post by hawkeyes on Dec 26, 2023 14:58:46 GMT -7
While not entirely "active" like other forums or "alive" the knowledge and experience contained within our realm of the net is treasure. I'm not much of a social bug nor forum fan myself however this website is literally one of three I visit.
More to come... I've got info to add.
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Post by brokennock on Dec 26, 2023 20:00:35 GMT -7
Hey, gang. I’ve run into a research question for an ambitious project I’m working on. Simply: What were the death rituals of the Delaware in the 18th Century?More specifically, I’m looking at the 1750s and how the Lenape treated their war dead after an engagement. The various captivity narratives I’ve researched are remarkably silent on the topic. This is my first attempt to provide a weekly discussion topic for the forum. I’ve been out of touch (we’re still in crisis mode here…) but miss the rambling discussions and shared knowledge. Let’s see how this goes… R If Col. Moultrie comes around and sees this, he should have some good answers I would think. I know he has done some research into the Delaware. I don't think using the @ character in front of someone's screen name notifies them that they have been mentioned in a topic reply like on some forums. |
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on Dec 28, 2023 14:34:50 GMT -7
Well JJ provided excellent info on the Tavern thread about how the Delaware approached death within their communities. That’s a vital baseline for getting deeper into the question… deeper being “how did they manage the loss of men in combat?” Bodies weren’t transported any great distances for interment and the nature of the frontier means time is of the essence after a battle.
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Post by brokennock on Dec 28, 2023 19:04:01 GMT -7
.... Bodies weren’t transported any great distances for interment.... Do we know this for fact? Define "great distances". Also, how far did the average Delaware travel on a war party? Both in general and in comparison to other tribes. |
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Post by paranger on Dec 28, 2023 19:31:55 GMT -7
Kittanning to Fort Loudoun PA is about 135 miles. That is how far Shingas and Captain Jacobs were raiding until John Armstrong burned Kittanning in September 1756 - and then it was even farther.
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on Dec 29, 2023 7:26:53 GMT -7
.... Bodies weren’t transported any great distances for interment.... Do we know this for fact? Define "great distances". Also, how far did the average Delaware travel on a war party? Both in general and in comparison to other tribes. Well… I guess we actually don’t know it for fact with regards to the Delaware. In the case of the British in North America at the time, when burial was possible after an attack or engagement, bodies were interred near to where they fell. Often in mass graves. Civilian and military alike. Braddock’s army lay on the field for years. Braddock himself got an unmarked grave in the wilderness. After the Penns Creek Massacre, burial parties visited the farms and got bodies in the ground quickly. It seems that in the time after the Great Cove attack, at least some of the fallen were placed in individual graves in a cemetery. But I don’t have good info for the Delaware or Shawnee. paranger mentions the distances involved for war parties. After Braddock was defeated, the Delaware abandoned their towns along the Susquehanna frontier, including Shamokin, in preparation of the coming conflict. They ranged from as far as Ohio country to the Delaware River in eastern PA to raid. One of the things that I have a sense of but I’m still fleshing out is that Delaware society completely flipped when on a war footing. Politics and rituals that were normal in times of peace seem to change once they took up the hatchet. |
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Post by brokennock on Dec 29, 2023 9:20:30 GMT -7
I'm not doubting that the Delaware would have dealt with their dead as close to the site of the battle as possible when 135 or so miles from home. It would be ridiculous to try to bring those bodies back all that way.
Based on the amount of dancing, fires, ceremony, and other activity described by captives when a war parry returned to their village, I have to surmise that much if the same mourning ritual was performed but without the body.
"One of the things that I have a sense of but I’m still fleshing out is that Delaware society completely flipped when on a war footing. Politics and rituals that were normal in times of peace seem to change once they took up the hatchet."
I think this is true for many cultures, even today.
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Post by lenapej on Dec 29, 2023 20:28:17 GMT -7
Heckewelder has some of the most detailed info on the Lenape, here is a link to some of his writings that has info pertaining to your question www.gutenberg.org/files/50350/50350-h/50350-h.htmI am pretty sure the Lenape simply buried or covered the dead when on the war trail, I have seen references to this, but would have to go through my info, and I am going to be out of town all weekend so don't know when I can get to it. Loskiel and David Zeisburger have good info on the Lenape. |
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RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
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Post by RyanAK on Dec 30, 2023 9:05:32 GMT -7
Well, friend… that was a perfect source!
When an Indian dies at a distance from his home, great care is taken that the grave be well fortified with posts and logs laid upon it, that the wolves may be prevented from getting at the corpse; when time and circumstances do not permit this, as, for instance, when the Indians are travelling, the body is enclosed in the bark of trees and thus laid in the grave. When a death takes place at their hunting camps, they make a kind of coffin as well as they can, or put a cover over the body, so that the 276 earth may not sink on it, and then enclose the grave with a fence of poles.
Warriors that are slain in battle, are, if possible, drawn aside and buried, so that the enemy may not get their scalps, and also that he may not know the number of the slain. In such cases they will turn an old log out of its bed, and dig a grave so deep, that the log, when replaced, may not press too hard upon the body. If any of the fresh earth be seen, they cover it with rotten wood, brush or leaves, that its place may not be found. If they have not sufficient time for this, or the number of their dead is too great, they throw the bodies on the top of each other between large logs, and place any kind of rotten wood or other rubbish upon them. They never, when they can help it, leave their dead to be devoured by wild beasts.
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Post by brokennock on Dec 31, 2023 7:55:11 GMT -7
Thank you for plucking that out Ryan. I thought what I was reading at the start looked familiar. I remember those passages now, having read that book a year or so ago. I wish I had a system to retain this stuff,,,, and recall it when needed.
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Post by Black Hand on Dec 31, 2023 13:24:04 GMT -7
I wish I had a system to retain this stuff,,,, and recall it when needed. Excel spreadsheet (or a free spreadsheet program such as that associated with Libre Office or Google sheets)... |
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