
Delaware Nation ( del, Èhëliwsikakw Lënapeyok), also known as the Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma and sometimes called the Absentee or Western Delaware, based in
Anadarko, Oklahoma
Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is fifty miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County.
History
Anadarko got its name when its post off ...
[Delaware Tribe regains federal recognition.]
''NewsOk.'' 4 Aug 2009 (retrieved 5 August 2009) is one of three
federally recognized tribes
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the Unite ...
of
Delaware Indians
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
in the United States, along with the Delaware Indians based in
Bartlesville, Oklahoma and the
Stockbridge–Munsee Community of
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. Communities also reside in Canada.
Government
Delaware Nation has 2,081 enrolled members as of December 17, 2021, according to the tribal enrollment office located in Anadarko, Oklahoma.
As of March 16, 2019, Delaware Nation membership was changed from minimum
blood quantum
Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to estab ...
of 1/8 blood to Lineal Descendancy by vote during a Secretarial Election.
The Delaware Nation's tribal complex is located north of
Anadarko, Oklahoma
Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is fifty miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County.
History
Anadarko got its name when its post off ...
on Highway 281. Their tribal jurisdictional area is located within
Caddo County, Oklahoma. They operate their own housing authority and issue tribal vehicle tags.
The current Delaware Nation Executive Committee are:
*President: Deborah Dotson
*Vice-president: Michael McLane
*Secretary: Ann Brower
*Treasurer: Barbara Nixon
*Committee Member: Terry Williams
*Committee Member: Reynolds French Sr.
Economic development
The nation's annual economic impact was estimated at $5 million in 2010.
[2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory.]
''Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission.'' 2011: 12. Retrieved 3 Jan 2012. Their tribal casino, Gold River Bingo and Casino, is located north of Anadarko. In August 2012, the Delaware Nation opened Casino Oklahoma located in Hinton, OK.
Language
The Delaware peoples traditionally spoke the
Delaware language (also known as the Lenape language),
Munsee
The Munsee (or Minsi or Muncee) or mə́n'si·w ( del, Monsiyok)Online Lenape Talking Dictionary, "Munsee Indians"Link/ref> are a subtribe of the Lenape, originally constituting one of the three great divisions of that nation and dwelling along t ...
and
Unami, two closely related languages of the
Eastern Algonquian
The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least 17 languages, whose speakers collectively occupied the Atlantic coast of North America and ad ...
subgroup of the
Algonquian language family.
History
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
The Munsee (or Minsi or Muncee) or mə́n'si·w ( del, Monsiyok)Online Lenape Talking Dictionary, "Munsee Indians"Link/ref> are a subtribe of the Lenape, originally constituting one of the three great divisions of that nation and dwelling along t ...
) 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 Tribe (This was done before the Delaware Nation was established and completed by the original Delaware Tribe before westward migration was forced on the Tribe) 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
The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...
; 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. In 1867, the courts ruled that they had only purchased rights to the land for their lifetimes.
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. The lands were allotted in lots in 1907, with any land left over sold to non-Indians.
The Nation 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.
In September 2000 the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma received 11.5 acres of land in
Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Thornbury Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,028 at the 2010 census, up from 7,093 at the 2000 census. It is adjacent to, and was once joined with, Thornbury Township, Chester County, Pe ...
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. 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.
Notable Western Delaware
*
Black Beaver (1806–1880), Delaware leader, scout, and rancher
*
Holly Wilson
Holly Wilson (born 1968) is a Native American artist from Oklahoma. She is an enrolled member of the Delaware Nation and is of Cherokee descent.
Wilson lives and works in Mustang, Oklahoma. According to Wilson, she used to call herself a sculpto ...
(born 1968), Delaware multi-media artist
Notes
External links
Delaware Nation – Official web site Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
Delaware Nation – Official Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaware Nation
.
Native American tribes in Oklahoma
Federally recognized tribes in the United States