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What can a people's legends reveal—and what happens when the record itself comes into question?
In The Lenâpé and Their Legends, Daniel G. Brinton explores the history, language and beliefs of the people Europeans called the Delaware. His account follows encounters with Dutch, Swedish and English settlers, then traces removal westward from a homeland along the Delaware River. Customs and stories stand beside a history of lost ground.
At the heart of the book lies the Walam Olum, a poem presented as a record of origins and wanderings through picture signs and Lenâpé verse. Brinton places it alongside accounts of a Creator and many spirits. Later scholars question the record, making this also a revealing encounter with nineteenth-century scholarship and its limits.
What you’ll discover
- A homeland along the Delaware Explore the river landscape at the center of Brinton's account of Lenâpé history.
- Encounters and forced movement Follow the account from settler contact to removal through Ohio, Indiana and farther west.
- A world of spirits Discover Brinton's account of Lenâpé traditions concerning a Creator and spirits in nature.
- The disputed Walam Olum Meet the poem whose picture signs and verses claim to preserve a nation's past.
- Evidence under scrutiny Consider a nineteenth-century scholar's approach to a record that later readers fiercely debate.
Who will love it
For readers who love Native American history, languages, old myths of migration, and the detective work of testing a mysterious document.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A painted record raises a question
- Eastern peoples recognized a shared kinship
- Peace chiefs could not declare war
- Light and winds shaped spiritual life
- Language becomes evidence for the record
- A peaceful role became an insult
- Origin stories connect people and place
- The words must test the claim
- A people gives the record context
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The Lenâpé and Their Legends
by Daniel G. Brinton · 1885
A painted record of the Lenape, the Walam Olum, comes to light through Rafinesque, and one scholar tests it.
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In short
Picture a record of a whole people painted on wooden tablets, with a chant for every sign. It tells of a flood, a mighty snake, a frozen sea crossed on foot, and at last of strangers arriving by ship.
The Lenâpé and Their Legends at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h3 h 10 min fast, 4 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 57,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1885by Daniel G. Brinton
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Lenape belong to a vast Algonkin family
Brinton opens with a wide map. Around 1500 to 1600, he says, the related tribes called Algonkins held the Atlantic coast from the Savannah River to the Strait of Belle Isle. The Crees lived by Hudson Bay, the Chipeways around Lake Superior, and the Miamis on the prairies. In the east stood the Micmacs, Mohegans, Lenape, Nanticokes, Powhatans and Shawnees. All their dialects came from one older speech.
Where did that speech begin? Morgan pointed to the Columbia River. Hale pointed east, to Hudson Bay and Labrador. Brinton sides with Hale, for reasons of language. Blackfoot, the dialect farthest west, is the most worn down. Cree, in the north, has simple roots and clear grammar, so it looks closest to the parent tongue.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1885
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Brinton, Daniel G. The Lenâpé and Their Legends. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lenape-and-their-legends.
Brinton, D. G. (2026). The Lenâpé and their legends. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lenape-and-their-legends (Original work published 1885)
Brinton, Daniel G. The Lenâpé and Their Legends. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lenape-and-their-legends.
@book{brinton2026lenape,
author = {Brinton, Daniel G.},
title = {The Lenâpé and Their Legends},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-lenape-and-their-legends},
note = {First published 1885}
}
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What is the Walam Olum?
It is a chant record of the Lenape, or Delawares, with a picture sign for each verse. It tells of creation, a flood, a migration east and a list of chiefs. Its name means Red Score, from painted tally marks.
Who were the Lenape or Delaware Indians?
They were an Algonkin people of the Delaware River valley in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. They had three subtribes, the Minsi, Unami and Unalachtigo, with Wolf, Turtle and Turkey totems. Neighbors called them grandfathers and peacemakers.
Is the Walam Olum a forgery?
Brinton asks that question directly. He tests the text with native Delaware speakers, who judge it a genuine oral work. He concludes that it is authentic but not of great age, and that its history needs support from other sources.
The author
Daniel G. Brinton
1837–1899 · American archaeologist and ethnologist
Daniel G. Brinton (1837–1899) was an American archaeologist, ethnologist, and physician. He was born in Pennsylvania and later lived in Philadelphia. He wrote The Myths of the New World (1868), The Lenâpé and Their Legends (1885), and The American Race (1891). He taught at the University of Pennsylvania.
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