essay
Cultural diversity in the lower Delaware River Valley, 1550-1750
Late woodland cultures of the Middle Atlantic region • Newark • Published In 1986 • Pages: 90-101, 169-206
By: Becker, Marshall Joseph.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Based on historical documents and supported by limited archaeological evidence, the data in this study suggests that the people of the lower Delaware River Valley who shared similar linguistic traits, may be identified as a single culture, that of the Lenape. 'However, considerable differences existed between the Lenape groups on the east and west sides of the Delaware River. Furthermore, even proximal bands on the Pennsylvani side, occupying nearly adjacent stream valleys feeding into the Delaware River, responded differently and independently to colonial expansion. These differences are by no means a reflection of disorganizaiton and lack of social or political cohesion, as some historians have suggested, but rather as a reflection of expected band independence and flexibility' (p. 100). This is illustrated in the text by the differences between the Brandywine and Okehocking bands in responding to land stress. Both of these bands, in contrast to other Lenape groups, are unusual in that they attempted to work through the colonial government to secure their ends.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Information sources listed in other works
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Settlement patterns
- Real property
- Community structure
- External relations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Delaware
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2003
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Woodlands
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 2002
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1550-1750
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Delaware River Valley, eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Marshall J. Becker
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-206)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 84040807
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Delaware Indians