article
Delaware personhood
Man in the Northeast • 42 • Published In 1991 • Pages: 17-27
By: Miller, Jay.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Delaware conception of the 'person' (AWEN) has remained viable among older speakers of this language, both living or recently deceased in Oklahoma, and can be projected into the past using ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources. Delaware personhood is summarized using a generalized life cycle as an outline allowing for particular variation derived from age and gender. In contrast to previous treatments, which dealt with sociological aspects, symbolic dimensions are especially emphasized and Delaware soul beliefs are clarified. Gender asymmetry is such that man is the generic, inclusive, and unmarked category, while woman is the specific, exclusive, and marked one (p. 17). This document contains brief, general summaries on reproduction, naming, childhood, puberty, marriage, adulthood, maturity, death, and beliefs about souls, relevant primarily to the Oklahoma Delaware.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Naming
- Burial practices and funerals
- Mourning
- Animism
- Eschatology
- Revelation and divination
- Ethnopsychology
- Conception
- Pregnancy
- Childbirth
- Puberty and initiation
- Status and treatment of the aged
- Gender roles and issues
- 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
- article
- 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
- 5: Excellent Primary 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
- ca. 1860s-1980s
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Oklahoma, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Jay Miller
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 27)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 84649122
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Delaware Indians