by Dr. JR Norwood
Originally published in the Newsletter of the Greater New Jersey Conference of the United Methodist Church
Have you ever heard of Scheyichbi? You may not have heard the word, but you know the place. It is the location of most of the Greater New Jersey Conference.
Scheyichbi (shay-ICK-pee), which can be translated as “edge of the water,” is the indigenous name of New Jersey and is the central part of Lenapehoking (leh-NAH-pay-hoe-king), which is the homeland of the indigenous people who call themselves the “Lenape” (leh-NAH-pay) and includes all of New Jersey, Southeastern New York, Southwestern Connecticut, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Northeastern Delaware.
An individual Lenape person could be identified in various ways. Semi-autonomous individual villages were often named for nearby waterways. Regional names also applied to groupings of interrelated villages. Individuals were also known by their matrilineal sub-clans. Three sub-tribes / major clans / regional dialect groups also served as additional identifiers. However, all identified themselves as the Lenape.
The name “Lenape” can be roughly translated as “original people,” “real people,” or “common people.” “Lenni-Lenape” (LEHN-nee – leh-NAH-pay) is a traditional reduplication, rendering the meaning of the name as “really original people” or “men of men.” The British called them the “Delaware,” after the colonial name given to the major river that flowed through their homeland. Those Lenape who underwent removal away from the homeland have continued to use the name given by the colonists, while those who remain still primarily use the indigenous term. The Lenape are regarded as an ancient nation, from which many others descended. Today, many tribes still refer to the Lenape as the “Ancient Ones” or “Grandfathers.”
While respected by their neighbors for their ability to be fierce, the ancient Lenape were a peaceful people, living in harmony with one another and with the land. They were also known as peace makers and were often called to negotiate disputes among neighboring tribes. The Moravian Missionary, John Heckewelder (1743-1823), recorded that in ancient times the Lenape were the head of a great league of ancient nations that extended from the headwaters of the Hudson River to the Potomac River. William Penn (1644-1718), the Quaker Governor of Pennsylvania, found them to be great orators and diplomats with a language of melodic beauty.
Traditionally monotheistic, the Lenape held that all land belonged to the Creator who gave them the right to use it, but never abuse it. The land was a gift to them from the Creator, to be shared with all of the other creatures. The value placed upon hospitality by the peace-loving Lenape was certainly a contributing factor to why there were fewer violent engagements with European immigrants into Scheyichbi than were in other tribal areas of first contact with colonists. Early colonial era Lenape chiefs are known to have urged peaceful coexistence between the Lenape and the immigrants. From his deathbed Chief Ockanickon is said to have urged his successor, “Be plain and fair to all, both Indian and Christian, as I have been” (c.1682). Chief Tamanend stated his hope for a harmony that would last “…as long as the creeks and rivers run, and while the sun, moon, and stars endure” (c.1682/3).
Sadly, by the mid-1700’s, the Lenape population was greatly diminished by foreign diseases, hostilities with colonists, and the rigors of forced removal. Some estimates indicate that as much as ninety percent of the population was lost. Most of the Lenape from Sheyichbi had been pushed west and north out of the area. Those that remained were living in small communal clusters, or “Indian towns,” partially assimilating to survive among the ever increasing colonists. In 1758, a government endorsed, Christian mission-based reservation was established in Burlington County, known as the “Brotherton Reservation.” While the reservation was for all the remaining Lenape in the New Jersey in perpetuity, not all who remained wished to become the “wards” of the colonial government and chose not to become permanent reservation residents. By 1801, there were only 75 or so remaining in residence on the reservation. The state government sold the land, and with the migration of the reservation residents, claimed that the story of the Lenape in New Jersey was over, which has become an often repeated error.
Of the many errors still circulated about New Jersey’s indigenous people, the most repeated is that they all happily moved away. Not only were those who moved away not particularly happy about it, but not all Lenape left the state. Tribal communities remained and continue to today. Moreover, here are a few additional corrections about the Lenape of New Jersey: 1) They did not live in teepees, traditional homes were wigwams and longhouses; 2) They did not wear western style war bonnets, there were other various styles of headdress, but the cascading eagle feather bonnet was not traditionally one of them; 3); They did not migrate following herds of buffalo, that’s a western thing too… the Lenape typically had a winter and summer village and would simply move seasonally; 4) “How” is not a Lenape greeting; 5) “Squaw” is not a polite way to refer to a Lenape woman; 6) Not all American Indians look like the 1950’s and 1960’s Hollywood stereotype, and they never did.
The indigenous people of Scheyichbi can still be found right here! They have continued their tribal culture and governance. Some may be your neighbors or co-workers… and some are reading this article as you are, and worship the Lord beside you every Sunday.
