Delaware Indians

Delaware Indians, the English name for the Leni Lenape, a tribe of North American Indians of Algonquian stock. When first discovered by the whites the tribe was settled on the banks of the Delaware river. The French called them Loups (wolves) from their chief totemic division. Early in the 17th century the Dutch began trading with them. Subsequently William Penn bought large tracts of land from them, and war followed, the Delawares alleging they had been defrauded; but, with the assistance of the Six Nations, the whites forced them back west of the Alleghenies. In 1789 they were placed on a reservation in Ohio and subsequently in 1818 were moved to Missouri. Various removals followed, until in 1866 they accepted lands in the Indian territory (Oklahoma) and gave up the tribal relation. They have remained there and now number some 1700.