Notes

Lenapes

The Lenapes societies fascinated me the most. They were independent, full of tradition and relied on their kin-ship. These things enabled them to prosper for many years.
The Lenape communities were independent and prospered well. In the textbook it stated the communities were "bound together by oral histories, ceremonial traditions, consensus based political organizations, kin-ship networks and a shared clan system." pg 9 chapter 1 The American Yawp. They show us that working together for a common goal gets you further than doing things on your own. This interested me cause in todays society many of us try to do things on our own and don't succeed cause we don't have a support system in place. The Lenape communities relied on each other everything. They had a shared knowledge of many things that they passed down for many generations. One such thing was fishing and farming. The text stated " gathered in large groups to coordinate their labor and to take advantage of local abundance." pg 10 chapter 1. In my eyes this shows us that that the ancient Lenape clan knew that it takes a village to succeed. They show us that working together for a common goal benefits everyone. In todays society we seem to forget this, we forget about each other. For the Lenape clan this way of life helped them prosper for many generations.
The Lenape society was built up of small kin based communities. Men would marry into their wife's clan and contribute accordingly. Women were in charge of their marriages along with other things. This worked for them. This caught my eye cause in our society things are opposite for the most part. Men today are the ones that have more of an advantage. The Lenape clan show us men and women can both contribute and succeed. Through this way of life the clan had a long existence.