Delaware Big House Ceremony

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Late October

The Lenape Indians—formerly referred to as Delaware Indians by early European settlers—once lived in what is now New Jersey, southeastern New York, eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and parts of western Connecticut, but like many other native peoples, most eventually moved to the western territories. Their faith was known as the Big House Religion, and each autumn the Lenape observed the Big House Ceremony, a 12-day long affair in which members of the tribe would camp around the lodge and celebrate their homecoming. The ceremony included purification rites, a deer hunt, drumming and dancing, and a sacred feast. The Big House was a large log building with doorways positioned facing the east and the west, and was the gathering place for sacred communal observances. The last known Big House Ceremony was held in 1924.

SOURCES:
EncyNatAmerRel-2001, p. 19
EndurHarv-1995, p. 56
(c)

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