Delaware

1. The Beginning

The Delaware believed that at the beginning of the world the Creator was alone with nothing but water under him. He created a turtle that could hold the world. All the mud on its back formed soil and from the soil a cedar tree grew in the center of the turtle's back. When the cedar tree grew tall the first man was created. Then the cedar tree bent over and touched the earth and the first woman was created.

2. The Delaware

The Delaware (Lenape) tribe has many traditions. Two of them are the Big House and the Corn Dance. The Big House is very important. In every large town a community center was built. It had bark shingles and a peaked roof. The Big House is a twelve day ceremony. At the Big House there's an oval shape floor with a carved post sticking up from it. The oval shaped floor represents the turtle's back. The post represents the cedar tree. On either side of the carved post there's a face. Half of the face is red and half of the face is black. This represented the creator.

3. My Regalia

My regalia is a brown short sleeve shirt. It also includes a necklace and a head band with feathers on it. I made my regalia by lying down and tracing myself. Then my mom and I cut it out. My mom helped me sew it too. the Native Americans probably made their clothing the same way I did.

I think they had to work way harder to make their clothing than I did. They didn't have sewing machines or fabric stores to buy material. They had to use what was around them which was deer hide, moose hide, bear hide, rabbit hide, squirrel hide, and beaver hide. Their string was animal hide cut into thin strips or animal muscles and tendons. The antlers were used as sewing needles.

Bibliography

Books

Miller, Jay. The Delaware. Canada: Childrens Press, 1994.

Armitage, Anne. North American Indians. Great Britain: Two-Can Publishing Ltd., 1995.

Wilker, Josh. The Lenape Indians. Mexico: Chelsea House Publishers, 1994.

Gorsline, Marie and Douglas. North American Indians. New York: Random House, Inc., 1977.

Internet

"Native American Technology and Art: Regional Overview of Native American Clothing Styles: Northeast Region - Mid-Atlantic Tribes." Native American Technology and Art. Native Tech. 15 September 2006.
<http://nativetech.nativeweb.org/clothing/regions/region1.html>

"Prince Albert Model Forest Colouring Book." Prince Albert Model Forest. Canada's Model Forest Network. 30 September 2006.
<http://mfiqlx.sasktelwebhosting.com/jpeg/drawings/elkbig.jpg>

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