However, it seems we often overlook an important participant in the original celebration-the American Indian. They were the original settlers who taught the pilgrims how to endure in their New World.
On the banks of the Schuylkill River, an entire civilization dominated the land, long before the English settlers came in the 1600s.
Proof of their existence has been uncovered during excavation projects where artifacts from American Indian settlements of hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years ago, were found. In archaeological excavation pieces of clay pottery, arrow spears, cutting tools, fire rocks and a host of other items have been uncovered. Even farmers have found Indian artifacts while plowing their fields.
Our area is known to have been populated by the Lenni Lenape Indians, although the nomadic nature of native Americans makes it impossible to accurately identify a specific tribe. The Schuylkill River could have acted as a "river highway." They may have had a village here, or it could have been a series of fishing camps for the shad runs.
The Lenni Lenape, also known as the Delaware Indians, lived, farmed, hunted and fished in what is now called the Delaware Bio-Region, which includes parts of New York, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. They are believed to have migrated here from Asia in centuries past and first arrived here around 1,000 AD
The Lenape must have led a very pleasant and easy life. Weather was favorable for growing crops, wild life was plentiful, and the rivers and bays were full of fish. They treated one another as brothers and went out of their way to be nice to one another.
The Lenape were divided into three clans: The Wolf Tribe, concentrated in the Delaware Valley, north of the Lehigh river; the Turkey Clan who occupied the Delaware Bay and lower river, and the Turtle Tribe, who lived in the area in between.
The Chief of the Turtle clan was recognized as the leader of the Lenape. The main lodge or "ceremonial" lodge was located at Shakamaxon. This big house was forty feet long and about twenty feet wide with the roof five to twelve feet high. This, like all of the Indian houses, had ridge poles and peaked roofs. They were covered with large pieces of bark. Some of the trees in the great forest that covered much of the area were over 8 feet in diameter. Each year the tribes held a harvest ceremony at Shakamoxon that lasted twelve days. The greatest chief of the Lenape was named Tammany.
It was at Shakamaxon that William Penn signed a treaty with the Indians in November 1862. The following year he purchased most of the land in a radius of 25 miles of Philadelphia. There were very few problems with the Indians.
They were helpful in getting the settlers started and moved into the interior as the land was cleared.
However as the land purchases became more extensive, there was considerable disturbance among the Indians. It is estimated that there were about 20,000 Indians in Pennsylvania when the white man first came. By 1700 it was down to about 12,000 and by the end of the 18th century only 1000 were left. Many of the Lenape eventually left the area and are today living in other parts of the United States and Canada. Others stayed in the traditional homeland and still pass along the lifeways of their ancestors.
The turtle represents the Unami, the main group of the Lenape people. It carries the Wanaque (Sassafras) leaf, which represents this area of the Lenape Homeland. On the leaf are the symbols for the Munsee, represented by the wolf paw print, and the Unilachigo, by the wild turkey footprint.
Conshohocken, the name derivative of the original "Gueno Sheiki-Hacki-Ing", (the place of the long fine land), given by the Lenni Lenape Indians inhabiting the area along the Gowashihanna, (Falling Waters), later named the Schuylkill (hidden river) by Dutch settlers.
The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington DC was completed a few years ago and opened to the public. It was planned in collaboration with Indian peoples throughout the Western Hemisphere, and dedicated to representing Native points of view.
The Lenni Lenape Historical Society Museum of Indian Culture is in Allentown. It is an important site, filled with opportunities to learn about the heritage of the earliest inhabitants of eastern Pennsylvania. Photos taken at the National Museum of the American Indian located in Washington, DC.