Saturday, August 14, 2004
The South Direction Tribes are as follows:
Caddo - Carver: Ruby Tuesday & Cactus Licker of the Celtic Lions, Dallas, TX
The Caddo People of Texas
"TEXAS" is from the Caddo word, "Tejas", meaning "those who are friends".
The Tejas Caddo people were made up of several tribes organized into a friendly confederacy. They lived in east Texas in the piney forests. Their civilized and peaceful culture impressed all who met them. They were a farming people who were known for their beautiful pottery. Unlike many tribes, they were able to create their fragile clay art because they stayed in one place farming. They supplemented their wealth by selling bows made of their native Bois d'arc wood to other tribes.
Typically they wore large ear spools and necklaces of shell, ornate sacred tattoos with secret meaning, and for ceremonial dances, a bird headdress. During ceremonies; the Caddo would purify themselves by drinking a black tea made from a kind of holly leaves. They would drink this out of cups made from large conch sea shells cut in half. This stamp is an interpretation of a painting by Reeda Peel of a Caddoan man in 1828.
Choctaw - Carver: Taralowry.com, Daly City, CA
The Choctaw Indian Nation of Oklahoma traces it's ancestry to Mississippi and some sections of Alabama. Legends tell that the Choctaw People originated from "Nanih Waya." A great mound of earth that is often referred to as "The Mother Mound." Legend says that "in the beginning", a Great Red Man came down from above and built up Nanih Waya in the midst of a vast muddy plain. When the mound was completed, he called for the Red People to come up out of the "The Mother Mound."
In 1830, The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek forcibly removed the majority of the Choctaw Nation from their homeland in Mississippi west to what is now known as southeastern Oklahoma. Over twenty thousand Choctaws were moved on this long journey. Seven thousand survived this removal on what has come to be known as "The Trail of Tears." Those Choctaw who remained in the homeland are now known as Mississippi Choctaw.
The Choctaw population has grown from the original seven thousand survivors to more than one hundred thousand. The Choctaw people have overcome enormous obstacles in their quest for self-reliance in a changing and often hostile world.
From the page: http://www.ndnweb.com/History.html
Creek - Carver: Uneksia & Gollum, Hillsboro, NH
The name Muscogee is an English form of the name Myskoke, which was a confederacy of Indians in Georgia and Alabama around 1700. About 1720, British agents designated a group of these Indians as Ochese Creek Indians. This designation, later shortened to Creek Indians, came to be applied to the entire Muskogee tribe. The tribe's name for itself, however, remained Muscogee. The initials "I.T." on the circular border of the seal indicate "Indian Territory", the land west of the Mississippi River to which the Muscogee, or Creek Indians, were removed to in the early 1800's. The center of the seal signifies the advance of these Indians as agriculturalists, and the influence of Christianity upon many of them. Today, there are four main groups of Muscogee in Oklahoma: The Creek Nation, The Alabama Quassante Tribal Town, The Kialegee Tribal Town, and the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town.
Cherokee - Carver: Sojourner, Orange, CT
"The Legend of the Cherokee Rose"
As gold was discovered in North Carolina and Georgia in the 1830’s, the Cherokee people were driven westwards from their homelands to Oklahoma. When the “Trail of Tears” started in 1838, the mothers of the Cherokee were grieving and crying so much, that they were unable to help their children survive the journey. The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mothers’ spirits and give them strength.
The next day a beautiful rose began to grow where each of the mothers’ tears fell. The rose is white for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven Cherokee clans. The wild Cherokee Rose grows to this day along the route of the Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma.
Nanticoke - Carver: Talking Turtle of Alphabet Bandits, Hudson, NY
The origin of the Nanticoke People began along the Nanticoke River in southeastern Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland. Migration began in the early 1600's from eastern shore Maryland through southeastern Delaware along the shores of New Jersey, and as far north to Canada and westward into Oklahoma. As a result of this migration, the Nanticoke people united with the Lenni-Lenape Indians already living in New Jersey.
According to the Wallum Ollum, which is the religious history of the Lenni-Lenape Indians, we learn that Lenni-Lenape Indians settled here in New Jersey for at least ten thousand (10,000) years.
The Lenni-Lenape Indians are known by the Algonkin Tribes as the "Original People," "Grandfather" or "Men of Men," while the Nanticoke Indians are known as the "Tidewater People." The descendants of these two Tribes are still in existence today and living in New Jersey, Delaware and through-out the United States.
Lenape - Carver: Rich of Team Lightnin' Bug, Allentown, PA
He! (A friendly Lenape greeting pronounced "Hey" from Team Lightnin' Bug of Allentown, PA!)
The Lenape Nation, also called the Delaware Nation, lived in the "Middle Atlantic" (Southeast New York down to Maryland) region during the pre-colonial and colonial times. Lenape is pronounced "Leh-NAH-pay", and it means "the people" in their own language. The Lenape Nation was made up of three clans - the Minsi (or Wolf) clan of the upper Delaware Valley, the Unami (or Turtle) clan in the eastern PA area centered on Allentown, PA, and the Unalachtigo (or Turkey ) clan in the Maryland/Delaware area. They were renamed by Baron Thomas West De La Warr, the first English colonial governor of Virginia, also known as Lord Delaware.
European settlers described the Lenape as tall (5' 7" to 5'10"), broad shouldered, strong people with dark eyes and straight black hair. Lenapes did not live in teepees, but rather wigwams, which are small round buildings. Lenapes did not wear long headdresses like the Sioux. Usually they wore a beaded headband with a feather or two in it. Sometimes a chief or other important Lenape Indian would wear a headdress made of feathers pointing straight up from a headband. Women wore their hair in long braids, but men, especially warriors, often wore theirs in the Mohawk style or shaved their heads completely except for a scalplock (one long lock of hair on the top of their heads). Lenape women wore knee-length skirts, and the men wore breechcloths with leather pant legs tied on. The Lenape were farming people. The women did most of the farming, harvesting corn, squash, and beans. Lenape men did most of the hunting, shooting deer, elk, turkeys, and small game. Delaware Indian foods included soup, cornbread, dumplings and salads.
The Lenape stamp is based upon the Unami clan, which lived in the eastern PA and NJ area. This clan was the group that was exploited by William Penn's descendants in the "Walking Purchase" of 1737. The Lenape Nation is commemorated by the Museum of Indian Culture in Allentown, PA (www.lenape.org) and it is the Unami Turtle that I based my stamp upon. Other groups of Lenape currently live in Oklahoma.
We hope that you enjoy this letterbox and a little background on the Lenape of Eastern Pennsylvania.
Click the image above
to take you to the South Direction Clues
Caddo - Carver: Ruby Tuesday & Cactus Licker of the Celtic Lions, Dallas, TX
The Caddo People of Texas
"TEXAS" is from the Caddo word, "Tejas", meaning "those who are friends".
The Tejas Caddo people were made up of several tribes organized into a friendly confederacy. They lived in east Texas in the piney forests. Their civilized and peaceful culture impressed all who met them. They were a farming people who were known for their beautiful pottery. Unlike many tribes, they were able to create their fragile clay art because they stayed in one place farming. They supplemented their wealth by selling bows made of their native Bois d'arc wood to other tribes.
Typically they wore large ear spools and necklaces of shell, ornate sacred tattoos with secret meaning, and for ceremonial dances, a bird headdress. During ceremonies; the Caddo would purify themselves by drinking a black tea made from a kind of holly leaves. They would drink this out of cups made from large conch sea shells cut in half. This stamp is an interpretation of a painting by Reeda Peel of a Caddoan man in 1828.
Choctaw - Carver: Taralowry.com, Daly City, CA
The Choctaw Indian Nation of Oklahoma traces it's ancestry to Mississippi and some sections of Alabama. Legends tell that the Choctaw People originated from "Nanih Waya." A great mound of earth that is often referred to as "The Mother Mound." Legend says that "in the beginning", a Great Red Man came down from above and built up Nanih Waya in the midst of a vast muddy plain. When the mound was completed, he called for the Red People to come up out of the "The Mother Mound."
In 1830, The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek forcibly removed the majority of the Choctaw Nation from their homeland in Mississippi west to what is now known as southeastern Oklahoma. Over twenty thousand Choctaws were moved on this long journey. Seven thousand survived this removal on what has come to be known as "The Trail of Tears." Those Choctaw who remained in the homeland are now known as Mississippi Choctaw.
The Choctaw population has grown from the original seven thousand survivors to more than one hundred thousand. The Choctaw people have overcome enormous obstacles in their quest for self-reliance in a changing and often hostile world.
From the page: http://www.ndnweb.com/History.html
Creek - Carver: Uneksia & Gollum, Hillsboro, NH
The name Muscogee is an English form of the name Myskoke, which was a confederacy of Indians in Georgia and Alabama around 1700. About 1720, British agents designated a group of these Indians as Ochese Creek Indians. This designation, later shortened to Creek Indians, came to be applied to the entire Muskogee tribe. The tribe's name for itself, however, remained Muscogee. The initials "I.T." on the circular border of the seal indicate "Indian Territory", the land west of the Mississippi River to which the Muscogee, or Creek Indians, were removed to in the early 1800's. The center of the seal signifies the advance of these Indians as agriculturalists, and the influence of Christianity upon many of them. Today, there are four main groups of Muscogee in Oklahoma: The Creek Nation, The Alabama Quassante Tribal Town, The Kialegee Tribal Town, and the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town.
Cherokee - Carver: Sojourner, Orange, CT
"The Legend of the Cherokee Rose"
As gold was discovered in North Carolina and Georgia in the 1830’s, the Cherokee people were driven westwards from their homelands to Oklahoma. When the “Trail of Tears” started in 1838, the mothers of the Cherokee were grieving and crying so much, that they were unable to help their children survive the journey. The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mothers’ spirits and give them strength.
The next day a beautiful rose began to grow where each of the mothers’ tears fell. The rose is white for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven Cherokee clans. The wild Cherokee Rose grows to this day along the route of the Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma.
Nanticoke - Carver: Talking Turtle of Alphabet Bandits, Hudson, NY
The origin of the Nanticoke People began along the Nanticoke River in southeastern Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland. Migration began in the early 1600's from eastern shore Maryland through southeastern Delaware along the shores of New Jersey, and as far north to Canada and westward into Oklahoma. As a result of this migration, the Nanticoke people united with the Lenni-Lenape Indians already living in New Jersey.
According to the Wallum Ollum, which is the religious history of the Lenni-Lenape Indians, we learn that Lenni-Lenape Indians settled here in New Jersey for at least ten thousand (10,000) years.
The Lenni-Lenape Indians are known by the Algonkin Tribes as the "Original People," "Grandfather" or "Men of Men," while the Nanticoke Indians are known as the "Tidewater People." The descendants of these two Tribes are still in existence today and living in New Jersey, Delaware and through-out the United States.
Lenape - Carver: Rich of Team Lightnin' Bug, Allentown, PA
He! (A friendly Lenape greeting pronounced "Hey" from Team Lightnin' Bug of Allentown, PA!)
The Lenape Nation, also called the Delaware Nation, lived in the "Middle Atlantic" (Southeast New York down to Maryland) region during the pre-colonial and colonial times. Lenape is pronounced "Leh-NAH-pay", and it means "the people" in their own language. The Lenape Nation was made up of three clans - the Minsi (or Wolf) clan of the upper Delaware Valley, the Unami (or Turtle) clan in the eastern PA area centered on Allentown, PA, and the Unalachtigo (or Turkey ) clan in the Maryland/Delaware area. They were renamed by Baron Thomas West De La Warr, the first English colonial governor of Virginia, also known as Lord Delaware.
European settlers described the Lenape as tall (5' 7" to 5'10"), broad shouldered, strong people with dark eyes and straight black hair. Lenapes did not live in teepees, but rather wigwams, which are small round buildings. Lenapes did not wear long headdresses like the Sioux. Usually they wore a beaded headband with a feather or two in it. Sometimes a chief or other important Lenape Indian would wear a headdress made of feathers pointing straight up from a headband. Women wore their hair in long braids, but men, especially warriors, often wore theirs in the Mohawk style or shaved their heads completely except for a scalplock (one long lock of hair on the top of their heads). Lenape women wore knee-length skirts, and the men wore breechcloths with leather pant legs tied on. The Lenape were farming people. The women did most of the farming, harvesting corn, squash, and beans. Lenape men did most of the hunting, shooting deer, elk, turkeys, and small game. Delaware Indian foods included soup, cornbread, dumplings and salads.
The Lenape stamp is based upon the Unami clan, which lived in the eastern PA and NJ area. This clan was the group that was exploited by William Penn's descendants in the "Walking Purchase" of 1737. The Lenape Nation is commemorated by the Museum of Indian Culture in Allentown, PA (www.lenape.org) and it is the Unami Turtle that I based my stamp upon. Other groups of Lenape currently live in Oklahoma.
We hope that you enjoy this letterbox and a little background on the Lenape of Eastern Pennsylvania.
Click the image above
to take you to the South Direction Clues
# posted by Mark and Sue @ 3:51 PM 
