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Lenni Lenape
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Portrait of Tishcohan, a Lenape chief, shown with a small beard, long dark hair, bare chest, and a pipe hanging from a fringed necklace. Map showing the distribution of Indigenous peoples of the Northeast Woodlands region in North America, with tribal names such as Algonquin, Ojibwa (Chippewa), Iroquois, Shawnee, and Powhatan labeled across present-day northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Major lakes and rivers are marked, and a red boundary outlines the general region inhabited by these groups.
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Portrait of Tishcohan, a Lenape chief, shown with a small beard, long dark hair, bare chest, and a pipe hanging from a fringed necklace.
Lenni Lenape chief Tishcohan

Lenni Lenape

people
Also known as: Delaware, Lenape
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

Lenni Lenape, a confederation of Algonquian-speaking Indigenous peoples of North America who occupied the Atlantic seaboard from Cape Henlopen, Delaware, to western Long Island. Before colonization, they were especially concentrated in the Delaware River valley, leading European settlers to call the confederation the Delaware. However, the people traditionally refer to themselves as Lenape or Lenni Lenape, meaning “real people.” Traditionally, the Lenni Lenape depended primarily on agriculture, with hunting and fishing as important additions to...

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