UNIT 4
"NATIVE AMERICANS OF NEW JERSEY"
Grade 4: SOCIAL STUDIES:
STUDY GUIDES

PAGE ONE

1. What does the name Lenape mean? (pages 66-67)

The Ordinary People

2. The Lenape came from a distant land called Siberia . They traveled by walking . After thousands of _ years they reached the _ Atlantic Ocean. (pages 66-67)

3. Did the Lenape find other people living in New Jersey? (pages 66-67)

No, the area was uninhabited.

4. Name the main tribes of the Lenape Indians. Draw their symbols. (pages 66-67)

Munsi - lived in northern New Jersey: The wolf tribe
Unami - lived in southern New Jersey: The Turtle Tribe

5. Describe the Lenape Indians the way the colonists saw them. (pages 66-67)

Explorers wrote that the Lenape were good-looking, strong and much taller than Europeans. They had black eyes, black hair and "brass-colored" skin, according to one explorer.

6. Tell what wampum was used for. (pages 72-73)

Wampum was a form of money used by the Indians. It was usually made from beads, shells or other unusual objects.

7. What is left of the Lenape Indians of New Jersey? (pages 74-75)

Very few Lenape descendants remain today. Mostly their customs and traditions remain.

PAGE TWO

DIRECTIONS:

1. Read the information entitled, "Lenape Traditions", on pages 74 - 75 of your textbook, You, New Jersey and the World.
2. Read all the information on the poster, "Customs of the Village", carefully.
3. Place the following list of customs in their correct categories.

PAGE THREE

DIRECTIONS:


1. Read the information entitled, "Family Strength", on pages 72 - 73 of your textbook, You, New Jersey and the World.
2. Read all the information on the poster, "Family Life", carefully.
3. Complete the following questions.

1. What jobs did the Lenape women and girls have?

Wove baskets, farmed, made clothing, prepared food, raised children.

2. What kind of jobs did the Lenape men and boys do?

Built homes, cleared land, made tools, hunted or fished, protected village.

3. Why were the older members of an Indian family important?

Had special jobs that took time; pottery making, fishing nets, wampum beads.

4. Who took care of the younger children?

Young boys and girls cared for babies.

5. Describe the use of cradle boards.

Indians believed a flat board would help babies grow tall and straight; was easier to carry baby. Also, used as a crib.

6. How were Indian boys and girls treated in the village?

Not punished, because they were expected to help and learn.

7. How were Indian boys educated?

Watched fathers and grandfathers; learned to hunt and how to live in surroundings.

8. Compare the life of an Indian girl to that of a girl today?

Learned from older women in family to help family survive; girls today have different choices for their lives.

9. What are some differences between a modern wedding and an Indian wedding?

Indians exchanged gifts and were married. A modern wedding can be a religious one or whatever two people choose to have.

10. Would you have wanted to be an Indian boy or girl? Why or why not?

Your opinion!

PAGE FOUR

DIRECTIONS:

1. Read the information entitled, "Food and Clothing", on pages 70 - 71 of your textbook, You, New Jersey and the World.
2. Read all the information on the poster, "What They Wore", carefully.
3. Match the vocabulary with the meanings.
4. Complete the informational chart.

PAGE FIVE

DIRECTIONS:

1. Read the information entitled, "Villages By the Water", on pages 68 - 69 of your textbook, You, New Jersey and the World.
2. Read all the information on the poster, "Where They Lived", carefully.
3. Answer the following questions.

1. Describe a Lenape house.

Indian houses, or wigwams, were simple. Thin green trees, called saplings, were stuck in the ground 10 or more feet apart, the tops were bent together and tied with leather strips. Next a framework was made on which the Lenapes placed bark or skins of animals. Mud, clay and grass filled in any holes.

2. Tell where the Lenape slept.

Family members slept on benches. As families grew, smaller children slept on mats on the earth floor.

3. Compare your house with the kind of home the Lenapes lived in.

Your opinion!

4. How was Lenape village life the same as or different from the kind of life your family leads in your community or neighborhood?

Your opinion!

5. Compare the way the Indians set up their village to the way a family today might choose a neighborhood.

Water, protection, food and travel are always concerns.

PAGE SIX

DIRECTIONS:

1. Read all the information on the poster, "What They Ate", carefully.
2. Answer the following questions.

1. Compare how we get our food today with how Indians obtained their food. Compare the preparation of a Lenape dinner to one prepared by your family today.

We can shop for our food or grow and raise our own, but the Indians depended on the land for their food.

2. What kind of foods did the Indians find through hunting and fishing?

Fish from the ocean and lakes were eaten. Small animals were trapped, larger animals were hunted for meat and fur.

3. Do you think it is possible that the Indian way of getting food was better than our way? Why or why not?

Your opinion!

4. List the three main Indian crops. Tell how many different ways corn was used in the diet of Indians.

Squash, corn, beans.
Corn was used as corn on the cob; corn meal, mush, dumplings, corn bread, popcorn, and mixed with maple syrup to make candy.

5. Why was the fishing so natural for the Lenape?

Fishing was easy for the Lenape because there is so much water in and around New Jersey.

6. How did water play an important part in the life of a Lenape family?

Water was the only drink (except fruit juices) the Lenape had, so they set up villages near water.

7. In what ways was maple syrup used? Is it used the same way today? How were the Indians able to get their maple syrup?

As a sweetener; in winter as candy.

8. Do we eat the same fruits today that the Lenape ate? If so, name them.

Yes, all of them - cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapes and others.

PAGE SEVEN

DIRECTIONS:

1. Read all the information on the poster, "How They Traveled", carefully.
2. Answer the following questions.

1. Why did the Lenape Indians travel?

To visit friends in other villages, but mostly for food.

2. When they traveled, why did the Lenape have to plan ahead and be organized?

Everyone helped in moving the whole tribe because there were no vehicles and no horses.

3. Compare travel in Lenape days to the way we travel today.

Your opinion!

4. How did the Lenape Indians spend their nights on the trail?

Camped each night.

5. What did the Lenape Indians do for shelter?

Used rock piles or canoes for protection.

6. Describe how the Indians traveled on the trail during daylight.

They walked slowly, with men out in front as protectors or guards.

7. For what purpose did the Lenape Indians use rafts?

Used for floating bundles across deep rivers.

8. Describe how the Indians crossed rivers and streams.

Needed shallow place to cross because there were no bridges.

9. How did the Indians remember a path a they had traveled?

Cut marks in trees or piled up branches to help remember the trail.

10. Describe how Indian paths affected our modern day roads.

Some Indian trails later were used by colonists, first on horseback and later in wagons.

11. Tell how the Indians made and used dugout canoes.

Used for traveling streams. Canoes were made by burning a tree around the bottom until it fell. Then the center of the log was burned and chipped out.

Other Resources:

Project Ideas

Delaware (Lenape) Tribe of Indians: Homepage

The Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey

Unami & Unalachtigo Lenape (Delaware) Tribal Homepages

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