POMPTON INDIANS

Lenapi Lifeways

The first settlers at Pompton met and dealt with the Lenapi Indians who were a peaceful and friendly people, very unlike the fierce Manhattan and Iroquois to the north. They were primarily a hunting and agrarian tribe and traded with the white settlers. Trade was conducted by barter and with small tubular shells or painted wooden beads called Wampum. Black and white beads were used with the black beads being twice as valuable as the white.

The following excerpt about the Lenapi lifeways is from "The Indians of Lenapehoking" by Herbert C. Kraft and John T. Kraft

According to historical accounts the houses and gardens belonged to the women, The Indians of Lenapehoking had a matrilineal social organization where descent and inheritance was traced through the mother. The father belonged to a lineage different from that of his own children. Lenape and Munsee Indians were egalitarian and women were respected. Men and women each had specific jobs to perform, and worked together to form an economic and social unit. Women raised children, ran the household, tended gardens, made pottery vessels, prepared skins, and tailored garments. Men hunted, trapped, fished and did most of the heavy work. They cleared land, built houses, made dugout canoes for river transportation, and made all of the tools and hunting weapons.

The bow and arrow was used in hunting deer, elk, black bear and wolf, as well as turkeys, geese, ducks and other animals. Traps and snares were set to catch raccoon, weasel, otter, beaver, rabbit and smaller game. Passenger pigeons were netted and squabs were poked out of their nests. Occasionally, when enough deer were available, many hunters joined in a fire-surround or a deer drive that forced the frightened animals to dee in a predetermined path where hunters waited in ambush to kill them. Fishing and fowling continued to be very important sources of food and provided a welcome change in diet.

Meals were usually taken in the morning and late afternoon, but not at regular times. Corn meal mush was eaten daily, often with dried meat or fish which had been crushed in a mortar. Fresh meat and fish were boiled or roasted on sticks set near the fire. A bread dough, made from cornmeal mixed with water was wrapped in husks, and the bread baked in hot ashes. Special treats were beaver tails, striped bass heads, and fat meat with chestnuts. Berries were used as sweeteners, because honey and probably maple sugar were unknown in Lenapehoking until after the coming of the European settlers.