The Culture and Acculturation of the Delaware Indians

In 1951 and 1952, William W. Newcomb, Jr. visited the Delaware people of Oklahoma in order to write an ethnographic study of the tribe. He discusses the origins and linguistic affiliations of the Delaware, their social systems, economic and material culture, and religion and folklore, as well as the process of acculturation and assimilation that took place after European contact. Preface Contents Part I. Early Historic Delaware Culture I. Delaware Origins and Affiliations Delaware Prehistory: a Summary Traditional Origins The Location and Divisions of the Early Historic Delawares Linguistic Affiliations Population in the Seventeenth Century II. The Reconstruction of Delaware Culture Introduction Delaware Technology Delaware Economics Material Culture III. Delaware Sociology Life Cycle Kin Groups Social Control War IV. Delaware Ideology Religion and Magic Folklore Summary of Delaware Culture Part II. Delaware Culture Change V. Delaware Acculturation The Contact Period (1524-1690) The Period of Consolidation (1690-1750) Nativistic Period (1750-1814) Decadent Period (1814-1867) VI. Delaware Assimilation Settlement Pattern Technological Assimilation Sociological Assimilation Religious Assimilation Linguistic Assimilation Pan-Indiansim Summary and Analysis of Delaware Acculturation Appendix Literature Cited