Nanticoke Tribe

General Information

• Original location in Delaware and Maryland
• Current population about 1,000 mainly in Delaware
• Unofficial tribe with no reservation or government
• Some joined Lenape and Munsee tribe

Food

• Corn, squash, and beans
• Deer, elk, turkey, small game, and fish
• Recipes included soup, cornbread, dumplings, and salads
• Depended on berries, roots, and nuts

Daily Life

• Children: chores, played with dolls and miniature bows and arrows, ball games
• Women: farmers, did most childcare, and cooked
• Men: hunters and sometimes went to war
• Most men and women were both storytellers, did artwork and music, and worked with traditional medicine
• Mothers carry infants in cradleboards on their back

Clothing

• Women: knee-length skirts
• Men: breechclouts with leggings
• Shirts not necessary
• Cold weather: deerskin mantles
• Wore earrings and moccasins, beaded headbands with feathers in back
• Painted face and had tattoos
• Long braids

Transportation

• Made dugout canoes to travel in water
• Used dogs as pack animals to travel on land until horses were brought over

Housing

• Pit houses in ground
• Large oval or rectangular
• Flat floors and steeply sloped or vertical walls
• Sides covered with bark
• Supported by poles driven into the earth around pit floor

Arts and Crafts

• Known for beadwork and pottery
• Crafted wampum beads
• Painted bodies on special occasions or for ceremonies

Weapons

• Hunters: bows and arrows
• Warriors: heavy wooden war clubs
• Poison used on enemies

Spiritual Beliefs

• Storytelling very important
• Legends told (How The Crow Got Black Feathers)
• Believed variety of spirits
• Sacrifices to "Manito" (giver of good fortune) 1st food of harvest and 1st game of their fishing/hunting
• Sacrifices to Okee (powerful spirit considered evil)

Spiritual Beliefs

• Many religious ceremonies throughout year (special songs, dances, and prayers for each)
• Tobacco smoked in special pipe and believed to cleanse and purify
• Believed in life after death (proper living - place with great happiness and bad living - place of much suffering and pain)

Interesting Information

• Comes from "nentago" meaning "tidewater people"
• "Nanticoke" hasn't been spoken since 1800's
• Lost language, traditional religion, and many customs over the years
• Nanticoke, Lenape, and Munsee never united, but all considered themselves Deleware Indians