{{Short description|American Indian tribe in Oklahoma}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Delaware Nation | native_name = Èhëliwsikakw Lënapeyok | image = | caption = | population = 2,255 enrolled citizens (2024) | popplace = {{Flag|United States}} ({{Flag|Oklahoma}}) | langs = English, Delaware (Unami, Munsee) | rels = Christianity, Native American Church, traditional tribal religion | related = other Lenape and Algonquian peoples }} The '''Delaware Nation''' ({{langx|del|'''Èhëliwsikakw Lënapeyok'''}}),<ref>[https://www.talk-lenape.org/detail?id=12370 Online Lenape Talking Dictionary], "Western Delawares (from Anadarko area)"</ref> based in Anadarko, Oklahoma<ref name=ok>[http://www.newsok.com/delaware-tribe-regains-federal-recognition/article/3390312 Delaware Tribe regains federal recognition.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319160656/http://www.newsok.com/delaware-tribe-regains-federal-recognition/article/3390312 |date=2016-03-19 }} ''NewsOk.'' 4 Aug 2009 (retrieved 5 August 2009)</ref> is one of three federally recognized tribes of Lenape or Delaware Indians in the United States, along with the Delaware Indians based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma<ref name="ok"/> and the Stockbridge–Munsee Community of Wisconsin. Two Lenape First Nations are in Ontario, Canada.

The Delaware Nation was also known as the '''Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma''' and was sometimes called the Absentee or Western Delaware.

==Government== Delaware Nation had 2,255 enrolled citizens in the 2024 fiscal year.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.delawarenation-nsn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-Delaware-Nation-Annual-Report-compressed.pdf |title=Delaware Nation 2024 Annual Report |date=2024 |publisher=Delaware Nation |page=21 |access-date=November 12, 2024}}</ref>

As of March 16, 2019, Delaware Nation enrollment criteria was changed from a minimum blood quantum of 1/8 blood to lineal descendancy by vote during a secretarial election.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.delawarenation-nsn.gov/delaware-nation-makes-history/ |title = Delaware Nation Makes History - Delaware Nation}}</ref>

The Delaware Nation's tribal complex is located {{Convert|2|mi|4=0|spell=in}} north of Anadarko, Oklahoma on Highway 281. Their tribal jurisdictional area is located within Caddo County, Oklahoma. They operate their own housing authority and issue tribal vehicle tags.

As of 2025, the Delaware Nation Executive Committee are:<ref name="ou">{{cite web |title=Delaware Nation |url=https://www.ou.edu/nativenationscenter/resources/tribal-government-info |website=Native Nations Center for Tribal Policy Research |publisher=University of Oklahoma |access-date=31 August 2025}}</ref> * President: Michael McLane * Vice President: Victoria De La Rosa-Feliciano * Secretary: Margaret Ann Brower * Treasurer: Phyllis Pack * Committee Member: Deborah Dotson * Committee Member: Terry Williams

==Economic development== [[File:Black Beaver Lenape Chief.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Chief Black Beaver of the Lenape, 1806–1880]] The nation's annual economic impact was estimated at $5 million in 2010.<ref name=oia>[http://www.ok.gov/oiac/documents/2011.FINAL.WEB.pdf 2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424052416/http://www.ok.gov/oiac/documents/2011.FINAL.WEB.pdf |date=April 24, 2012 }} ''Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission.'' 2011: 12. Retrieved 3 Jan 2012.</ref> Their tribal casino, Gold River Bingo and Casino, is located north of Anadarko.<ref>[http://500nations.com/casinos/okGoldRiver.asp Gold River Bingo & Casino.] ''500 Nations.'' 2009 (retrieved 21 Feb 2009)</ref> In August 2012, the Delaware Nation opened Casino Oklahoma located in Hinton, OK.

==Language== The Delaware peoples historically spoke the Delaware languages (also known as the Lenape languages): Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family.

==History== The Lenape people comprised three dialectal divisions, which by the end of the 17th century became the basis for the three clans of the Lenape. These divisions were the ''Monsi'' (Munsee) or Wolf, the ''Unami'' or Turtle, and the ''Unilactigo'' or Turkey. Today the clans are known as the ''Tùkwsit'' (Wolf Clan), ''Pùkuwànko'' (Turtle Clan), and ''Pële'' (Turkey Clan). The Delaware Nation is the ''Pùkuwànko'' (Turtle Clan).

The Delaware were the first Indian nation to enter into a treaty with the newly formed government of the United States; representatives signed the Treaty of Fort Pitt on September 17, 1778.

The Oklahoma branches date from 1867 with the purchase of land by Delaware from the Cherokee Nation; they made two payments totaling $438,000. A court dispute followed over whether the sale included citizenship rights for the Delaware within the Cherokee Nation. In 1867, the courts ruled that they had only purchased rights to the land for their lifetimes.

The Curtis Act of 1898 dissolved tribal governments and ordered the allotment of tribal lands to individual citizens of tribes. The Lenape fought the act in the courts, but lost. The lands were allotted in {{Convert|160|acre|m2|adj=on}} lots in 1907, with any land left over sold to non-Indians.

The Delaware Nation became federally recognized on July 5, 1958, as the "Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma". They ratified their current constitution in 1972. In November 1999, the tribe officially changed its name to the "Delaware Nation".<ref>McCollum, Timothy James. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/D/DE012.html Delaware, Western.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224043804/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/D/DE012.html |date =2008-12-24 }} ''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture.'' (retrieved 21 Feb 2009)</ref>

In September 2000, the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma received 11.5 acres of land in Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20000919&id=tNtRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t28DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4789,6286829&hl=en |title=Delaware Indians may use land donated by couple as burial ground |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |agency=Associated Press |date=September 19, 2000 |page=B-10 |access-date=April 14, 2018}}</ref>

In 2004, the Delaware Nation sued Pennsylvania over land lost in 1800. The case related to the colonial government's Walking Purchase of 1737, an agreement of doubtful legal veracity.<ref>Duffy, Shannon. [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1074259221938 "Indian Tribe Sues Over Pennsylvania Land."] ''Law.com.'' 20 Jan 2004. Retrieved 3 Jan 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us/walking_purchase.html "Walking Purchase"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603101715/http://delawaretribeofindians.nsn.us/walking_purchase.html |date=2009-06-03 }}, Delaware Tribe of Indians</ref> The court held that the justness of the extinguishment of aboriginal title is nonjusticiable, including in the case of fraud. Because the extinguishment occurred prior to the passage of the first Indian Nonintercourse Act in 1790, that Act did not avail the Delaware.

As a result, the court granted the Commonwealth's motion to dismiss. In its conclusion the court stated: "... we find that the Delaware Nation's aboriginal rights to Tatamy's Place were extinguished in 1737 and that, later, fee title to the land was granted to Chief Tatamy—not to the tribe as a collectivity."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-3rd-circuit/1177750.html |title = FindLaw's United States Third Circuit case and opinions}} </ref>

==Notable Western Delaware== *Black Beaver (1806–1880), Delaware leader, scout, and rancher *Holly Wilson (born 1968), Delaware multi-media artist

== See also == * List of federally recognized tribal governments of Lenape ** Delaware First Nation of Six Nations, Ontario (member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy) ** Delaware Nation, Oklahoma ** Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, Ontario (Christian Munsee) ** Delaware Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma ** Munsee-Delaware Nation, Ontario ** Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Wisconsin (Partially Lenape, also Mohican)

==Notes== {{reflist}}

== External links ==

*[https://www.delawarenation-nsn.gov/ Delaware Nation – Official web site] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081224043804/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/D/DE012.html Western Delaware], Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. *[http://www.facebook.com/delawarenation Delaware Nation – Official Facebook page]

{{Native American Tribes in Oklahoma}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaware Nation}} Category:Delaware Nation Category:Native American tribes in Oklahoma Category:Federally recognized tribes in the United States