德拉瓦人

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操阿尔冈昆语(Algonquian)的北美印第安部落联盟,居住於大西洋沿岸,约自德拉瓦州南部至长岛西部,特别是德拉瓦河流域一带。主要以农业为主,辅以渔、猎。德拉瓦人有三个氏族,实行母系制;氏族再分为家系,家系成员一般共同居住在一长形房屋(longhouse)里。家系群组组成自治公社。公社内有由各家系首领及其他着名人士组成的议事会,决定公共事务。家系内最年长的妇女有权任免族长。德拉瓦人是印第安部落中对彭威廉(William Penn)最友善的一支,他们所得到的回报却是臭名昭着的「量步购地」(Walking Purchase),这是一项剥夺他们的土地并强迫他们迁往原来画给易洛魁人的土地上定居的条约。西元1690年後他们往西迁移,在法国印第安人战争(French and Indian War, 1754~1763)中支持法国,并帮助他们击败英国将领布雷多克(Edward Braddock)的军队。1867年残余的德拉瓦人已迁往奥克拉荷马。如今人数约有一万人。

Delaware

Confederation of Algonquian-speaking North American Indians who occupied the Atlantic seaboard from southern Delaware to western Long Island, especially the Delaware River Valley. They depended primarily on agriculture, but also hunted and fished. They were grouped in three clans based on maternal descent; these were in turn divided into lineages, whose members lived together in a longhouse. They were governed by a council of lineage sachems (chiefs), who directed the public affairs of the community; the eldest woman of the lineage appointed the sachem. The Delaware were the Indians most friendly to William Penn; they were rewarded by the infamous Walking Purchase, a treaty that deprived them of their own lands and forced them to settle on lands assigned to the Iroquois. After 1690 they drifted westward. They sided with the French in the French and Indian War (1754-63) and helped defeat the British general Edward Braddock. In 1867 most of the remaining Delaware were removed to Oklahoma. Today they number about 10,000.