Lenape Homeland: An Indian Saga

Title: Lenape Homeland: An Indian Saga
Author: James G. Landis
Series: The Conquest Series, book 1
Major Themes: Indians, Native Americans, Delaware
Synopsis: An old man of the Delaware tells the history of his people, especially their interactions with the Swedes and Dutch who settled what is now New York, to his grandson.

A couple of years ago, I bought the seven books in The Conquest Series by James G. Landis. I was intrigued by the idea of the story of the settlement of the United States by Europeans, told from the Indian perspective. I have just read the first volume, Lenape Homeland: An Indian Saga to the children. I found it very interesting. The children enjoyed parts of it, but overall they found it rather boring.

This book is written in the format of an old man recounting the stories his grandfather told him about his people’s history, including events he himself experienced. Owechela, the grandfather, begins with tales of the Lenni Lenape people and how they traveled across the land toward the Land of the Dawn. His grandson, Glikkikan, listens intently to the tales of how they and the Mengwe (later known as the Iroquois) battled through unfriendly tribes to reach the good, fertile land near the great sea. After they settled there, both tribes became great peoples. The Mengwe decided they needed to get rid of the Lenni Lenape. Then, everything changed for all the native people. Strange white people showed up on their shores.

Very quickly, the French, Swedes, and Dutch were all vying for beaver skins and land. Owechela tells Glikkikan all the details of how the Swedes and Dutch took turns buying land from the Lenni Lenape and losing it to each other. People such as Peter Minuit and Peter Stuyvesant were involved in the events described in this story. The Lenni Lenape didn’t want war; they much preferred peace—but they weren’t above some deception and pitting the two sides against each other to protect their homeland!

As I said, I found this book quite interesting. We’ve all read about the settling of the United States from the European point of view, but Lenape Homeland tells the story from the Indian’s point of view. How did they feel about what happened? James G. Landis has done well at portraying events from their perspective. A lot of this story is based on the Walam Olum, a document that is now lost which was written by the Indians about their own history. I would recommend this book (and likely the series, although I haven’t read any more yet) to anyone who is studying American history and wants a unique perspective.

WARNING: Chapter 2: Battle between groups of Indians, one group were cannibals. Chapter 3: Description of war clubs, murders, a man tortured to death, mention of scalping, burning a man to death. Chapter 4: Mention of women being molested, a man shot, a village massacred, picture of dog bristling with arrows, mention of a whore. Chapter 6: Children being killed

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