Students learn Lenape games and lore

students learn about the Lenape
(Photo by Jason Kaplan) - Dylan Corso, Greyson Bille, and Juliana Barry check out an ear of corn. Elise LaRocca, from the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, spoke to kindergarteners, in Shari Clerkin’s class, about the Lenape tribe.

On Nov. 16, Elise LaRocco spoke to Cornwall-on-Hudson kindergarteners about the Lenape who lived in the  Hudson Valley. The Hudson Highlands Land Trust sponsored her visit.

The Lenape, like other Native American tribes, didn’t have hospitals, schools, shops, or grocery stores. They relied on nature and were never wasteful. After killing a deer for food, they used the antlers as digging tools in the garden or as fish hooks. They could turn the skin into winter clothes, pillows, and blankets. Rocks were used to make fire pits and as tools.

The men in the tribe were responsible for hunting while the women grew the crops.

The most popular crops were beans, squash, and corn. They were known as “The Three Sisters,” because each relied on the others for survival. For the stalks of corn to grow tall and straight, they needed nitrogen, which was provided by the beans. The squash gave shade to the corn and prevented weeds from growing.

The Lenape tribe is made up of three clans: wolf, turkey, and turtle. To which clan one belonged was determined by the women, as they were in charge. Marrying within the clan was prohibited.

To close out the lesson, LaRocco taught the students two games that were played by the Lenape. The bean game consisted of 10 beans, white on one side and black on the other. Pairs would take turns choosing a color and then tossing the beans in the air. Then they would count how many landed with their color up to determine the winner of the round. The second game was a game of pick-up sticks.  A team of two received 10 sticks split between two different colors. The sticks were dropped on the floor and each person took a turn trying to grab their colored sticks without moving the others in the field.