The Okehocking Tribe (also known as Ockanickon) was a small band of

Unami language Unami ( del, Wënami èlixsuwakàn) was an Algonquian language spoken by the Lenape people in the late 17th century and the early 18th century, in what then was (or later became) the southern two-thirds of New Jersey, southeastern Pennsylvania ...

-speaking

Delaware Indians The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

, who occupied an area along the Ridley and Crum creeks in

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the De ...

. Part of that area is now known as

Ridley Creek State Park Ridley Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Edgmont, Middletown, and Upper Providence Townships, Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park, about north of the county seat of Media, offers many recreational act ...

. Along with the Schuylkill and Brandywine Indians, the Okehocking were known as ''Unami'' or "people down the river" by other tribes, in accordance with the Indian way of designating a tribe by geographical location.

Establishment of villages

In 1701, the tribe approached

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

for the purchase of a tract of land. Penn allotted them 500 acres. The tribe used the land as their summer fishing camp, moving north during the winter months. At that time, English and European settlers were not allowed to purchase or occupy any land occupied by Indians. Because settlers could not be certain where the boundary lay around Indian land, they tended to build settlements well away from Indian encampments. However, the survey of the 500 acres allotted to the Okehocking Tribe allowed a clear demarcation of where Indian land began and ended. This meant that the settlers could freely camp and build settlements all around the borders without fear of breaking the law. Later, feeling surrounded by colonial settlers, the Okehocking moved west toward the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

and later settled in the Ohio River Valley.Catherine Quillmann: "Tracing the History of Former Indian Land /A Surveyor is Studying a Tract in Willistown." Records show it was set aside for a tribe by William Penn. ''Philadelphia Inquirer,'' November 28, 1996.C.A. Weslager. ''The Delaware Indians: A History.'' New Brunswick. Rutgers University Press, 1972.

References

External links

Delaware Nation
official website
Delaware Tribe of Indians
official website
Lenni Lenape Historical Society

Lenape (Southern Unami) Talking Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenape Lenape Algonquian peoples Native American history of Pennsylvania Native American tribes in Pennsylvania

Establishment of villages

See also

References

External links