LENAPES, LENNI-LENAPES (len' aps), or DELAWARES, one of the Al gonquin tribes of American Indians, which about the early part of the 16th century occupied the valleys of the Dela ware and Schuylkill. They were, accord ing to tradition, pre-eminent for wisdom and valor, exerting a powerful influence over the neighboring tribes from the Hudson to the Chesapeake. This influ ence they upheld till, by the rise of the Iroquois power, they lost their ascend ency and in a manner their independ ence. They soon afterward removed to the banks of the Susquehanna. In 1751 they are found at Shamokin and Wyalus ing on the Susquehanna, where they be came exposed to the violence both of the Iroquois and the whites. The English dis regarded their peaceful attitude (they having been taught the principles of peace and non-resistance by Penn and Zinzendorf), considering them under French influence; and the Iroquois, of fended at their neutrality, plundered their crops and devastated their villages.
In 1778 they made a treaty of amity with the United States at Fort Pitt, in which the latter agreed to build a fort for their protection, which is the origin of Fort McIntosh. In 1795 they were parties, with the Wyandots, Shawnees, and other western tribes, in the general pacification of Fort Grenville. These were further strengthened by the treaties of Fort Wayne, in 1803, and Vincennes, in 1804; and the frontiers were unmolested till the movement of Tecumseh in 1811. They gradually continued W., stopping for a time at White river, Indiana, and afterward crossing the Mississippi, fin ally settled on fertile tracts in Kansas, cultivating the soil, raising horses, cattle, etc., and dressing in many respects in civilized costume, the United States hold. ing in trust for them a considerable fund. They were removed in 1870 to a reservation in the Indian Territory. They were later incorporated with the Cherokees.