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Rhythmic beating of drums and deep-voiced chanting fill the night air, crisp with the promise of coming fall, as colorful fringes twirl from regalia worn by young girls, their arms and bodies gracefully moving as one beneath the rising moon. Tribal elders sit quietly nearby, their concerns displaced by hope and pride as they watch their grandchildren living the traditions of the Nanticoke tribe.
“Dancing and singing are a form of prayer thanking the Creator for what we have,” said tribal council member Sterling Street. Ahkee Ganuhwandung is his Nanticoke name in the original language of the tribe. It means earth keeper.
“We want to honor and preserve our heritage through our youth,” said Linda Wright, whose Nanticoke name is Starfire.
Street, Wright and other members of the Nanticoke tribe say they are concerned the tribe’s heritage and traditions may become lost as tribal elders age and die. Tribal members also say they are concerned their traditions will become so melded with the traditions and portrayals of other tribes, both real and as created by the entertainment industry, as to lose what is uniquely Nanticoke.
“Integration is good but not assimilation to the point of loss of what is uniquely Nanticoke,” said Street.
“Each of our children and each of their children share our spirituality based upon respect for the Earth, for what we have and for our community of people. It is what makes them Nanticoke. We are trying to protect and preserve that community,” Street said.
Powwows
The 30th Annual Nanticoke Indian Powwow, held Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 8-9, presented a time to share in the Nanticoke community and culture. But Pecita Lonewolf recalls 30 years during which there were no powwows – a time during which she said many traditions were in danger of being lost forever.
“We survived as our community was held together by family and community functions,” Lonewolf said. The Indian Mission and Seventh Day Adventist churches aided the Nanticoke, she added.
Lonewolf and her sister Odette Wright were raised in Millsboro at a time when Nanticoke children were only provided a grade-school education. Those choosing more went to a boarding school in Kansas, Lonewolf said.
Lonewolf recounted how her entire family moved to the Midwest and then to Los Angeles. Despite residing in different places throughout the country and pursuing different careers, everyone returned to Millsboro, she said.
Lonewolf is a member of the tribe’s oral history committee and it is her goal to record the stories of the elders before they pass away. “It is through their oral histories that our children can learn about the Nanticoke tribe and about what our elders did for the tribe,” said Lonewolf.
Four oral histories have been recorded. The first was of Martin Earl Street, who died at the age of 99, three weeks after the recording was made.
“We now have a list of 25 elders whose stories we want to record. We are starting with those in their 80s and 90s and will then move to those in their 70s,” Lonewolf said. “Sadly, some passed away before we could record their histories.”
Wright dedicates herself to assisting with youth programs such as those preserving native round dancing and traditional Nanticoke games. A former curator of the Nanticoke Indian Museum in Millsboro, Wright also works with tribal regalia.
But games and dancing mean little without respecting and preserving the Nanticoke spirituality upon which they are based, said Street.
Wright said she agrees and described ceremonies she has recently been involved in, such as the name-giving ceremony for a child. “There has to be a reason for the name and it must be given by an elder,” Wright said.
Granma
Her name is Patience Harmon, but the young people call her Granma, a name used as a form of respect and as a term of endearment. Harmon moved to the area 60 years ago, after she was married. She now has three children, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. All are dancers and all worked at the powwow, Harmon said with pride.
The Nanticoke is a small tribe, with only 1,500 to 2,000 members estimated in the nation, with approximately 500 to 700 in Delaware and 100 in the Millsboro area, where the main tribe is located. Of them, 25 adults are most actively involved.
“It is such a small tribe, the same people do everything,” said Harmon.
Elders spoke of the constant threat of loss of tribal identity. “We want our children to know how the community takes care of its members. We want them to know so they can do it,” Harmon said.
Linda Wright was born and raised in a two-story farmhouse in Lewes, where she said she earned the distinction of being recorded as “the first child of color” to enter the Lewes school district. Not accepted by whites or blacks, there were difficult times. “I was Indian,” Wright said.
Wright is now the assistant dance coordinator for the Nanticoke tribe. She leads a traveling dance troupe consisting of 12 young people from the Millsboro area who regularly perform.
Fortunately, the tribe was able to preserve its special dance, the toe dance performed by the women of the tribe. The dance was taught by the Nanticoke woman all lovingly refer to as Aunt Pash, who performed the dance during the 1920s and died just before reaching the age of 101 in 1996.
Reviving the language
Street’s greatest mission is to revive the ancient Nanticoke language, which has been dormant for more than 150 years since the death of Lydia Clark in 1856 in Indian River Hundred. His resources include Myrelene Ranville, a Canadian linguist who speaks Anishnabay, an Algonquin language closely related to Nanticoke, and a 300-word dictionary compiled by William Vans Murray at the request of President Thomas Jefferson.
“It will be very similar to the original native language,” Street said, adding that he and a faithful core group of six other tribe members address each other in the language whenever possible. The tribe members worked with Ranville for eight weeks during November 2006 and continued working together using materials she provided until the start of summer.
Street said the group hopes Ranville will be able to return to assist them as they start a new series of language classes. The adults intend to pursue their studies for one more year, after which they plan to start working with the tribal children and hope to bring Ranville back again.
Support sought
The Nanticoke tribe seeks community involvement, recognition and support as it strives to preserve its heritage and culture. Those interested in contributing to its efforts to restore its language and save its traditions may make donations to the Nanticoke Indian Association located at 27073 John J. Williams Highway in Millsboro. For more information, call 945-3400.
More information about the Nanticoke Indian tribe is available online at www.nanticokeindians.org or by telephoning the Nanticoke Indian Museum in Millsboro at 945-7022. Located at the corner of Route 24 and Route 5, the museum is open to the public from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Eweenetu ok wummoi: Peace and love.
Contact Georgia Leonhart at g.l.leonhart@comcast.net
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