Introduction
Today you are going to explore and learn about the everyday life of the Lenni Lenape. You will also discover what happened to the Lenape, Where they are now, and what caused their ultimate downfall. You will also be comparing the effects of Covid to previous diseases that were brought over to the new world.
Task
Your task is to watch and read serval articles and videos about the life of the Lenape tribe both in the past and where they are today. You will create a separate google document and answer any questions about the articles or videos there.
Process
Native American tribes struggle with coronavirus crisis - YouTube
- Open up a google document and answer the following questions
- What types of struggles have Native Americans gone through due to Covid?
- Why is it so difficult for people living on reservations to avoid getting Covid?
- How does a lack of money affect the Native Americans?
Official Site of the Delaware Tribe of Indians » Lenape Life
- Click on the following link and read these sections
- Some of the Ways of the Delaware Indian Women
- Villages
- Family
- Foods
- Stories
- Take notes on each of these sections
- For the stories sections read a few of them and explain what they mean
The Lenapes: the First New Yorkers | New York Nature
- Read the sections
- What happened to the Lenape and Where are they now
- How did many Native Americans die?
- How much did the population decline
- In addition to things like diseases what other issues did they have to worry about?
- What happened to the Lenape?
- Where are they located?
- What happened to the Lenape and Where are they now
‘Virgin-soil’ epidemics devastate Native populations - Timeline - Native Voices (nih.gov)
- What do you think the term Virgin soil epidemic means?
- What were some other diseases that had a impact on the Native Americans
- How do you think being isolated affected the Native Americans
Evaluation
You will be graded on your completion of the questions and readings. Once you have completed all of the readings and questions we will then answer two final question in a class discussion.
1. What do you think led to the downfall of the Lenape society?
2. Do you see any similarities between how smallpox impacted Native American Society compared to how Covid impacted Native American society
Conclusion
Native Americans today have gone through a tremendous amount of tragedy and even still face many issues. The issues include fighting for recognition, diseases, and the loss of their land and being pushed West. Today there are only three major Lenape tribes left but despite being limited in numbers and reservation life. The Lenape culture and life still is celebrated and alive within those communities. While it is easy to only remember the sad news, the Lenape are a very proud group and their love of their culture, religion, and history is something should be remembered always.
