Nantichoke Indians Essay

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Nanticoke means “tidewater people”. Just by the name you could understand they live on the coast. They lived by the Nanticoke River on the eastern shore. Also they migrated through Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Ontario, Canada. Through this migration they traveled with ally Indian tribes. The Nanticoke used canoes to travel on water. But they used pack animals, usually wolves, to travel on land. They didn’t have horses yet until the Europeans brought them over. The culture of Nanticoke Indians has changed a lot over time. This happened because as they migrated with their allies they mixed and cultures came together. The language of the people was Nanticoke. But really no people speak this language anymore. The Nanticoke were real good fisherman because they lived by a river. So fishing was a big part of their culture. Their clothing was usually made from animal’s skins. Mostly deer skin and bear skin was used usually. Even though there were a lot of wolves in the area they didn’t use them because they were considered to be their friends. They usually use the bones from the animals as tools or weapons. Also the Nanticoke’s had dances for every occasion. Every day they danced in front of the fire. They lived in small round homes called wigwams. . Wigwams are small houses, usually 8-10 feet tall. Wigwams are made of wooden frames which are covered with woven mats and sheets of birch bark. The frame can be shaped like a dome, like a cone, or like a rectangle with an arched roof. Once the birch bark is in place, ropes or strips of wood are wrapped around the wigwam to hold the bark in place. Most of the Nanticoke customs are not known today. Most of their customs were adopted from the Lenape Indians. One original custom of Nanticoke was having an animal tattooed on you. The animal on your body was usually based on your personality. You got

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