During the early eighteenth century, three phratries or tribes (Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf) of Delaware Indians left their traditional homeland in the Delaware River watershed and moved west to the Allegheny Valley of western Pennsylvania and eventually across the Ohio River into the Muskingum River valley. As newcomers to the colonial American borderlands, these bands of Delawares detached themselves from their past in the east, developed a sense of common cause, and created for themselves a new regional identity in western Pennsylvania. The Western Delaware Indian Nation, 1730-1795: Warriors and Diplomats is a case study of the western Delaware Indian experience, offering critical insight into the dynamics of Native American migrations to new environments and the process of reconstructing social and political systems to adjust to new circumstances. The Ohio backcountry brought to center stage the masculine activities of hunting, trade, war-making, diplomacy and was instrumental in the transformation of Delaware society and with that change, the advance of a western Delaware nation. This nation, however, was forged in a time of insecurity as it faced the turmoil of imperial conflict during the Seven Years' War and the backcountry racial violence brought about by the American Revolution. The stress of factionalism in the council house among Delaware leaders such as Tamaqua, White Eyes, Killbuck, and Captain Pipe constantly undermined the stability of a lasting political western Delaware nation. This narrative of western Delaware nationhood is a story of the fight for independence and regional unity and the futile effort to create and maintain an enduring nation. In the end the western Delaware nation became fragmented and forced as in the past, to journey west in search of a new beginning. The Western Delaware Indian Nation, 1730-1795: Warriors and Diplomats is an account of an Indian people and their dramatic and arduous struggle for autonomy, identity, political union, and a permanent homeland.

About the Author
Richard S. Grimes is currently adjunct faculty at La Roche College and Community College of Allegheny County.

Reviews
Grimes (adjunct, LaRoche College) offers an updated and deeply researched account of the Delaware Nation's search for new homelands outside the boundaries of their ancestral territories in what is now Pennsylvania after 1730. While acknowledging the occasionally tragic character of this "diaspora," Grimes also emphasizes the degree to which the Delawares' movements represented "an optimistic pursuit" of novel political, economic, and military opportunities. The monograph reflects a gendered understanding of historical change, as Grimes narrates the Delawares' transition to a "masculine-centered" culture in the trans-Allegheny west. Battling the convenient assignment by Colonial authorities of their subordinate status to the Six Nations of the Iroquois League, the Delawares articulated a position of nationhood for themselves in the realms of war and diplomacy from 1755 to 1795. The book's conclusion carries the story into the 19th century, tracing the route that led the Western Delawares to Indian Territory. Bucking recent trends in scholarship, Grimes eschews the inclusion of "an uplifting end to the story," opting instead to emphasize the degree to which the impositions of the US ultimately prevented the Western Delawares from achieving political cohesion in the trans-Mississippi West. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. * CHOICE *
Richard Grimes has produced a comprehensive analysis of the rise of the western Delaware Indian nation . . . . No other work delves into this process as deeply or develops the implications of Delaware westward migration as effectively. It's an illuminating and important chapter in the larger story of native migration and reconstruction in the late eighteenth century. -- Daniel P. Barr, Professor of History, Robert Morris University



Book Information
ISBN 9781611462241
Author Richard S. Grimes
Format Hardback
Page Count 354
Imprint Lehigh University Press
Publisher Lehigh University Press
Weight(grams) 694g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 158mm * 31mm