Delaware Tribe of Indians

The Delaware Tribe of Indians is one of two federally recognized tribes of Delawares in Oklahoma. Also known as the Lënape (the name of their tribe in their own language), the Delaware people were divided into three dialectal divisions, which later became the basis for the three Clans of the Lënape. These divisions were the Monsi (Munsee) or Wolf, the Unami or Turtle, and the Unilactigo or Turkey. The proper names for the clans as they now exist are Tùkwsit (Wolf Clan), Pùkuwànko (Turtle Clan), and Pële (Turkey Clan). The Delaware Nation is the Pùkuwànko (Turtle Clan).

The Delaware Nation was the first Indian nation to enter into a treaty with the newly formed government of the United States, in 1778. The people of the Delaware Nation originally lived on the eastern seaboard when the Europeans first arrived, in the area that is now the mid atlantic states of  New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania.

Other Lenape people joined the Nanticoke or Munsee Delawares. There are also some small Lenne Lenape communities remaining in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which are not federally recognized.