The Lenape Indians were a rich and complex people with a very unique take on what constituted ownership of land. This was something that European settlers used to their advantage when colonizing the New World - taking advantage of their loose understanding of land ownership, Europeans managed to occupy and take over the Lenape land in what is now known as New Jersey.
Originally, the Lenape occupied a vast amount of land which encompassed everything between the Hudson River and Delaware Valleys, including New Jersey. Lenape tribes would often use their actual locations to identify themselves. According to the Lenape, specific clans ...
