Of the many legends, historical facts and
artifacts that tell of the Indians of this
region, only a few are outlined here:
The natives named the river Lenape-Wihituck - "rapid stream of the
Lenape"
- long before Europeans named it for Sir
Thomas West (Lord de Ia Ware).
Thereafter, the Lenape were more
commonly known as the Delawares.
Three major tribes of this race occupied
New Jersey, north to south: the Minsi,
Unami, and Unilachtigo; whose totems or
insignia were respectively the wolf, turtle,
and turkey.
The native Indians of Burlington County
were of the Unami or Turtle tribe, thought
to be the parent tribe of the three. The
legend of its turtle insignia pointed to a
mythological tortoise "carrying the earth
on its back."
The earliest European explorers found
Indian villages on each of the principal
creeks in this region. Largest of these was
the Rancocas Town of more than 100
natives, at the forks of the Rancocas near
present-day Hainesport. Another village of
"48 bowmen under King Eriwoneck" stood
within the forks of the Pensauken.
Additional towns flanked the Assiscunk
Creek, the Atsion and Batsto Rivers, and
the branches of the Rancocas.
In 1677, the large contingent of Quaker
settlers came prepared with trading goods
to be used in negotiation with the Indians.
They fortunately found on the scene a few
earlier pioneers of Swedish, Dutch and
Danish blood, who understood the Indian
tongue and could serve as interpreters.
The white man's stock in trade for
dealing with the natives, as listed in the
deed for "the lands from Rankokus to
Timber Creek," included among other
items thirty each of "blankets, guns, axes,
howes, aules, tobacco toungs, needles,
looking glasses, knives, combs, bracelets,
bells, pairs of scissors, flints, and Jews
harps" along with "seaven anchors of
brandy, ten spoonfuls of paint, a gross of
pipes and a hundred fish hooks."
Over and over, similar items appeared in
deed after deed - demand for these
favorite goods being so great that one
negotiation was delayed awaiting arrival
of the next ship bearing bells, paint, and
fish hooks.
A famed and friendly Indian, "King
Ockanickon," was a party to the deed for
lands "from Rankokus to the Falls of
Delaware," and eventually found his
resting place in the Friends burial ground
at Burlington. The deeds of 1677-78 were
followed by many others, and with every
deed the Indian rights were diminished the
more. Early in the next century it was
evident that the natives could not cope with
white civilization or European diseases.
In 1745, Presbyterian missionary David
Brainerd gathered various tribesmen
together at Crosswicks in an effort to teach
them a few trades and the rudiments of
colonial education and religion.
Brainerd's health failed, the project
collapsed, and the Indians were nomads
once more. Seeking a new leader, they
found Tedyuscung, "last great King of the
Delawares," who met with white Commissioners and many Indian sachems at
Crosswicks in February, 1758, to review
Indian affairs.
This led to another conference, sponsored by Governor Bernard of
New Jersey
and Tedyuscung, and held at Burlington in
August, 1758. Wampum belts were
exchanged between Colonial and Indian
representatives, the Indian concerns were
aired, and legislative action was imminent.
Very soon thereafter 3,044 acres were
purchased from Benjamin Springer - the
site of Indian Mills Ä and title was taken by
the colonial government "in trust for the
Indians living south of the Raritan River."
To this Burlington County Reservation, the
first in the country, came various of the
tribes; and from it all but a few of the
Indians departed for western New York
State in the year 1802.
