The
Lenape people comprised three dialectal divisions, which by the end of the 17th century became the basis for the three clans of the Lenape. These divisions were the
Monsi (
Munsee) or Wolf, the
Unami or Turtle, and the
Unilactigo or Turkey. Today the clans are known as the
Tùkwsit (Wolf Clan),
Pùkuwànko (Turtle Clan), and
Pële (Turkey Clan). The Delaware Nation is the
Pùkuwànko (Turtle Clan). The Delaware were the first Indian nation to enter into a treaty with the newly formed government of the United States; representatives signed the
Treaty of Fort Pitt on September 17, 1778. The Oklahoma branches date from 1867 with the purchase of land by Delaware from the
Cherokee Nation; they made two payments totaling $438,000. A court dispute followed over whether the sale included citizenship rights for the Delaware within the Cherokee Nation. In 1867, the courts ruled that they had only purchased rights to the land for their lifetimes. The
Curtis Act of 1898 dissolved tribal governments and ordered the allotment of tribal lands to individual citizens of tribes. The Lenape fought the act in the courts, but lost. The lands were allotted in lots in 1907, with any land left over sold to non-Indians. The Delaware Nation became federally recognized on July 5, 1958, as the "Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma". They ratified their current constitution in 1972. In November 1999, the tribe officially changed its name to the "Delaware Nation". In September 2000, the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma received 11.5 acres of land in
Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania In 2004, the Delaware Nation sued Pennsylvania over land lost in 1800. The case related to the colonial government's
Walking Purchase of 1737, an agreement of doubtful legal veracity. The court held that the justness of the extinguishment of aboriginal title is nonjusticiable, including in the case of fraud. Because the extinguishment occurred prior to the passage of the first Indian Nonintercourse Act in 1790, that Act did not avail the Delaware. As a result, the court granted the Commonwealth's motion to dismiss. In its conclusion the court stated: "... we find that the Delaware Nation's aboriginal rights to Tatamy's Place were extinguished in 1737 and that, later, fee title to the land was granted to Chief Tatamy—not to the tribe as a
collectivity." ==Notable Western Delaware==