Standing in the Light

Mary Pope Osborne

The pious Quakers adhered to strict rules within their society, even in matters of fashion. Women wore long, simple high-necked dresses with plain bonnets. Men wore short, fitted pants known as breeches, jackets with little adornment, and the traditional flat-brimmed hat.

Lanape women and girls dressed in fringed buckskin skirts, or tepethuns, made from animal hides.

Lanape men and boys wore long pieces of deerskin folded over a belt known as a sakutakan, or breechcloth. The breechcloth was worn alone in warm weather and accompanied by animal skin pants during the winter.

Both men and women decorated their clothing with feathers, shells, and the quills of porcupines and wore moccasins on their feet.

Many Quakers lived in the lush countryside of the Delaware Valley and made homes on farms. Every day, except Sunday, was filled with chores. Women and girls cooked, washed and sewed, while men and boys planted and harvested crops and tended the farm animals.

Many Quaker children were unable to go to school every day because lessons were often interrupted by seasonal harvesting and demanding household chores. Quaker Friends schools still exist today.

The Friends meetinghouse provided a religious sanctuary where the Quakers could worship together. Their reverent society emphasized the importance of a direct relationship with God, thriftiness, modest social behavior, and unity.

William Penn, the founder of the Quakers, met with the early colonists to discuss his hopes to keep peace with their Lenape neighbors.

This actual Lenape deed, from July 15, 1682, is for land in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania, that was negotiated by William Penn’s agent William Markham. Signatures and distinguishing marks of Indian leaders can be seen at the bottom.

The “Walking Purchase” treaty that Penn signed with them stated that the land he purchased would extend as far as a person could walk in a day and a half.

However, fifty years later, when the treaty was carried out, non-Quaker colonists cheated the Indians by using skilled runners who covered twice that distance.

La-Pa-Win-Soe was a powerful Lanape chief who signed the “Walking Purchase” treaty. Indian tribes in the Delaware Valley looked to their leaders for guidance and honor.

The Lanape were remarkably skilled at utilizing the natural world. Longhouses are one of the best examples of their handiwork. Men and boys would uproot young trees, called saplings, curve them into frames, and cover them with strips of bark. These homes provided the Lanape with comfortable shelter throughout the year.

The interior of the longhouse was quite large. Wooden benches used for beds lined the walls; storage shelves were stacked with baskets overhead; and drying herbs and corn hung from the ceiling. Lanape women cooked, sewed, and performed many daily duties inside the longhouse.

The Lanape were egalitarian, and women played a vital role in society. Gardens and houses were considered their property, and family inheritance was traced through the mother.

Trunks of large trees were used to make dugout canoes so the Lanape could travel vast distances swiftly by river. The inside of trees were burned, and the charred wood was scraped away with stone tools to hollow out the interior.

Captive narratives began to appear as early as the mid-1600s. This narrative written by Mary Rowlandson was published in 1682. Captive narratives such as this one provided valuable insight into the Indians’ way of life and their treatment of captives.

It was not uncommon for captives to feel bewildered and displaced when they returned to their native communities.

For the colonists, candle making was a tedious chore involving tallow, or hard animal fat. Here is a simple candle making recipe using paraffin wax, which replaced tallow in the late 1800s.

For enjoyment, Lanape families would dance around fires at night and sing chants.

Quaker families recited psalms from the Bible for comfort and to reaffirm their beliefs.

Modern map of the continental United States, showing the approximate location of the Delaware Valley in Pennsylvania.

This map of the Delaware Valley and surrounding areas shows places mentioned in the diary.