This is the first pack of Delawares from Conquest Miniatures' "500 Nations" range. Sometimes called by their own name of Lenni-Lenape ("lenape" meaning "original" or "real people"), the name "Delaware" derives from an early governor of Virginia called Lord de la Warr. The Delaware tribe originally inhabited what is now called Long Island and New Jersey as well as the Delaware River area, but began a Westward migration in the latter 17th century. This accelerated during the 18th century as colonists gradually displaced the Delawares from their ancestral lands. By the 1740s, the tribe was living in the Wyoming valley and western Pennsylvania. During the French & Indian War the Delawares attacked Pennsylvania settlements but were forced to abandon Pennsylvania in the early 1760s. Whilst some divisions of the tribe moved to avoid involvement in the AWI, other divisions supported different sides during the war. The migration westwards continued for the next 80 years or so, and the large groups of Delawares settled in Oklahoma and Kansas.
I don't really have any idea when or how these figures might feature in an AWI game, but they were great fun to paint and are lovely sculpts. Some research suggested that the Delawares wore very colourful clothes, or at least did from the early 19th century onwards. The Osprey book "Indian Tribes of the New England Frontier" has various photos and illustrations of intricate patterns on beads, sashes, pouches etc. Some very helpful people on TMP referred me to a couple of websites that have modern interpretations of the sashes that many Delawares wore. Whilst such colours may be a bit anachronistic, these references gave me an excuse to paint these figures in a colourful style that will differentiate them from my other indian figures.
6 figures. Painted December 2007.
4 comments:
Aw, Come on!
Those Leni Lenape (the pure abiding among the pure) look more like apaches with US army clothes onl
They do NOT look like the Leni painted by John White in the 1500s. Hor do they look like the NE Algonins as shown in the Smithonian Handbook of North American Indians. Most NE Algonquins,including the Lenape, dressed in Black cloth.
Better do some research. There are still some Leni Lenape in Government.
Er...thanks for such helpful comments. You do realise these are figures for the 1750s-80s, not the 1500s?
Giles, don't bother - those Indians look very cool! Their colourful appearance (those belts & bags are awesome) seems quite authentic to me - okay, owning just the Osprey-accounts (and being no American Native - like myron perhaps?), I'm no adept at this matter.
Keep up the good work!
Btw, your blog has inspired me to initiate my own AWI project. Should I say "thanks" or "darn"? ;)
Thanks for posting these (way back when). I'm in the market for 28mm Indians, so it's nice to see these Conquest models in color. I just finished reading a great book about the Delaware, David Zeisberger's History of the Northern American Indians. It's am 18th century journal of a missionary who lived with the Delaware for 20+ years. It's brilliant, you should check it out.
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