Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society before William Penn

Abstract

Jean R. Soderlund’s Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society before William Penn is an outstanding account of the Lenape and their relationship with the Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, and English settlers in the seventeenth century. Challenging the traditional interpretations of European contact with the natives, Soderlund successfully proves that not only was native society significant prior to Penn’s acquisition of Pennsylvania, but also the Lenape learned from the experiences of other native groups (particularly those in New England and the Chesapeake) when interacting with Europeans who came to the Delaware Valley.