Delaware (Lenape) Indian Settlements in Indiana

The Delaware (Lenape) people, displaced from their ancestral mid-Atlantic lands, established communities in east-central Indiana during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Primary Settlement Areas

• White River Valley: Along the White River and its tributaries—especially the Mississinewa River and Salamonie River.
• Key Modern Reference Points: Near present-day Muncie, Anderson, Marion, and Hartford City.

Historical Context

After the Treaty of Greenville (1795) and subsequent cessions, the Delaware were granted permission by the Miami and Piankeshaw to settle in this region. Their main villages—Wapikamikoke (near Muncie), Owls Town, and others—served as diplomatic and trade hubs until the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's forced their removal to Missouri, then Kansas, and finally Oklahoma.

Today, the Delaware Tribe of Indians is based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware in Cheswold, Delaware. Indiana place names (Delaware County, Muncie's "Lenape" references) preserve this history.