The Light in the Forest

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The Light in the Forest
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Summary Based on actual event in fall of 1764

• A young boy from a Pennsylvania colony is taken
  hostage during a raid by Lenni Lenape tribe
  during territorial wars.
• None of the PA men rescue him, and he is adopted
  by tribesman Cuyloga into the Indian society and
  renamed True Son.
• Believing to be of Indian blood, he hates
  colonists!
• His Indian father reluctantly returns him in
  exchange for some Indian lands

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Major characters

• True Son- kidnapped by the Lenni Lenape from his
  home in PA when he was 4 raised by his adopted
  Indian father, Cuyloga.
• Cuyloga- firmly believed that he had transformed
  True Son into an Indian. He was wise and strong
• Harry Butler- True Sons white father

• Del Hardy- young soldier charged with ensuring
  True Sons return to his blood familys home.
  Hes also a translator.
• Half Arrow- True Sons favorite Indian cousin
• Uncle Wilse- True Sons white uncle, white
  supremacist well know member of the Paxton Boys.
• Myra Butler  -  True Son's white mother. Myra
  Butler has been an invalid ever since he was
  stolen from their family. Like Harry Butler, Myra
  loves True Son very much and has experienced
  guilt since his disappearance

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More Characters

• Gordie  -  True Son's naïve younger brother.
  Gordie seems unaware that True Son's actions or
  behavior is different from whites
• Aunt Kate -  True Son's strong-willed and
  opinionated white aunt very much disapproves of
  his Indian behavior
• Colonel Bouquet -  Colonel Bouquet is the
  military leader who forces the return of the
  Indians' white prisoners.

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The People

• The Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians are said to
  be extinct not true! There are 11,000 Lenape
  people in OK another 5000 in NJ and PA

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• History

• Indian oral traditions call the Lenape homeland
  the original birthplace of Algonquian tribes
• Delaware Indians lived in grass bark covered
  longhouses
• Each village had a sweathouse for steam baths
  the remedy for disease and melancholy!

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• Jobs

• Made items using natural materials around them
• Tools were shells, bone, stone, wood
• Relied on farming!
• Men were hunters, fisherman, warriors healers

• Women were farmers, cooks, seamstresses, and
  reared children!
• Major mode of transportation was travelling by
  water
• Known for their boat making kayaks canoes

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• The Paxton Boys
• Vigilante group that murdered at least 20 Native
  Americans called the Conestoga Massacre.
• Paxton Boys attacked the local Conestoga who
  lived peacefully nearby in the midst of white
  settlements.

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• The Paxton Boys
• This was a measure of the hostility that had
  developed between frontiersmen and Indian!
• Many white settlers concluded during Pontiacs
  Rebellion that the races could NOT live together.
• Removal and extinction were the only options

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• SCALPING!

• Make an incision around the hair from the upper
  part of the forehead to the back of the neck

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• Colonial Times

• Lenape the Dutch

• Early interaction between these 2 groups was
  through the fur trade
• Lenapes primary crop was maize
• Hunting was primary activity for Dutch settlers