Indigenous Peoples of New Jersey

United States New Jersey  American Indian Research  Indians_of_New_Jersey

Learn about the Indians of New Jersey, tribes and bands, state recognized tribes, agencies, records, and sources.

Tribes and Bands of New Jersey
The following list of American Indians who have lived in New Jersey has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians... and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.

Delaware or Lenni-Lenape

These tribes are not listed in Swantons: Nanticoke, Unami, Unalachtigo

New Jersey State Recognized Tribes

 * Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape
 * Powhatan Renape Nation
 * Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation (also known as Ramapough Mountain Indians
 * Inter-Tribal American Indians of New Jersey

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Reservation
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.


 * Edge Pillock Reservation:
 * Nanticoke Lenni-Lanape Indians of New Jersey
 * Ramapough Mountain Indians
 * Rancocas Indian Reservation

Published Resources

 * Stuart, Frank H. Indians of Southern New Jersey. Woodbury, New Jersey: Gloucester County Historical Society, 1932.
 * Nelson, Wiliam. Personal Names of Indians of New Jersey: Being a List of Six Hundred and Fifty Such Names, Gleaned Mostly from Indian Deeds of the Seventeenth Century. Paterson, N.J.: Paterson History Club, 1904. ; digital version at Internet Archives and Google Books.
 * Weslager, C.A.The Nanticoke Indians: Past and Present. Newark, Delaware : University of Delaware Press, 1983.
 * Kraft, Herbert C. The Lenape: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography. Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Historical Society, 1986.
 * Nelson, William. The Indians of New Jersey: Their Origin and Development; Manners and Customs; Language, Religion and Government. Paterson, N.J. : The Press Printing and Publishing Company, 1894. Digital version at Internet Archives and Google Books.

Web Sites

 * New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs - government liaison to the tribes.
 * New Jersey Indians - tribes, languages, and cultures
 * Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey - tribal website
 * Native People of New Jersey - USGenNet's web page about the Lenni-Lenape