Staten+Island+Museum

The exhibit on the Lenape indians interested me. The Staten Island museum is one of the only places on Staten Island that acknowledges the life and culture of the Lenape Indians, the first Staten Islanders. It's fascinating that people lived in Staten Island, my home, way before Europeans ever showed up.There are 3 periods of Lenape indian history: the paleo period(10,000 B.C-8,000 B.C), the Archaic period(8,000B.C-15,000B.C),and the woodland period.During the paleo period, the huge Wisconsin glacier that covered most of North America was just barely melting and Staten Island had an icy, frozen, snowy climate. It was extremely hard for the paleolithic Lenape indians to survive, but they managed to keep themeselves alive by hunting mastadon. They used the mastadon hide for warm clothing, and the mastadon fat and meet for food. The bones of this huge animal were used for tools and weapons. During the Archaic period(8,000-15,000 B.C) The climate warmed up and people were able to live in Staten Island more comfortably for longer periods of time. More advanced tools were created. Bola stones were used for hunting. People also used milling stones and mortar and pestles to mash up vegetables and roots. Fishing was an extremely important aspect of Lenape life and culture. As soon as ice melted and water flowed freely, the Lenape would fish for trout, bass and sunfish using nets and dugout canoes made from logs. I bet they had fun doing it too! The 3rd and latest period of Lenape indian history was the woodland period. During this period, even larger groups of people lived on Staten Island. They were able to stay on Staten Island permanently, and they built long houses out of wood for families to live in. Lenape indians also developed farming and agriculture for the first time ever. This development changed their way of life and greatly benefited their society. During the woodland period, forest habitat became more diverse and black bears and beavers roamed Staten Island. Bow and arrows were invented. Their society continued to flourish until the Europeans first set foot on Staten Island in 1524 and ruined the lives of the Lenape Indians. The Europeans changed Staten Island forever. It is extremely important that we preserve the history of the Lenape indians, because they are the ancestors of Staten Island. We must respect that they have lived here thousands of years before us. The Lenape indians are part of our home which we love very much, therefore they have become a part of us. http://www.statenislandmuseum.org/articles/id-134-cPath-57/Lenape:+The+First+Staten+Islanders.htmln