Area Attractions > Nanticoke Indians
Nanticoke Indians
Facts About the Nanticoke Indians
How many Nanticoke live here today?
About 550 in Sussex County and about 500 in other parts of Delaware. We have members living in many other locations including NY, NJ, PA, OK and Canada.
What did the Nanticoke do for a living?
We were fisherman, hunters, farmers and carvers.
What was clothing made from?
Animal skins - deer skin blankets, bear skin rugs. Bones of animals were used for decorative jewelry and tools.
Do the Nanticoke speak their native language?
The last person to fluently speak the Nanticoke language was a Naticoke woman named Lydia Clark who died in 1865. Our library contains a book with Nanticoke words and phrases and their meanings and in recent years classes have been held to reintroduce the spoken language to our people.
When did the Nanticoke Museum open?
The Museum opened in 1984 for the purpose of collecting and displaying Nanticoke heritage and culture which included our ancestors' tools and clothing; points, spears, tomahawks, axe hammers, drills and clay pottery. The building was previously a school that went up to the eighth grade and in 1979 it was placed on the National Historic Register.
How many people attend the annual Nanticoke Powwow?
About 30,000 to 40,000 people during the two-day event in September. It is held every year on the weekend after Labor Day.
Does the Nanticoke Tribe own land?
Families and individuals own their own land on which they live or lease other properties they may own. The Tribe owns three properties: The Nanticoke Indian Museum, the Naticoke Indian Center and seventeen acres of land on Mt. Joy Road in Millsboro that was donated to the Tribe in August of 2005.
With what major American Indian linguistic group do the Nanticoke belong?
This Tribe is part of the Algonquin or Algonquian language group as are the Malecite, Passomoquoddy and Penobscot in Maine, the Pequot in CT and Rhode Island, to name a few.
