Walum Olum
THE LENNI-LENAPE AND THE "RED RECORD"
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The Red Record is said to be the oldest written record of a Native North American people, and spans almost 100 generations.
The "Red Record" (The Wallum Olum) is not new or a recently discovered piece of ancient history. It was given to the white man in 1820, when its last caretaker presented it to a Dr. Ward, a Moravian missionary and physician who had lived among the Lenni-Lenape for a number of years. Dr. Ward had saved the life of the village historian and, as a show of appreciation, the Red Record was given with the statement, "This is like our Bible".
The Red Record has passed through many hands
Finally, it fell into scholarly hands and the inquiry into its meaning began. As the words and symbols of the Red Record were matched to each other by anthropologists, archealogists and historians, the impact of these writings began to emerge. Each time understanding was near, the writings were pushed aside. There were a number of reasons for this, as there are for all ancient writings as they are discovered.
Firstly, translating and understanding the Red Record would have destroyed the European position that they had taken this land because it was an uncivilized country inhabited by heathen savages. Little was known of the world described by the Red Record that it was passed off as more Native myths and legends.
In spite of this, the inborn curiosity of the intellectual and learned people of history were fascinated by this mystery. After more than 20 years of work and study, a translation was completed.
In 1976, David McCutchen, a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and the California Institute of the Arts, was hired to research the history of the Delaware Nation. In 1610, Captain Samuel Argall sailed up the Lenape River, and named both the river, and the people living on its banks, the "Delaware" in honor of his patron, Lord De La Warr. From that time on, Delaware Indians were referred to by outsiders and Europeans as the "Delaware".
In his work, McCutchen came upon The Red Record, the history of its translation, some of the original wooden prayer sticks, and the original words which described the meanings of the carvings. He completed his study as far as he could, and then proceeded to go to the source. He took the results of his research, photographs of the original prayer sticks, and all materials the curators would allow, to Linda Poolaw, the Grand Chief of the Delaware Nation Grand Council of North America in Oklahoma. With Chief Poolaw's assistance, McCutchen was able to fill in the blanks, answer remaining questions and complete the final translation of The Red Record
In 1980, the tribal descendents of the Lenni-Lenape passed a resolution endorsing McCutchen's recreation of the entire Red Record as an accurate re-telling of the history of their people
The Red Record begins with the Lenni-Lenape story of the Creation - with Adam and Eve and the Snake of Eden - each with a Native name. Throughout time, the snake has been the Lenni-Lenape symbol for the enemy. The story of man's struggle continues through the Great Flood, and the re-settling of the land after the waters receded. At the time of the re-settling, there came a common understanding shared by all the people that a great body of water lay to their east. It was their destiny to reach that body of water, and so their migration began.
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"The Red Record: The Wallam Olum", by David McCutchen, (c) 1993; Avery Publishing Group, Inc., Garden City Park, New York.