Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 106 – Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware; recognition
(a) Legislative findings. — The General Assembly finds all of the following:
(1) The Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, referred to as “the Tribe” in this section, has an unbroken history of hundreds of years of settlement and continued residency in the vicinity of the Town of Cheswold in Kent County.
(2) Members of the Tribe preserved, displayed, and manifested close cultural ties with one another by conducting themselves in such a social and economic manner so as to identify themselves as being culturally and ethnically distinct.
(3) The Tribe can date their ancestral ties as far back as the early 1700s.
(4) The Tribe was formerly known as “the Moors” and, for many decades of the twentieth century, state documents such as driver’s licenses designated the Tribe’s race with an “M”.
(5) The Delaware School Code of 1921 provided that the State Board of Education could establish a school “for the children of people called Moors.” As a result, 2 schools were built, 1 in the Town of Cheswold and 1 at Fork Branch on Denney’s Road in Kent County.
(6) There has been unofficial statewide acceptance and recognition of the Tribe for at least 125 years. Through a formal process of reviewing applicable state laws, historical and anthropological references, and previous actions of the General Assembly and State agencies, the Department of State concluded by 2009 that this State has historically acknowledged the Tribe.
(7) The Smithsonian Institute issued an annual report in 1948, in which the Tribe was referred to as the “Moors of Kent County, Delaware,” and identified as a surviving Indian group of the eastern United States.
(8) The United States Census Bureau approved a defined “state designated tribal statistical area” for the Tribe for the 2010 Census.
(9) The Tribe has a constitutional tribal government, and the preamble of its constitution states that its purpose is to:
a. Preserve the legacy of its ancestors.
b. Promote the interests of its people.
c. Affirm its tribal identity.
d. Establish justice.
e. Ensure domestic tranquility.
f. Defend the general welfare.
g. Exercise its governmental jurisdiction.
h. Protect its environmental, cultural, and human resources.
i. Secure its national sovereignty for future generations of its people.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 106
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) Recognition. — The Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware is designated and recognized as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers. The Tribe is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services that the United States provides to Indians because of their status as Indians.