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Note: this exhibit closed January 6, 2007 - this is for reference only.
| From 1600 to 1700, the land we
know as Delaware was a place of shifting boundaries, defined by
waterways and marked by complex relationships between Native
Americans and European settlers.
On September 21, we will open a special exhibition Complex Relations: Delaware at the Time of First Contact at the Delaware History Museum as part of the Lewes’ 375th anniversary. Complex Relations explores the cultures living in this part of the Mid-Atlantic and their interaction with the arriving European settlers during the 17th century. Also on exhibit will be examples of flora and fauna from the environment in which these people lived.
In many respects, this time period is full of conjecture. These lands and the rich natural resources found within them were important to Native Americans and shifting colonial powers, but the actual number of European settlers in the Delaware colonies was not large in the early 17th century. For complex reasons, archaeological sites that document the early years of Native and European contact have not been plentiful, especially in Delaware. Today, archaeologists continue to search for physical clues and historians are still working to understand the story. This exhibit will explore the dynamic behind the relationships of Natives and Europeans, the world in which they interacted, and introduce the early history of what we today call Delaware.
September 21,
2006 - January 6, 2007
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Throughout the 17th century, the balance of power and nature of
relationships between resident native cultures, interior tribes coming
to coastal areas to trade, and European settlers shifted. Sometimes
these relationships were cordial, other times they were not, and
alliances formed and fractured throughout the 1600s. The 18th century
dawned on cultures radically changed by their experiences with each
other. 