The Wallum Olum

The Wallum Olum has been called the Bible and Aeneid of the Delaware Indians. It is their record of creation and the poetic account of their history. This record begins with the creation of the world, tells of the entrance of sin into the world, the great flood, and the migration of the Delaware or Lenape, as they called themselves in earlier times, across the Bering Strait, across the continent of North America to the east coast. It concludes with the words, "At this time, from north and south, the whites came. They are peaceful: they have great things; who are they?"

The name "Wallum Olum" means "Painted Record." It is a record consisting of symbolic glyphs or pictographs which were usually inscribed on wood or birch bark. Each of these glyphs was used as a memory aid in reciting the poetic verse which went with it. The symbolism of these glyphs is rooted in Indian sign language. Some of the glyphs also bear a similarity to symbols used by the Chinese in their system of writing, possibly indicating a common origin. This similarity between Delaware and Chinese symbols is noteworthy because Chinese accounts of the great Flood at the time of Noah are among the most striking found in Asia. One Chinese tradition preserves the name of the man who, with his family, survived the flood, as "Nu-Wah" a name very similar to "Noah." The Wallum Olum preserves that name as "Nana" or "Nanabush." Other Chinese folklore tells of the migration of the Chinese people to their present land from the area of the tower of Babel.

The earliest records of Chinese religious beliefs speak of "Shang Ti," a name meaning "Lord of Heaven," as the one and only God of the Chinese people. Although the rise of Confucianism, Taoism and later Buddhism resulted in Shang Ti being largely forgotten as the only God of the Chinese people, an annual sacrifice to Shang Ti continued to be offered up at the temple of Heaven in Peking until the Chinese revolution of 1911. This "Temple of Heaven" contained no idol, but a tablet on its north wall was inscribed with the words "Heavenly Sovereign Shang Ti." While religious beliefs vary greatly between American Indian groups, the Delaware Indians, like the ancient Chinese, were monotheistic, believing in one supreme being who, Himself, uncreated is the creator of all other spirits as well as man. These beliefs were held by the Delaware long before their exposure to Europeans or to Christian beliefs.

Although the Wallum Olum is itself a historical witness to the accuracy of the Genesis account of creation and the Flood, ironically the man to whom we are indebted for the preservation and first translation of that work, Constantine Rafinesque, was a pre-Darwinian evolutionist not a creationist. He was interested in the Wallum Olum only because it supported his belief that the American Indians had come into North America across the Bering Strait. Likewise Dr. Daniel G. Brinton who carefully researched the Wallum Olum and compiled the case for its authenticity was not a creationist and, therefore, attempted to explain away any similarity between the Wallum Olum and the book of Genesis.

One difficulty with the Wallum Olum lies in the fact that the person who first wrote down the Delaware Indian words that correspond to the glyphs did not know the Delaware language well enough to catch certain inflections on the end of the words. The absence of these inflections affects the meaning and makes some parts of the Wallum Olum hard to understand. It also detracts from the antiquity of the work.

A second difficulty lies in the fact that some of the Delaware words used in the Wallum Olum are archaic and their meaning is, therefore, not perfectly clear. The word "Olum" for instance, survives in the Delaware language only as the name for the notches which Delaware children make on sticks in order to keep a record of the score in the games they play. Likewise the name "Kitanitowit" which is the oldest name for God in the Delaware language is archaic and has been replaced in common usage with the word "Manito" which means "spirit." However, the context of the Wallum Olum which describes "Kitanitowit" as the creator of all things supports Constantine Rafinesque's translation of that name as "Creator God." The fact that archaic words are present in the text is itself an evidence of the antiquity of the Wallum Olum.

A third difficulty lies in the fact that Constantine Rafinesque, the first translator of the Wallum Olum, made some errors in his translation of certain Delaware words. This was to be expected for he did not speak Delaware. However, in the main he based his translation upon information on the Delaware language which had been compiled by the Moravians and stored at there archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Later translations are hampered by a deterioration of the Delaware language stemming from a decline of their culture. These later translations also seem to evidence a bias against the book of Genesis. A bias which leads translators to translate the verses in a way that assumes them to be the product of cultural myth and folklore rather than a historical record. However, in every translation the simple message of creation and the flood is clearly set forth and the similarity between the Wallum Olum and the Genesis record is self evident.

Those desiring further information on the Wallum Olum might seek out a volume by that same name which was published by the Indiana Historical Society in 1954. This volume contains two translations of the Wallum Olum, a case for its authenticity, and an analysis of the glyphs. You might also consult "The Lenape and Their Legends" by Daniel G. Brinton (published 1885). Two other books which may be of interest are, "Mysteries Confucius Couldn't Solve" by Ethel R. Nelson and Richard E. Broadberry, and "In Search of Noah's Ark" by Dave Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Jr.