The Big House Ceremony (Xinkwikaon)
The Big House Ceremony is the paramount spiritual tradition of the Lenape people. According to oral tradition, the ceremony was given to the ancestors long ago when the people lived in the East. It is held in a special longhouse built to face the east, with carved faces on the center posts representing the Creator and the spirits. The ceremony lasts for twelve nights, during which the people pray, sing, and dance to fulfill their obligations to the spiritual forces of the universe. Participants use turtle-shell rattles and carved drumsticks, and each night a new fire is kindled with a fire-dri