Native American Collection October 11, 2008

The earliest known native occupation of southwestern Pennsylvania was ca. 14,000 B.C. A much later people called the Monongahela, of whom little is known, disappeared from the region early in the 17th century. Although the region never had a large permanent native population, a number of settlements appeared and disappeared between the late 1600s and late 1700s. Most were Lenni Lenape, called Delawares by Europeans, and Shawnees. In 1753 George Washington visited a Delaware village on the Connoquenessing Creek where Harmony would be established by German immigrants 51 years later. The Harmony Museum's History Room exhibit includes native artifacts representative of the region's 18th century Native American populations. Many, although not all, were collected locally. The collection includes war clubs, ax heads, arrow and spear points and fish hooks.