Before Columbus saw the island of Hispaniola, before the Vikings set foot on the shore of Newfoundland, Native American nations were existing in what is now the United States and Canada. Tribes related by language swept across the virgin landscape, led by their own great explorers, visionaries, and heroes, to find the homelands of their dreams Only one account of this earlier age has survived, the Walllam Olum - English translation - Red Record - kept by the Lenni Lenape, the "Grandfathers" of the most widespread language family of all, the Algonquian-speaking tribes.. The Red Recordis a song, written in red symbols on wooden tablets, describing the rise of the Lenni Lenape and the Lenape tribal family.

The Walllam Olum begins with a native account of the Creation and the Flood. It takes us from the Lenni Lenape's epic migration out of Asia, across the Bering strait, and into a new breathtaking lad. It follows them on their eastward journey across pristine North American continent - a journey spanning almost a hundred generations. of leaders and events. The story ends at the height of the Lenni Lenape's power, with the coming of the colonists in the early seventeenth century. This fascinating account - the earliest history of North America - provides a firsthand look at life on this continent through the eyes of its aboriginal inhabitants.

The words and symbols of Walllam Olum were first recorded early in the nineteenth century, but have remained difficult to translate and interpret. Now, as a result of a fifteen-year study, author David McCutcher presents the clearest translation of The Red Record to date, with interpretations based on native traditions as well as anthropological evidence. Following the early history contained in The Red Record, there is a moving description of the Lenni Lenape's later history - when they were known as The Delaware Indians - from their first encounter with white explorers, through the American Revolution and their resettlement in the West, and up to the present day. Included throughout the book are beautiful illustrations and maps, as well as the red symbols of the Walllam Olum, The Red Record.

This unique Native North American story represents an uninterrupted history of time and land that few have had an opportunity to glimpse. Through the Lenni Lenape, we can all find a sense of America too long overlooked.