'Neolin' (the 'Delaware Prophet') was a
prophet of the
Lenni Lenape, who was derided by the
British as "The Imposter". Beginning in
1762, Neolin believed that the native people needed to reject European goods and abandon dependency on foreign settlers in order to return to a more traditional lifestyle. He made arguments against
alcohol,
materialism, and
polygamy. Neolin's most famous follower was
Pontiac.
In 1761, Neolin experienced a vision in which he met the Creator, who told Neolin to create a religion to bring the displaced indigenous peoples of the period back to their traditional ways. The new religion combined Christian ideas of sin and punishment with indigenous ideas, starting one of the largest revitalization movements of the period. He had his followers follow a strict code of behavior to recapture happiness. Neolin also called for ritualized cleansing through vomiting and purging.
In 1762, Neolin created a prayer, based off of the rosary, to be said every morning and evening. Neolin's greatest work was the "Great Book of Writing", a chart in which he mapped the path a person’s soul took to get to the Indian heaven.