What is "tamanend"

Tamanend or Tammany or Tammamend, the "affable", (c. 1625–c. 1701) was a chief of one of the clans that made up the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley at the time Philadelphia was established. Tamanend is best known as a lover of peace and friendship who played a prominent role in developing amicable relations among the Lenape and the English settlers who settled Pennsylvania, led by William Penn.

Also referred to as "Tammany", he became a popular figure in 18th-century America, especially in Philadelphia. Also called a "Patron Saint of America", Tamenend represented peace and amity. A Tammany society founded in Philadelphia holds an annual Tammany festival. Tammany societies were established across the United States after the American Revolutionary War, and Tammany assumed mythic status as an icon for the peaceful politics of negotiation.

Tamanend was honored as the figurehead of in a carving by William Luke. Delaware was burned in 1861 at the Gosport Navy Yard to prevent Confederate capture at the start of the Civil War. In 1868, the saved figurehead, officially titled Tamanend, Chief of Delaware Indians, was transferred to the United States Naval Academy. It was placed on a pedestal outdoors, and simply labeled as "the figurehead of the Delaware". In 1906, the figure was repaired with "cement, putty and paint". It was later replaced with a bronze depiction in 1930 presented by the class of 1891. The bronze was cast at the U.S. Naval Gun Factory in 1929–30.

Tamanend, a pacifist and friend to William Penn, did not inspire the midshipmen of the Academy. They eventually took to calling the figurehead Tecumseh, after the Shawnee warrior chief and ally of the British, who was killed in the Battle of the Thames during the War of 1812.