Neolin

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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.

Around 1761, hundreds of Ohio Indians became disciples of the Indian visionary Neolin (meaning "The Enlightened One," in Algonquian). The core of Neolin's teachings was that Indians had been corrupted by European ways and needed to purify themselves by returning to their traditions and preparing for a holy war. "Drive them out," he declared of the settlers. A confederacy of tribes organized by a group of chiefs who had gained influence by adopting Neolin's ideas laid plans for a coordinated attack against the British in the spring of 1763. The principal figure among them was the Ottawa chief Pontiac, renowned as an orator and political leader. This combination of inspirational religious and political leadership was a pattern in the long history of Indian resistance to colonial expansion in North America.

In 1762, Neolin created a prayer, based on the rosary, to be said every morning and evening.^{[citation needed]} 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.