The land of the Cuyahoga Valley was critical to Lenapé religious practices, as they believed they were a part of a spiritual world existing in everything between the earth and sky. Spirits, or manitou, lived in the natural world and provided counsel to young Lenapé people through their adulthood. Personal experiences with the manitou were expressed in song, dance, and visions. These meetings between the person and spirit most often occurred at the Big House Ceremony/Rite, or Gamwing. The Gamwing drew upon themes of gender, responsibility, revelation (the link between the human and the spirit) and lasted twelve days. During this time the Wolf, Turtle, and Turkey clans of the Lenapé joined as a community and renewed their ties to creation. The Gamwing, its structure, and its cultural significance allowed the Lenapé to continue practicing their religion and existing as a community even through relocation and American expansion.