The Kechemeche were first encountered in approximately the year 1600 by European colonists [citation needed] who found the natives to be generally friendly and cooperative.
In Kechemeche society, women did the growing of crops, the cooking and other household and child-rearing chores, while the men were generally responsible for maintaining security and for providing meat for their families through hunting.
Since the tribe was located so close to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware Bay, the netting and trapping of fish and clamming formed part of their occupation.
Trails led throughout the area, and in the northern part of what is now a county the Kechemeche gathered tuckahoe, a type of root, which they converted into a substance that served as flour.
Colonial settlers were eager to trade with the Kechemeche, who provided valuable pelts of beaver, deer, bear and otter in exchange for common European products such as beads, bottles, cook ware, guns, and knives.
As a result, growth of colonial area eventually caused sufficient conflict that various treaties were found necessary in order to come to final agreement on land use.
Despite these treaties, Kechemeche influence waned as colonial ventures such as New Sweden, New Netherland, and the English Province of New Jersey continued to grow.