Shingas was born around 1700, although the place of his birth and the names of his parents are not known with certainty. He was a Lenape leader, often identified by British colonists as a king, but Lenape political authority was distributed among local leaders, counselors, clan figures, and war captains. His influence came from reputation and support within his community rather than from hereditary monarchy in the European sense.

Shingas grew up during a period of profound displacement. Colonial expansion and contested land purchases pushed many Lenape families westward from the Delaware Valley toward the Susquehanna and Ohio watersheds. The movement brought them into closer contact with Shawnee, Mingo, and other Native communities, as well as French and British traders. Trade supplied firearms, metal goods, and cloth but also created debts, rivalries, and dependence.

By the 1740s Shingas was living in the Ohio country and had become a recognized war leader. He was associated with Kittanning and with his brother Tamaqua, known to colonists as King Beaver. The brothers did not always follow identical policies, illustrating the range of Lenape responses to imperial pressure. Shingas participated in councils with Pennsylvania representatives and was familiar with British diplomacy, but repeated settler encroachment and the weakness of colonial promises undermined trust.

As French and British rivalry intensified, Shingas judged that cooperation with the French offered a means of resisting British settlement. French officers possessed limited manpower and depended upon Native allies, giving leaders such as Shingas considerable freedom of action. By the opening of the French and Indian War, he had the experience, followers, and knowledge of frontier settlements necessary to lead long-distance raids. His choices were rooted in decades of Lenape dispossession and the struggle to preserve political independence.