Category: Delaware Tribe

Installation view of Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always at the Zimmerli Art Museum. Photo Credit: McKay Imaging Photography

BY CLARE GEMIMA September 29, 2025

Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always

Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University

February 01- December 21, 2025

Assembling more than one hundred works by ninety-seven artists from over fifty tribal nations, Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always—on view at the Zimmerli Art Museum through December 21, 2025—stands as both a landmark survey of modern and contemporary Native American art and a resonant elegy for its curator. Conceived over three years by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith(Citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation), the exhibition is not only the most ambitious curatorial project of her six-decade career, it’s also one of the largest museum presentations of Native American art ever mounted in the United States. Smith’s untimely passing, just a week before the exhibition opening, recasts the group show with a poignant, profound gravity. What was envisioned as a sweeping celebration of survival now reads as her final act of advocacy, insisting that Native art is neither vanishing nor peripheral, but a vital force within the ongoing discourse of American art history.

Organized into four guiding themes—political, social, land, and tribal—the exhibition spans generations and mediums, from acrylic paintings like G. Peter Jemison’s (Seneca, Heron Clan) Red Power, made as early as 1973, to Joe Feddersen’s (Okanagan and Arrow Lakes), woven Sally bag titled Country Road, crafted as recently as 2024. Carried forward in its final stages with the assistance of Diné curator Raven Manygoats, and the support of her own son Neal Ambrose Smith, the scope of the exhibition ensures that Smith’s legacy as artist, activist, and cultural catalyst is strongly reflected not only in her own practice, but through the many voices…

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Archaeological digging for the north Millsboro bypass turned up some pottery pieces, but no human remains or very significant finds during the years of study, design and construction. Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) archaeologists dug into the topic at an Aug. 21 lecture at the Nanticoke Indian Museum.

Throughout humanity, people followed animal trails, which were widened to become paths, then widened again and again to accommodate horses, carts, cars, trucks and modern traffic. In 1917, Delaware created a central highways department as roads were dug by hand and then by machine. By the middle of the 20th century, more research went into materials, traffic and design.

Finally, the U.S. started paying attention to what was being paved over.

“One of the things that came in the 1960s was the idea of preservation,” said Micaela Younger, a DelDOT architectural historian. She pointed to Williams Pond in Seaford as an example of the before-times. It was dammed up in the 1950s or ’60s, without any cultural studies beforehand.

“Was there an environmental damage? We do not know. Was there any cultural significance? We don’t know. Did they find anything? We don’t know. So, with that, came this whole movement to kind of preserve public opinions.”

By 1970, Congress created the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. That legislation created requirements for researching and asking the general public how projects might impact the local landscape, culture, history and ecology.

“When there is any federal involvement … the federal agency is responsible for taking into consideration the effect of the projects on the historic resources and providing a chance for there to be comment,” said archaeologist John Martin, DelDOT’s Cultural Resources Program supervisor.

A dropped pot or a potential trove?

Set to open on Sept. 22, the new bypass will wrap around the northeast side of Millsboro,…

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SCRANTON — A striking, massive mural honoring the indigenous Lenape people who first settled the Lackawanna Valley is essentially complete in Scranton as officials prepare for a formal dedication ceremony Aug. 1.

Native American artist Ben Scott Miller — a registered citizen of the Delaware Tribe of Indians in Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe of the Lenape — and Miguel Angel Belinchón, a Spanish artist known as Belin, began work earlier this month on the mural titled “Remembrance and Continuance: The Lenape Story in Scranton.” A joint project by Lackawanna County and the nonprofit Scranton Tomorrow, the 8,000-square-foot piece of public art adorns the north side of the Brixx Building, 130 N. Washington Ave., owned by developer Art Russo’s ATR Properties.

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  The Lenape Mural on the Brixx Building on Washington Ave. in Scranton on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRPAHER)

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  The Lenape Mural on the Brixx Building on Washington Ave. in Scranton on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRPAHER)

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  The Lenape Mural on the Brixx Building on Washington Ave. in Scranton on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRPAHER)

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  Students from Scranton Prep visit Tuesday, July 22, 2025 with Native American artist Ben Miller and pose for a group photo at the site of a new mural titled “Remembrance and Continuance: The Lenape Story in Scranton” painted on the 8,000-square-foot north side of the Brixx Building, 130 N. Washington Ave., which is owned by Art Russo’s ATR Properties. A joint project…

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Mural artists are transforming a once-barren wall in Scranton with the goal of educating people about Lackawanna County’s native roots.

SCRANTON, Pa. — Traditional color, artwork, and flower imagery help tell the story of those who lived in what is today Lackawanna County before any county lines were drawn.

“Two years ago, they came up with an idea, coming up with a mural to represent the Lenape people, my people, who were here pre-colonization,” said Ben Scott Miller, Delaware Tribe of Indians.

Ben Scott Miller is a member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians and travels across the country working as a recognized Native American Artist and Designer.

Now in partnership with the Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department and Scranton Tomorrow Mural Arts, Miller’s newest project is taking shape along North Washington Avenue in Scranton.

“Because we’ve been missing for 280 years, so I wanted to be able to express our culture and share it with the people of Scranton,” said Miller. Despite having such a big space, the original design has been altered a few times, “There was so much things that I wanted to put in there and I had to simplify it because sometimes when you simplify it, it’s better.”

Now, as Miller and fellow muralist Belin of Spain forge ahead on their work, the piece has begun to take shape.

“The man is like dance with his hand, and the lady is dancing too with the movement with the man. And with the clothes typical clothes from Lenape tribe,” said Miguel Angel Belinchon Bujes, Muralist.

Bringing a piece of beauty and educating the public on the Lenape tribe’s roots in Scranton.

“It’s always, always nice being able to see something up and maybe even like think about it or ask the question about…

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Seneca – front row, from left: Brayden Diller, Arabella Wade, Savannah Barnes, Jameson Slifer, Ryan Burns, Aria Nelson, Lane Wilfong and Michael Friel. Second row: Boone Cassell, Mia Valach, Savana Sharp, Jaryd Wilfong, Lillie Cassell, Mackenzie White, Amelia Rogers and Adalyn Beverage. Back row: Makiya Burns, Riley Hamons, Sienna Hamons, Layla Highland, Hannah Burks, Natalie Irvine, Konrad Lowe, Grayson Barlow, Caleb Ritter, Richard White, Jaxon Cassell, Kylor Brock and Victor Dean. Cherokee – front row, from left: Ayla Fanning, Sullivan Seldomridge, Kysor Calhoun, Andrew Herold, Daisy Hefner, Alida McNeel and Brinley McLaughlin. Second row: Elizabeth Friel, Chloe Annett, William Shifflett, Jesse McNabb, Rufus Morgan, Kendyl Hummel, Rowan Lindbloom and Ava Robinson. Third row: Karis Lowe, Laelah Clendenen, Levi Hill, Ramona Hardy, Andrea Alderman, Silas Dean, Sydney Slifer, Makenna Marsh and Ailec Lindbloom-Robinson. Back row: Ezra Bond, Colton Cassell, Tyler Friel, Bayla Plaugher, George Shifflett, Joseph McClure, William Lindbloom.
Mingo – front row, from left: Jonah Mann, Natalie Sisler, Emma Pugh, Rylee Calhoun, Elijah Keatley, Blake Alderman, Anthony Burdette and Val Phillips. Second row: Bentlee Gladwell, Canden Lambert, Kya Arbogast, Mason Markl, Lydia Taylor, Jace West, Shelldon Maitland and Aubrey Evans. Third row: James Monico, Ben Workman, Erin Rider, Kirsten Friel, Caitlin Mallow, Eden Smith, Grace Beverage and Melinda Beverage. Back row: Abigail Taylor, Katelyn Stull, AJ Bauserman, Riley Pollack, Rya Barlow, Morgan Smith, Rachel Felton, Riyan Gladwell and Cora Baldwin. Delaware – front row, from left: Ariana Woody, Evelyn Simmons, Jerzie Jackson, Simon Scotchie, Annabel Swan, Owen Boggs, Owen Sattler and Bianca Arnold. Second row: Elizabeth McClure, Kaya Eves, Isabella McClure, Diamond Owens, Madelynne Wims, Aliza Hayes, Brynn Clutter and Weston Cassell. Third row: Luke Taylor, Adalee Hayes, Ahna Valach, Luke Gainer, RT Hill,…

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Fortified Hill are hilltop enclosure earthworks built by Indigenous people thousands of years ago in what is now Ross Township, Butler County.

Soon, the public will have the opportunity to experience the architectural genius of the Hopewell culture through limited 90-minute tours.

“There’s a lot of mystery around it, but we definitely want to bring the people out to appreciate the past that’s right here in our area,” said Stephen Smith, associate director of education and programming at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park.

The tours are offered through the adjacent Pyramid Hill park. They’re starting this weekend and will be offered on a monthly basis through November.

A monumental site that’s weathered many changes

Fortified Hill is 40 acres, according to park officials. It was once at risk of development when the property went up for public auction in 2019. But it was saved after the Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation acquired the property and gifted it to the park.

It’s taken six years for the site to be restored, said Pyramid Hill’s executive director Sarah Templeton Wilson.

Courtesy of Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park

Digitization of map from 1836 of the site

“During that time period, we were still working with community partners, we’re still inviting in experts but we wanted to make sure we did this right because unfortunately there’s been so many people that have done it wrong over the years and a lot of times we’re dealing with past choices on other properties,” Templeton Wilson said. “So we want to learn from those choices and make sure we made ours to the best of our abilities.”

Jeff Leipzig, a nearby resident of the site, was the one that first made calls to try to find an…

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President Donald Trump’s move toward federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina fulfills a repeated promise he made on the campaign trail, but it has sparked concern from other Native American tribes about the precedent set by the different process used in this instance.

During the first days of his second term in office, Trump signed an executive order urging the Department of the Interior to create a plan that would identify a pathway for the federal recognition of the Lumbees.

To be federally recognized, tribes must meet a specific set of criteria, including: proving their nation existed before the founding of the United States, that the tribe has been recognized as Native since 1900 or before, that the tribe has operated as an “autonomous entity” and that members have genealogies that demonstrate both Native heritage and distinct ancestry from previously recognized tribes.

The Lumbee Tribe claims to be “the amalgamation of various Siouan, Algonquian, and Iroquoian speaking tribes” and to have a recorded existence since 1725. Currently, the Lumbees boast over 55,000 members who are spread across multiple counties in their home state of North Carolina. Although they were recognized by the state over a century ago, the Lumbee Tribe has not been recognized by the United States as a sovereign tribe.

“The fact that we are still here centuries after colonial expansion, centuries after war and disease … should be celebrated,” Lumbee Chairman John L. Lowery told The Robesonian, a local newspaper. Lowery declined an interview request from NBC News but said in a statement that he looks “forward to the White House formalizing the document and sending it over to congressional leadership.”

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[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: It’s our top story today. The first recreational cannabis dispensary off tribal land in Minnesota is expected to open as early as this weekend. White Earth Nation’s cannabis company, Waabigwan Mashkiki, will run the store in Moorhead. This comes after White Earth and the State signed an agreement earlier this week. It’s the first of its kind in the United States because it recognizes the authority of a tribal nation to regulate dispensaries off reservation land.

We wanted to understand how the deal fits into the wider scope of tribal cannabis agreements around the country, so joining me now is Mary Jane Oatman, executive director of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association. She’s an enrolled member of the Nez Perce tribe and a descendant of the Delaware Tribe. Welcome to Minnesota Now, Mary Jane.

MARY JANE OATMAN: Thank you for having me. It’s quite an honor.

NINA MOINI: It’s an honor to talk to you. Would you start by explaining the work that you do and how you’ve been involved with discussions around tribal cannabis businesses in Minnesota?

MARY JANE OATMAN: Yes. I serve as the executive director of the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association, which was formed in 2022 to protect the rights and interests of tribes that were already engaged in regulating cannabis activity on their homelands, and just really finding strategies to where we could build toolkits for tribes to be able to navigate the very complex cannabis industry. And so I’ve just been on this educational journey. There’s a lot of work ahead of Indian Country, so organizing early was mission critical for ICIA.

NINA MOINI: And tribal nations can set their own rules around cannabis on their reservation. So would you describe in what situations these agreements with state governments are necessary?

MARY…

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