Category: Lenapehoking

The Sand Hill Lenape Indians have a rich history of over 10,000 years.

The Sand Hill Lenape Indians made tremendous contributions to the development of the state of New Jersey and the U.S States. An ex-mayor of Neptune Township, New Jersey, said, “It is a shame what some people in the State have done to the Sand Hill Lenape Indians.” Then he went on to say, “the Sand Hill Lenape Indians and the Reevey family are the people who made the state of New Jersey possible.”

The Sand Hill Lenape Indians were the original group of Native American families that settled in the lands of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Manhattan today over 10,000 years ago. These people were skilled farmers, builders, engineers, artists, musicians, hunters, athletes, emergency technicians, community leaders, U.S. soldiers, U.S. senators, medics, inventors, guardians, makers, teachers, etc. They also helped build cities in New Jersey, the Boardwalks, housing, and many other architectural structures in N.J. According to historic evidence, the Sand Hill Lenape Indians (“THE INDIANS OF LENAPEHOKING”) are actually some of the last living descendants of the sacred ancient Mayan mound building, “world teacher” people. In the 1600s the Sand Hill Lenape Indians opened their lands to European settlers who were trying to escape the tyranny of some of the past monarchs of Europe.

The Sand Hill Lenape tribal nation community that once had millions of members, is now down to a few thousand members. Their population reduction resulted from genocide events, land theft, “the little ice age“, broken treaties, racial misclassification, religious indoctrination, man-made pollution disasters and laws like the Indian…

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Details By Jenna Kunze March 25, 2022

NEW YORK—The Myth of Manhattan goes like this: Dutch settlers, arriving in 1626 on the island called Manahatta by its Lenape residents, believed they struck a deal with the Natives. For $24 worth of beads and trinkets, the Dutch believed they “purchased” the island, and soon built walls on the southern tip of the island—now Wall Street—to keep them out.

On Thursday, Brooklyn Public Library hosted a panel to dispel the myth of Manhattan with the co-founders of the nonprofit Lenape Center, Joe Baker (Lenape, Delaware Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma) and Hadrien Coumans (an adopted member of the Lenape WhiteTurkey-Fugate family). The panel was moderated by playwright and attorney Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee Nation).

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“It just plain couldn’t have happened for two reasons,” Nagle said in a video about the myth streamed during the remote event. “First, the Lenape had no concept of land ownership.” In other words, they did not believe that one could possess the earth to sell in the first place. 

“And second,” Nagle continued, “the Dutch had struck the deal with Lenape men who didn’t have the authority. In Lenapehoking (Lenape land), it was the women who made the big decisions.”

What Baker calls the “tenacious myth” circulating for the past 400 years covers the truth of his own origin story and how his family—who can trace their ancestral homelands directly to the center of what has become one of the most iconic cities in the world—ended up on a reservation in Oklahoma.

After the Dutch slowly pushed out the Lenape people, European settlers and eventually the U.S. government continued to push the Lenape people—who…

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Details By Jenna Kunze January 26, 2022

NEW YORK CITY—Curator, artist, and educator Joe Baker (Delaware Tribe of Indians) says his new exhibit, “Lenapehoking” (Lenape Land), at the Brooklyn Public Library’s branch in the Greenpoint neighborhood, upends museum hierarchies, in part simply by existing.

“There’s never been an exhibition to recognize Lenape people here in New York City,” Baker, a cofounder of the Lenape Center in Manhattan, told Native News Online during a walk-through of the exhibit before it opened Jan. 20. 

He said he had to knock on a lot of doors to get an exhibit up. “My goal in exhibiting this historic material is to present it—not only to the public, but to our own community—to bring this important work back into contemporary narratives,” he explained.

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The exhibit includes Baker’s own art: three handcrafted beaded bags, called bandolier bags, that are specifically worn by Lenape men on special occasions to identify individuals. It also displays two historic bags, one recently purchased by the Brooklyn Museum of Art and lent to the exhibition, and the other held by a private collector.

Because the bags are so prized by collectors, Baker said he never saw one in real life until he was completing a residency at the National Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan.

“The message is: the return,” Baker said of the exhibit. “The idea that this important element of Lenape men’s dress be revived and could be returned to our communities.”

Lenape people lived on homelands across the Northeast until they were pushed out to Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario by European settlers, beginning in the 17th century. 

Also returned and exhibited on the back wall…

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The Trent House Association will present a virtual talk titled “Ties That Bind: Nanticoke and Lenape Language and Revitalization” 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23 via Zoom (tinyurl.com/THJan23).

Karelle Hall, a member of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe and a graduate student in anthropology at Rutgers University, will trace the connections across the Lenape and Nanticoke diaspora in New Jersey and Delaware and illustrate how language shapes and reinforces those connections.

The land on which the Trent House was built is part of the traditional territory of the Lenape, called Lenapehoking. During the Colonial era and early federal period, many were removed west and north, but some remained among the three continuing historical tribal communities of the region. Today, Lenapehoking is a diaspora of different communities across the United States and Canada, connected by history, culture and language.

For Lenape and Nanticoke people, revitalizing their languages is a way to reconnect with ancestors and to reclaim traditional ways of understanding the world that are embedded in language.

This program is free and pre-registration is not required. A pay-as-you-wish donation of $10 is suggested and can be made by PayPal at (williamtrenthouse.org/donation.html).

For more information, visit williamtrenthouse.org.

Send community news to community@njtimes.com

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For the first time ever, a Lenape-curated exhibition featuring artifacts and masterworks from the native people of the New York Harbor region is opening in NYC.

The Brooklyn Public Library and The Lenape Center are presenting “Lenapehoking,” the Lenape name for the homeland, an exhibition of masterworks by Lenape artists past and present. Here, visitors will see never-before-seen beaded bandolier bags from the 1800s, a newly created turkey feather cape, three tapestries made of Purple Kingsessing for a rematriation project in the Hudson Valley.

The bandolier bags, which will be shown alongside contemporary examples by Joe Baker, were once an important element of men’s attire worn for important social and political occasions and served as a passport, identifying the wearer as Lenape, according to BPL. “They are a tribute to survival, made during a time of forced displacement and oppression after the Removal Act of 1830 was ratified.” The contemporary turkey feather cape created by Rebecca Haff Lowry with Sandra Lowery is worn by both men and women and provides a dramatic flourish to traditional dress but also provides warmth and protects the wearer from seasonal weather. 

The exhibit won’t only show off artifacts, Greenpoint Library’s rooftop teaching garden will feature indigenous fruit trees that were historically cultivated by the Lenape in Manhattan and there will be original music, poetry and Lenape foodways by Lenape artists and friends that will be incorporated into the programming there.

There will also be some programs through the spring, including a panel conversation with Gloria Steinem on the crisis of missing Indigenous persons; a series of original music by Brent Michael Davids; poetry readings by Rebecca Haff Lowry; insights into Lenape foodways with Farm Hub, and talks by Indigenous scholars and lecturers such as Curtis Zunigha, Heather Bruegl, and Hadrien Coumans, among others in collaboration with BPL’s Center for Brooklyn History.

This exhibit…

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The first-ever Lenape-curated exhibition in New York, Lenapehoking, is set to debut in Brooklyn later this month with never-before-seen items, a range of interactive programing, and more.

The exhibition will open at the new Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center on Jan 20, and will run through April 30.

Bandolier Bag, 2014, Joe Baker. Fabric, wool, glass beads, 24 inches L, 7inch- wide strap: Bag is 8 1/4inches H, 9″ W, Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Supplied/BPL.

Lenapehoking has been organized through an ongoing partnership between Brooklyn Public Library and The Lenape Center and it will feature never-before-seen masterworks by Lenape artists past and present, including beaded bandolier bags from the 1800s, a newly created turkey feather cape, culinary tapestries from a seed rematriation project in the Hudson Valley, and more, the organizations said in a press release.

They added that the exhibition will create a portal into the living culture of the Lenape people today coupling the objects with a robust series of educational lectures and programs throughout the winter and spring. Those include an extension onto Greenpoint Library’s rooftop teaching garden, where an orchard of Indigenous fruit trees that were historically cultivated by the Lenape in Manhattan will be grown.

The educational programs and lectures include a panel conversation with Gloria Steinem on the crisis of missing Indigenous persons; a series of original music by Brent Michael Davids; poetry readings by Rebecca Haff Lowry; insights into Lenape food ways with Farm Hub; and talks by Indigenous scholars and lecturers such as Curtis Zunigha, Heather Bruegl, and Hadrien Coumans, among others in collaboration with BPL’s Center for Brooklyn History.

Curator Joe Baker, an enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians and co-founder/executive director of the Lenape Center, said: “The exhibition site is a library branch, a…

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The official-looking letters started arriving soon after Shanetta Little bought the cute Tudor house on Ivy Street in Newark. Bearing a golden seal, in aureate legalistic language, the documents claimed that an obscure 18th-century treaty gave the sender rights to claim her new house as his own.

She dismissed the letters as a hoax.

And so it was with surprise that Ms. Little found herself in her yard on Ivy Street on a June afternoon as a police SWAT team negotiated with a man who had broken in, changed her locks and hung a red and green flag in its window. He claimed he was a sovereign citizen of a country that does not exist and for whom United States laws do not apply.

Ms. Little was a victim of a ploy known as paper terrorism, a favorite tactic of an extremist group that is one of the fastest growing, according to government experts and watchdog organizations. Known as the Moorish sovereign citizen movement, and loosely based around a theory that Black people are foreign citizens bound only by arcane legal systems, it encourages followers to violate existent laws in the name of empowerment. Experts say it lures marginalized people to its ranks with the false promise that they are above the law.

The man who entered her house, Hubert A. John of Los Angeles, was arrested on June 17 and charged with criminal mischief, burglary, criminal trespass and making terroristic threats. Prosecutors in New Jersey are preparing to take the case before a grand jury, according to Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s office. He was released on his own recognizance.

But the strange letters declaring that Ms. Little’s home is not her own still come. They arrive on faux-consular letterhead using the name Lenapehoking of the Al Moroccan Empire at…

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This year, for so many reasons, people have sought solace in the outdoors and found a new, or renewed connection with nature.  During September and October, the 23 environmental centers that make up the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE) will host family-friendly activities as part of the organization’s annual River Days festivities, to help bring people together safely for environmentally-focused events.  

Visitors to AWE centers this fall will also be AWEd by the Water Spirit sculpture installations found at many sites throughout the watershed. The site-specific series, made entirely of plant material, was created by Seattle-based environmental artist Sarah Kavage, in collaboration with local artists. All AWE centers will also offer visitors free decks of Aqua Marooned! a card game created by Philly-based immersive experience company Swim Pony that encourages emotional connection with flora and fauna. The game’s beautifully illustrated cards cast players as extraterrestrial explorers sent to explore earth’s mysterious “watersphere.” Both projects are part of arts initiative Lenapehoking~Watershed: a place for water art and culture. 

Find River Days 2021 Events

Note: Some River Days events are a mix of virtual and in-person activities, following local Covid-19 related restrictions and recommendations. All events are free unless noted otherwise.

The Delaware River Festival 

September 24 through October 3

Various locations in Philadelphia and South New Jersey

Info at delawareriverfest.org

Several environmental educational organizations have come together to plan virtual and in-person events at multiple locations on both sides of the Delaware, throughout South Jersey and in Philadelphia. During the weekdays there will be virtual events focusing on the Delaware River and how to enjoy and protect it. 

Presented by the Center for Aquatic Sciences, Independence Seaport Museum, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, NJ Conservation Foundation, NJ Natural Lands Trust, Camden County Environmental Center, and many other partners.

Ride For The River and CAN JAM FEST

Saturday, September 25, 9:00 AM 

Schuylkill River…

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This year, for so many reasons, people have sought solace in the outdoors and found a new, or renewed connection with nature. During September and October, the 23 environmental centers that make up the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE) will host family-friendly activities as part of the organization’s annual River Days festivities, to help bring people together safely for environmentally-focused events.

Visitors to AWE centers this fall will also be AWEd by the Water Spirit sculpture installations found at many sites throughout the watershed. The site-specific series, made entirely of plant material, was created by Seattle-based environmental artist Sarah Kavage, in collaboration with local artists. All AWE centers will also offer visitors free decks of Aqua Marooned! a card game created by Philly-based immersive experience company Swim Pony that encourages emotional connection with flora and fauna. The game’s beautifully illustrated cards cast players as extraterrestrial explorers sent to explore earth’s mysterious “watersphere.” Both projects are part of arts initiative Lenapehoking~Watershed: a place for water art and culture.

Find River Days 2021 Events

Note: Some River Days events are a mix of virtual and in-person activities, following local Covid-19 related restrictions and recommendations. All events are free unless noted otherwise.

Trenton River Days Festival

Sunday, Sept 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
South Riverwalk Park at Trenton Thunder Stadium
One Thunder Road, Trenton, NJ

Our 2021 kick-off event is the Trenton River Days Festival, a free event for surrounding communities designed to connect them with the Delaware River. Enjoy exhibits about the Delaware River and a variety of activities such as fly fishing, pontoon and canoe rides, pending river conditions. The event will also include music, food, and other…

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Featuring sculptures, community gatherings, performances, and an innovative role-play card game that prompts outdoor fun, Lenapehoking~Watershed: a place for water, art and culture offers multiple opportunities for the public to relax, be inspired, play, and connect at the 23 outdoor nature spaces that form the Alliance for Watershed Education of the Delaware River (AWE).

Seattle-based artist Sarah Kavage has been immersed in the fields, wetlands and woods of the Delaware watershedregion, building Water Spirit, an array of site-responsive sculpture installations created by using natural materials found in the local landscape. Water Spirit is supported by collaborations with community artists and thoughtful events rooted, literally and figuratively, in the green spaces and waterways known as Lenapehoking. “For me, the physical object is only a small part of what art is about. It is the place, its history, and human interactions that truly create it,” says Kavage.

15 Minutes/Alliance for Watershed Education

Sarah Kavage in her braided grasses, part of the Water Spirit series. Photo by 15 Minutes

Structures in Kavage’s Water Spirit series made from locally-harvested invasive phragmites reeds have cropped up around the watershed, including Portal at Gateway Park in Camden, NJ, Migration at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Eastwick/Southwest Philadelphia PA, and Al Mudhif – A Confluence at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Roxborough/Northwest Philadelphia. All installations are built with help from community members who support the creative process and once complete, serve as focal points for special events and memorable photo opportunities. Fifteen installations will be built throughout the watershed to complete the Water Spirit project. Some are documented in this video.

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