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Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania

by Dominic Mercier

Published: Sep 10, 2008


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Opening reception Sat., Sept. 13, 1-4 p.m., exhibit runs through Sept. 13, 2009, Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St., 215-898-4000, museum.upenn.edu

It's a shame most of us don't know much about the Leni Lenape people beyond our third-grade lessons on Billy Penn and their appearance in the works of James Fenimore Cooper. But the story of the native inhabitants of what is now the greater Philadelphia area is a fascinating one. And even though they were driven westward in the 1700s by treaties and overcrowding by European settlers, many Lenape remained in secret, sometimes marrying Europeans and maintaining their cultural identity discreetly, tucking away their heritage and avoiding detection by the government for nearly 200 years. To many, they still remain a mystery, and, like many other American Indian groups in the U.S., the Lenape Nation isn't recognized by the state or federal government.

For Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania, the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology teamed up with the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania to tell the story of their cultural perseverance through the museum's holdings and objects from private collections. The collaboration results in little-seen family heirlooms and photographs — wooden masks, pipes and even an umbilical cord bag — and draws upon oral histories of the state's Lenape documented by exhibition co-curators and Lenape Nation members Chief Robert Red Hawk Ruth and Shelley DePaul, one of the few people who can speak Lenape fluently.

The exhibition opens Saturday with a talk with Ruth, DePaul and Penn grad student Abigail Seldin. Members of the Lenape Nation will also be on hand to share the customs, music and dance that kept them going as a people, even in the face of adversity.

Comments

Bob Ruth was a whiteman adopted by 2 Lenape Decendants from New Jersey. Bill Thompson and Larry Peterson. Now he's some "hidden" Lenape????I recommend people look a little harder into his background. Also The "Lenape Nation" has only existed since the 1990s. Someone should check that out too.
by Richard C. Joseph on September 10th 2008 8:58 PM

Anyone with a third grade education would know that the items being displayed are NOT Lenape, the language that is being spoken is not accurate in any form, and with a little research one would find that these folks are not Lenape. Hobbiests at best, cultural thieves at worst. There is a reason why legitimate Delaware/Lenape Tribes and Nations in PA, OK, NJ, KS, and Canada refused to participate in this mess! This is NOT Lenape Culture, this is not the Culture of this area!
by sickened on September 10th 2008 9:59 PM

do these white folks have paperwork for those feathers????
by AIMster on September 10th 2008 10:01 PM

Good Point AIMster! Do they have paperwork for posession of raptor feathers? It's illegal without being a federally recognized Indian.
by Richard C. Joseph on September 10th 2008 10:15 PM



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