This article first appeared in the Allentown Morning Call on August 10, 2022--
On Wednesday, a collection of colorful canoes appeared on the horizon of the Lenape Sipu (Delaware River) at Scott Park in Easton, growing larger and clearer by the moment. As the canoers paddled swiftly to shore, their singing and splashing filled the air.
The paddlers are members of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, and have rowed over 100 miles since the start of their journey.
The paddlers are participants in the sixth Rising Nation River Journey, a quadrennial odyssey in which Lenape rowers carry a Treaty of Renewed Friendship down the Lenape Sipu and hold treaty signings at locations along the way. This year’s journey marks the event’s 20th anniversary.
The paddlers began July 30 in Hancock, New York, and will conclude Aug. 20 in Cape May, New Jersey. There are 13 treaty signing destinations on their path, including the Sigal Museum in Easton.
The Lenape are the original inhabitants of Eastern Pennsylvania. By signing the Treaty of Renewed Friendship, organizations and individuals acknowledge the Lenape’s origins in the region and commit to supporting them in their stewardship of the land.
The River Journey tradition aims to raise awareness for the presence and heritage of the Lenape people, encourage respect for their homeland, celebrate and pass on their culture.
They are also fundraising for their cultural center in Easton.
“We do this every four years in order to get people to support us in taking care of the river and trying to keep it clean,” said Ken Macaulay, former cultural chief of the Lenape Cultural Center.
The Lenape also journey to interact with their land. The section of the Lenape Sipu below the Delaware Water Gap through the Easton area is one of the “most sacred, powerful” parts of the river, head coordinator Adam Waterbear DePaul said.
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This article first appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times August 13, 2021--
Hundreds of years after they were forced from their ancestral home along the Delaware River, the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania is still fighting for perhaps the most precious resource of all.
Recognition.
Pennsylvania does not officially recognize the Lenape Nation or any Native American tribe, a fact that strikes to the very core of Lenape Nation member Adam Waterbear DePaul.
"The fight for recognition has been incredibly disappointing so far. Pennsylvania is the only commonwealth to never recognize indigenous people, and we are trying to change that," DePaul added. "Right now, we are taking steps to become state recognized. But it's hard to say how that will turn out."
DePaul is bringing attention to the Lenape Nation's quest for official recognition and its longstanding commitment to the environment on the Rising Nation River Journey, during which members are paddling and hiking through and along the Delaware River, culminating with the Lower River treaty signing in West Cape May, New Jersey.
The tour started in New York and made stops this weekend in Bucks County.
"(The River Journey) brings so many important things together. First, it raises awareness about the Lenape people, which is so important to us because we've been so erased here — and especially those of us who remained here for centuries either under hiding or in forced assimilation," DePaul said. "It also brings together commitments to serve as good stewards for the environment, our homelands and the Delaware River."
According to the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, as of 2020, there were 574 tribal entities recognized and thus eligible for federal funding and services.
The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania is not among them, although the Delaware Tribe of Indians, is one of three Lenape tribes that is recognized and has established a duly elected president, tribal lands and courts in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Gaining state recognition is a step in the process to being recognized on the federal level, advocates say. That will require legislative efforts in Harrisburg.
Efforts nearly 20 years ago failed, and in the current session in the Pennsylvania legislature, there isn't a bill submitted that directly deals with state recognition of Native American tribes.
Federal recognition "comes with the ability to get federal financial aid for different elements," Pennsbury's Miller said, adding that recognition also signifies that they are independent nations within our country.
"It also deals with things such as repatriating their ancestors and reclaiming historical artifacts," said Douglas Miller, Executive Director Pennsbury Manor, who has spent time with the Delawareans in Oklahoma. "So, non-federal groups like the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania are not allowed to receive the physical remains of their ancestors dug up by archeologists. It's all of that, plus federal funding and tax relief."
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(Photo: Lenape ceremony in Bucks County, Courier Times.)
NewsClips:
-- Bucks County Courier Times: Lenape Tribe Bring Treaty, Fight For PA Recognition To Bucks During Delaware River Journey
-- Courier Times: Lenape River Nation Journey, Treaty Signing Arrives In Bucks County [Photos]
Resource Links:
-- The Lenape Nation Of Pennsylvania
-- The Lenape Nation Of Pennsylvania - Facebook
-- The Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribe
-- Explore PA History: The Indians Of Pennsylvania
-- PHMC: The Cornplanter Grant: The Last Native American Settlement In Pennsylvania
-- The Allegheny Front: The Complicated History Of The Kinzua Dam And How It Changed Life For The Seneca People
-- BBC/WBFO: The Kinzua Dam And The Broken Treat With The Seneca Nation
-- How Pennsylvania Erased The Lenape From Local History
Related Articles:
-- Feature - The Lenape Nation: A Tradition of Caretaking— People and the Environment
-- Stroud Water Research Center Celebrates The Life Of Chief Quiet Thunder
-- Lenape Nation Completes 2018 Rising Nation River Journey Down The Lenape Sipu (Delaware River)
[Posted: August 14, 2022]
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