Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania

The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania (LNPA) is one of more than a dozen cultural heritage organizations of individuals who identify as descendants of the Lenape people, also known as Lenni-Lenape or Delaware people.[5] They are based in Easton, Pennsylvania.[3][6]

Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania[1]
The Lenape Nation Inc.[2]
Named afterLenape people
Formation1996,[2] 2001[3][1]
Typenonprofit organization[1]
EIN 23-3025630[3]
PurposeCultural, Ethnic Awareness (A23)[3]
HeadquartersStroudsburg, Pennsylvania[1]
Location
Membership (2021)
397[4]
Official language
English
President
Ann Dapice[2]
Revenue (2022)
$72,080[1]
Expenses (2022)$64,050[1]
Websitelenape-nation.org
Formerly called
Eastern Lenape Nation[4]

Status

The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania is an unrecognized tribe.[4] Despite having the word nation in its name, the organization is neither a federally recognized tribe[7] nor a state-recognized tribe.[8][9] Pennsylvania has no federally recognized or state-recognized tribes.[9]

Bill "Whippoorwill" Thompson founded the group in 1998 as the Eastern Lenape Nation.[4]

LNPA Chief of Education and Tribal Storykeeper[10] Adam "Waterbear" DePaul said, "We were quite successful in that endeavor of hiding, and identifying and passing ourselves off as white."[9] He says the tribe is trying to achieve state recognition, but it does not qualify for federal recognition.[9]

Canadian-American linguist K. David Harrison, who partnered with the LNPA on language classes, writes: “some Lenape stayed behind, hid, blended in, intermarried, or assimilated. Remaining in the traditional homeland of the Delaware Valley, their descendants also claim Lenape bloodlines.”[11]

Journalist Samantha Spengler wrote: "Whether or not Lenape people continued to live covertly in Pennsylvania, it’s undisputed that there was no continuous tribal entity in the region."[4] There are three federally recognized Lenape tribes in the United States and two in Canada.[4]

The organization is actively lobbying the Pennsylvania legislature for state recognition.[12]

Nonprofit

In 1996[2] and again in 2001, the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania formed The Lenape Nation, Inc., aka The Lenape Nation of Pa., Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Easton, Pennsylvania.[3]

Its current administration is:

  • President: Ann Dapice[2]
  • Vice President: Richard Welker[2]
  • Treasurer: Maurice DeMund (2022)[1]
  • Assistant Treasurer: Perry Power (2022)[1]
  • Secretary: Barbara Michalski[2]

Maurice C. DeMund served as president[3][1] until April 2022.[2] The group has also been based in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.[1]

In 2021, the Claneil Foundation gave them $10,000; PayPal Giving Fund donated $7,646; a,d the AmazonSmile Foundation gave them $81.[1]

Activities

The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania operates a cultural center in Easton, Pennsylvania.[13] They host an annual powwow at Mauch Chunk Lake Park in present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.[14] Once every four years, they host Rising Nation River Journey along the Delaware River.[9] They also created the Lenape Nation Scholarship Fund.[3]

LNPA member Shelley DePaul and Theodore Fernald launched a Lenape language class at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, beginning in 2009.[11]

The Unitarian Congregation, a church in West Chester, Pennsylvania, decided to pay reparations to the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Lenape Nation". CauseIQ. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  2. "The Lenape Nation Inc". OpenCorporates. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  3. "The Lenape Nation, Inc". GuideStar. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  4. Spengler, Samantha (6 November 2021). "For Years, People Said There Were No Lenape Left in Pennsylvania. This Group Begs to Differ". Philadelphia: City Life. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  5. "Delaware/Lenape". AAA Native Arts. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  6. "Who are the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania? · Enduring Presence 2023: Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania Art · Enduring Presence 2023: Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania Art". ds-omeka.haverford.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  7. Indian Affairs Bureau (12 January 2023). "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Federal Register. 88: 2112–16. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  8. "State Recognized Tribes". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  9. Cooper, Kenny (30 July 2021). "'We just want to be welcomed back': The Lenape seek a return home". WHYY. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  10. "Chief of Education and Tribal Storykeeper to Speak at Birmingham Meeting". Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  11. Harrison, K. David (2010). The Last Speakers: The Quest to Save the World's Most Endangered Languages. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. pp. 257, 293. ISBN 9781426206689.
  12. "Unitarian Congregation of West Chester to pay reparations to the Lenni Lenape people". Daily Local News. April 10, 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  13. "Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania Cultural Center". Sigal Museum. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  14. Hood, Micaela (8 September 2021). "Pocono pow wow celebrates the history and culture of the Lenape of Pennsylvania". Pocono Record. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
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