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Bring Lenape “Delaware” Indians Back to their Ancestral Home in PA
We are a few people living in Eastern PA, the ancestral home of the Lenape “Delaware” Indians. A place that once were the wild lands of the first true Americans, for over 10,000 years. We are neither woke nor cancel culture. We are not even Democrats, but actually quite conservative. We don’t seek reparations or to lay blame on anyone.
We simply are a messenger – that it is time to bring a community of the Lenape/Delaware Indians home to their ancestral lands in PA. We restore forests. We restore habitat to bring back native plants and animals. Why not the First peoples?
The Lenape (“Delaware”) Indians
Famous for “selling Manhattan for 60 Guilders of beads and trinkets” per a Dutch letter. Europeans didn’t understand they didn’t “sell land” but expected the Dutch to lease or share the land. Lenape (their real name) lived as several distinct groups in eastern PA, NJ, southern NY and DE. “Delaware” is their anglicized name.
PennsylvaniaOf the 13 colonies, the only one today with ZERO federal or state-recognized tribes. Early PA leaders cheated the Lenape – via the infamous “Walking Purchase,” using every dirty trick in the book to steal 1.2 million prime acres almost a century before the Trail of Tears.314 AcresBut nothing has changed. The Lenape attempted to win back just 314 of these acres recently, but legal action and appeals all the way to the US Supreme Court fell on deaf ears. Today, several groups in Pennsylvania pretend to be Lenape Indians – they are fakes or “white Indians The true Lenape/Delaware reject them as frauds, stealing their identities and heritage.
I am Lenape/Delaware OR Native American
Like most existing Native American tribes, the Lenape diaspora was to undesirable lands far from their ancestral homes. The white motto was “kill the Indian, save the man.” Many tribes were driven to extinction. Currently, Native Americans suffer poverty, health, educational and other problems at a much higher rate than the average.
But they are Americans. They are the FIRST Americans. The New World is their ancestral lands. We are the intruders and destroyers of their way of life. Do we ask too much to give the Lenape back a tiny piece of their ancestral home? Was 314 acres in Pennsylvania to call home asking too much?
Our dream and our plan is to help them fulfill a small part of their dream. We appeal to fellow Pennsylvanians, past and present. To those in neighboring states. To those near the Lenape communities today. To anyone who thinks that bringing some federally recognized Lenape Delaware Native Americans home is a worthy goal. We all love to save whales, forests, and a thousand other causes. How about saving and restoring the indigenous peoples to their original homes? At least a little bit?
• They will need: Land. Housing. Employment. Stability. Their own vision. Self-government. Places of worship, community, governance, etc. Infrastructure. Freedom from interference. Connections to their past.
• An opportunity to rebuild their heritage and roots here for future generations. They need to live independently, not to “put on a show for tourists”.
This (FIRST) Round of Fundraising (The Spark) – Year One
Goal is to raise $14,975. This is the first level of fundraising. Call it “seed money”. With this, we plan to seek permission to travel and meet tribal leaders (elders) from all the existing Lenape tribes (USA and Canada). The funds would pay for needs such as:
- Travel costs (flights/driving, meals, lodging) to visit up to 4 separate Lenape tribes in the midwest and Canada.
- Presentations to any on the tribal lands who may want to listen,
- including going in to homes of elders who may not be able to gather.
- Gifts to each tribe, modeled after their ancient customs, which included extensive speeches, wampum belts, gifts and other between groups.
- Basic filmograhy to remember this potential rebirth. We would seek to share it with volunteers and donors.
- Anything left over would support outreach/advertising and other preparatory needs .
Future Efforts
The follow on goal (next Round) is to invite their selected elders/leaders for a 2 week tour of important Lenape sites
in eastern PA and nearby. We seek to inspire and excite them about the future. This is likely to be a VERY emotional time for them; many have never been to their ancestral home before…
That and additional efforts needed on their behalf can be found on the dedicated website, below. Realistically, this is likely a 10-15 year effort
How can I Help??
- You can donate to the cause, pass this on to your family and friends, church, school, workplace, or civic organization. Maybe encourage your local TV/radio/newspaper/blogger to cover us, to assist with publicity!
- See Bring Lenape Delaware Indians Home To PA regarding this worthy effort. it describes future Fundraising Rounds and Goals to assist the building of a (federally-recognized) Lenape community in their ancestral homelands over the next 10-15 years . This is going to be a huge effort. If every Pennsylvanian donated $1, this would probably fund almost the whole effort!
- Join our new Micronation dedicated to this effort. The Lenape-Susquehannock reservation. Become a citizen, get your passport and other benefits. Proceeds benefit this effort. [A micronation is a “sovereign” nation state, with “citizens” and some cause and governance.] It supports this Lenape dream (as well as their extinct western neighboring tribe, the Susquehannocks.). Details are on this dedicated website.
- Sign up for immersive Native American themed Journeys on their homeland. When we have enough interested people, a Journey will be scheduled. You will see some of the important Lenape sites we plan to show tribal elders when they come in the future (Round 2). Old growth Forests. An ancient Lenape fishing weir. Petroglyphs (rock art). Stone tool material sites. Ancient Indian trails. The Walking Purchase route. And more. We will make a donation on behalf of every person on one of these Journeys. The goal is to build out a set of Native tours with a following, to eventually benefit/employ Lenape tribal members once a future Lenape community can be established.