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Project 2: The Trek of the Lenape (Delaware)

Project Managers: Gillian Wakely (Associate Director for Programs), Stacey Espanlaub (NAGPRA Coordinator), William Wierzbowski (Assistant Keeper, American Section), Dr. Robert Preucel (Associate Curator, American Section)

Most current residents in the region called the Delaware Valley know that the word “Delaware” is a Native American word but have no idea that the word refers to a tribe of indigenous people who occupied this region before the arrival of Europeans. Penn Museum would like to take an active role in the education of our multiple publics, either in the physical space of the Museum or in the virtual space of the WorldWideWeb, to introduce the Lenape Nation back to this region. There are no extensive large exhibits or formal education on this Native American group in any of the related Museum networks in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware.

Penn Museum holds approximately 70 ethnographic items, 10,000 archaeological materials, and perhaps upwards of 40 skeletal remains with affiliations to this Native American group. These materials (except, of course, the skeletal remains) will be used in conjunction with the archival, published and oral history of the tribe to construct a mini-exhibit on the trek of the Lenape (Delaware) Nation to their present home in Oklahoma. The Museum currently contains 2 full and permanent exhibitions on Native American peoples: Raven’s Journey (Kaplan and Barsness 1986) and Living in Balance (Washburn 1995) both of which have scholarly publications associated with their production.

The Museum has also been very responsible to our community in producing mini-exhibits containing objects and stories of timely interest. Most recently, the Museum has hosted an exhibit on a gold Pre-Columbian back flap recovered by the FBI in Philadelphia and confiscated by authorities. The exhibit was supported by the antiquity authorities of Peru who also attended the opening and later accompanied the back flap back to its country of origin.

Results: The mini-exhibit on the Lenape (Delaware) Nation will be used to support local efforts in public education and would travel to various venues throughout the region including high schools, universities and museums. The students would be responsible for the support materials accompanying the exhibit as well as to conduct workshops on the Lenape (Delaware) Nation.

TARGET STUDENTS: education (both primary and secondary), museum studies, art and exhibit design