A series of wooden huts sit peacefully along a riverbank, filled with families of Lenape people counting their gathered vegetables and grain. English settlers come rumbling in, claiming ownership of their home due to a recent “purchase.” It is time this tragic story is told in its entirety to the children of Pennsylvania.
In the 1600s, the Lenni Lenape tribe originally assembled new homes, but the 1773 Walking Purchase allowed the sons of William Penn to abruptly take themaway. The notorious con resulted in the loss of 1,000,000 square miles of land; it included what is now Northampton, Bucks, Carbon, Schuylkill, Monroe, and Pike counties. These regions had resources for the tribe, such as deer, grain, vegetables, and fish. The local township of Upper Milford provided exceptional mines filled with the mineral jasper to make tools and arrowheads for battle.
The resources were abruptly taken, changing the way of life for many years to come. Though the past cannot be changed, the future still can through proper education. It is the best option to right the wrongs in our country’s history with the Lenni Lenape tribe and teach the youth basic lessons in forgiveness and sharing.
All current and past residents of stolen areas should want to make a difference, because it shows how different their lives could have been. The specific number of Lenape people left is unknown, due to the constant change the tribes were forced to endure. Many people in the United States could have Lenni Lenape ancestry and never know about it because of the amount of assimilation that went on at this time. As high school students grow up and start having families, they should want their kids to be properly educated.
The lessons should partially focus on the bustling city of Philadelphia and its attempt to eradicate any mention of the Lenape people besides a few statues to supposedly honor them. Chief Tamanend, leader of the Lenni Lenape tribe, has his own statue, which was built on a foul-smelling street of Philadelphia, the entrance to the 95 South. The statue’s description says it is a dedication to the Treaty of Shackamaxon, which was put in place to show friendship between the Lenape and English settlers; however, historians have debated if the treaty was even real since there was no document recorded. The placement of the statue demonstrates blatant disrespect for the original tribes, leaving a feeling of insignificance towards their history.
Another unhappy ending for the Lenape was their finding of the Pocono region. Many members of the tribe felt threatened by the arrival of English and Dutch settlers in their homes, and violent tendencies forced them to shift westward. Over time, the Lenape were increasingly pushed out of their ancestral lands due to the expanding Europe- an settlements and were not mentioned as often in storytelling. The lack of historical credit led to significant loss of traditional ways of life.
One way to fix the issues at hand is a possible creation of a state-wide holiday dedicated to the Lenni Lenape tribes put in place by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. This solution can heal century-old wounds left by the original settlers of Pennsylvania, therefore changing the story students are taught. Living descendants can also feel at ease knowing that in their lifetime, a meaningful change was made.
The possible creation of a new holiday to help with the loss of traditional way of life has been briefly discussed among universities in the Lenape area, such as Moravian and Princeton. They have displayed their idea of a solution to these issues on their websites through land acknowledgements. They are posted on the sites for anyone to see; however, Moravian’s was relatively short and didn’t show any real feelings on a very emotional topic while Princeton went into great detail.
A lack of education leaves out the fact that the English settlement leader’s had the idea that the tribes who remained neutral were dangerous and threatened their power. They eventually found it necessary to punish indigenous people for their so-called mistakes and unbiased opinions. Social and religious status marked them as enemies and eventually led to the murder of many Christianized Lenape. The settlers wanted to cause fear and had a desire for dominance, leading to a dreary ending for the Lenni Lenape tribe. The proper education we have in mind does not consist of the short-term discussion only around Thanksgiving each year but also the depressing end to their story.
In a 10-1 vote, The Stinger Editorial Board hopes for a future where the true story of the Lenni Lenape people is properly taught to the future generation of our country.
