Second Annual Lenape Symposium Continues Welcome Home Partnership
For the second consecutive year, Ursinus College co-hosted the Lenape Symposium in conjunction with the Delaware Tribe of Indians as a part of the college’s Welcome Home Project
The responsible representation of native tribes in museums, schools, historical societies, and educational programs is crucial for honoring their rich cultural heritage while fostering accurate and respectful understanding among the public.
One way that’s happening locally is through the Lenape Symposium, which for the second consecutive year was hosted on campus by the Delaware Tribe of Indians and Ursinus College. The symposium is just one part of the college’s Welcome Home Project, a partnership that began three years ago in the Division of Inclusion.
“I’m thrilled that we were able to host this symposium for a second straight year. And I’m especially grateful to Monique Kelly for working with Tribal Cultural Education Director Jeremy Johnson to organize and plan an amazing event,” said Vice President for Inclusion and Chief Inclusion Officer, Heather Lobban-Viravong.
“This work is so important because it is yet another step in building bridges of understanding, in growing our knowledge of Lenape history both on campus and beyond, and in building a lasting, deeper, and genuine relationship for the future,” she said.
This collaboration is important to the college because it ensures that Native tribes are depicted with the nuance and dignity they deserve, countering historical stereotypes and misinformation that have often skewed perceptions. The Lenape Symposium consisted of presentations and panel discussions with educators and curators from across the country, including Delaware Tribe of Indians representatives Chief Brad KillsCrow, Jeremy Johnson, Tribal Preservation Officer Susan Bachor, Elder John Thomas, and Leslie Jerden, CEO of Teton Trade Cloth by Lenape.
In their presentations, Johnson, along with the other members of the Delaware Tribe, covered such topics as sovereignty and what it means to be a federally recognized tribe, as well as the intricacies of tribal leadership. Attendees were also gifted with Native-made bandanas from Teton Trade Cloth by Lenape as Jerden spoke about working with Native artists and artisans who uniquely maintain ownership of their work. This was a key message along with the importance of selling only Native-made items.
Other contributors to the symposium spoke about NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), and the “William Penn and the Walking Purchase,” as well as the Perkiomen Valley School District’s award-winning Lenape Arboretum.
By involving Native communities and incorporating their perspectives and voices, educational institutions and cultural organizations can help preserve tribal histories, promote cultural appreciation, and support reconciliation efforts.
Through the Welcome Home Project, Ursinus is trying to do its part to contribute to these efforts. Since starting in 2021, the Welcome Home Project has deepened its roots on campus with the help and support of Associate Professor of History Lori Daggar; Associate Professor of Biology Denise Finney; Professor of Environmental Studies Patrick Hurley; Director of Sustainability Kate Keppen; and Associate Professor of Anthropology Lauren Wynne. Other partners include Librarian of the College Diane Skorina, and recently retired archivist, Carolyn Weigel.
Over the past year, Ursinus’s efforts have included a College Innovation Council-funded project, “Partnerships for Just and Resilient Food Systems.” The project team of Finney, Hurley, Keppen, Wynne, and Reese Goodlin ’23, led in-person meetings between members of the Delaware Tribe of Indians and Ursinus faculty, staff, and students in the food studies minor with the goal of further cultivating Ursinus’s relationship with the Delaware Tribe.
A Ursinus contingent also traveled to Bartlesville, Okla., to visit the tribe’s headquarters. As part of that contingent, Lobban-Viravong said , “The trip to Oklahoma was significant because it further demonstrated the college’s commitment to this partnership which is an important signal to send when the Lenape and other Native peoples have every reason to distrust systems and institutions that played a part in displacing and removing them from their homelands.”
She went on to add, “A common refrain at last year’s symposium and this year’s as well is the importance of shared planning between the tribe and the college. No idea should be advanced without first ensuring that it aligns with tribal goals, and with their story.”
The Welcome Home Project, which began in 2021, is a partnership between Ursinus, the Perkiomen Valley School District (PVSD), and the Delaware Tribe of Indians. Ursinus officially drafted a Land Acknowledgement Statement on March 8, 2022, and signed a Statement of Mutual Intentions with PVSD and the Delaware Tribe on April 12 that same year.