Manaháhtaan Symposium: Conversations on Lenape Identity
- Organizer: A/P/A Institute at NYU
- Venue: NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, 405/6
- Address:
60 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10003 United States
Copresented by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, NYU Native Studies Forum, and the Lenape Center
How can we mutually expand our knowledge of Indigenous Manhattan? We begin by hosting a symposium in Manaháhtaan to encourage new conversations on diaspora, identity, and the centering of Lenape and Original peoples in NYC’s past and future. These sessions will gather Lenape leaders, artists, and scholars in dialogue, acknowledging issues of environmental stewardship and concerns for futurity. Register using the form below.
“The island was named in the Munsee language for a stand of hickory trees at the lower end so ideal for the making of bows that it was known the length of the Hudson River. The true word recovers the true history.” —Ives Goddard, “The Origin and Meaning of the Name ‘Manhattan’”
Saturday, October 29
at the NYU Kimmel Center for University Life
60 Washington Square South, Room 914
9:45-10:15AM Registration
10:15-10:30AM Opening Remarks
Ulrich Baer, Vice Provost for Faculty, Arts, Humanities, and Diversity, NYU
Joe Baker, Executive Director, the Lenape Center
10:30-10:15AM Statement
The Lenape Center
Jack Tchen, Founding Director, A/P/A Institute at NYU
11:30AM-1PM: Morning Discussion
Historical Legacies Shaping the Present Day
Jim Rementer, Director, Lenape Language Project
Jean R. Soderlund, Lehigh University
Andrew Lipman, Barnard College
Moderated by Curtis Zunigha, the Lenape Center and Jack Tchen
1-2PM: Lunch (on your own)
2-3:30PM: Afternoon Discussion
Issues and Challenges of Identity Now
Brent Michael Davids, Composer (via Skype)
Paula K. Pechonick, Delaware Tribe of Indians
Chief Vincent Mann, Chief of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation’s Turtle Clan
Brent Stonefish, Lunaapeew Nation at Delaware Nation – Moravian of the Thames
Moderated by Curtis Zunigha
3:30-4PM: Coffee break
4-5:30PM: Closing Discussion
Lenape Futurity: The Diaspora in 50 or 100 years?
All panelists with
Joe Baker, The Lenape Center
Melissa McGill, artist
Moderated by Dean Saranillio, NYU Department of Social & Cultural Analysis
5:30-6PM: Closing Performance of Lenape Songs
Performed by Curtis Zunigha
Image: Beatrice Glow, Angelo Baca, and Richard Chavolla, with guidance from the Lenape Center, Lenape Calibration, 2016. Workshop as part of Free University with Rename & Reclaim. Photograph by Ærtiron.