"We Are Still Here!" Lunaapeew/Lenape Celebration Weekend

Members of the Lunaapeew/Lenape community and the Museum of the City of New York invite you to join us for an inaugural weekend of activities celebrating the resilience and cultural heritage of the First People of the New York City region. 

Visitors of all ages can enjoy two days of events with musical and dance performances, craft workshops, a marketplace, and discussions led by Indigenous speakers and artists, exploring the past, present, and future of the Lunaapeew/Lenape.

Events on May 4th and May 5th from 11am-4pm daily, including:

• Feel the power of the drum circle with the Red Blanket Singers
• Listen to tales from celebrated master storyteller Tchin

• Enjoy a musical and dance performance by We are the Seeds 

• Learn some words in Munsee with Language Teacher Kristin Jacobs (Eelünaapéewi Lahkéewiit)

• Play Lenape Games, led by Lenape Youth Leaders 

• Watch a wampum-making demonstration with Chief Mark Tayac (Piscataway Indian Nation)

• Hear Lunaapeew/Lenape community leaders and Knowledge Keepers speak to the impact of colonization on their communities and their hopes and plans for the future in daily panel discussions 
• Find inspiration in the work of Lunaapeew/Lenape artists and artisans and take part in hands-on workshops on both days
• And more!

Click on a date below for schedule and tickets! Registration is recommended but not required.

400 Years of Resilience 

This two-day event is the public launch of a multi-year partnership between the Éenda-Lŭnaapeewáhkiing (Land of the Lunaapeew) Collective, with the support of the American Indian Community House, and the Museum of the City of New York.

Related exhibitions will open at the Amsterdam Museum in May 2024 and the Museum of the City of New York in 2025. Two related exhibitions will open as a part of this ongoing collaboration. Manahahtáanung or New Amsterdam? The Indigenous Story Behind New York opens this month at the Amsterdam Museum at the Amstel (May 16 – Nov 10, 2024) and Unceded: 400 Years of Lenape Survivance will open at the Museum of the City of New York in Fall 2025.

Coinciding with the 400th year since Dutch settlers' arrival in 1624 in what is now New York City, this international effort speaks to the resilience and creativity of Indigenous people today and the importance of recognizing their central role in shaping our city and nation.

Íiyach Ktapihna! (We Are Still Here!) 

The original Indigenous inhabitants of today’s five boroughs are known by many names, including Lenape (from the Unami dialect), Lunaapeew (from the Munsee dialect), Lenni-Lenape, Delaware, and Munsee-Delaware, among others. Many of these communities have been displaced across North America – known as Turtle Island – with several communities nearby in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States and in Ontario or Southeastern Canada. The Éenda-Lŭnaapeewáhkiing (Land of the Lunaapeew) Collective aims to establish a partnership between these communities, with a vision to unite and hear the voices of the Lunaapeew across Turtle Island. Current participating members of the EL Collective include the Munsee-Delaware Nation (Ontario Canada); the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation (Bridgeton, NJ); the Ramapough Munsee Lunaape Nation (Mahwah, NJ); and members of Eelŭnaapéewi Lahkéewiit (Moravian of the Thames Band) (Ontario, Canada).