Millions of people visit New York City each year from around the world. They come to see Times Square or the Statue of Liberty, to work, to study. Yet they may not even know they’re in Lënapehòkink, the land of the Lenape people, also called Lenape’ok or Delaware.
Our homeland spans the watershed ecology of the Delaware River, including also the lower Hudson River, and the Atlantic coastline from the mouth of the Hudson to the mouth of the Delaware.
All of the sovereign nations of the Lenape people were driven out of Lënapehòkink by plagues, war, exploitative treaties, and scalp bounties. Our homeland was taken from us, but we are reclaiming our voices and our places there.
Today, two centuries after being ethnically cleansed from Lënapehòkink, we reside on Indian reservations in Oklahoma (aka “Indian Territory”), Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada. Most Lenape’ok have never even seen our homelands.
In recent years, Lenape tribal members have been engaged in a concerted effort to reconnect with our homelands and reestablish our presence and voices there. This effort has been led by Lenape matriarchs from all of our communities coming together to reestablish caretakership of our homelands.
This exhibit highlights the work our tribes and matriarchs are doing to reclaim our rightful presence in Lënapehòkink, and to educate the public about our people, history, culture, and contemporary existence.
Many of these photos were featured in recent stories about Lenape and other Indigenous cultures for HuffPost, “Tourists In Our Own Homelandand”, and for TIME magazine, “The Case for Returning U.S. Public Lands to Indigenous People.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lenape-people-lenapehoking_n_628e542ee4b0cda85db9420c
https://time.com/7262838/us-public-lands-return-indigenous-people/
Artist Bios
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Joe Whittle
As an enrolled tribal citizen of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and a descendant of the Delaware Nation Lenni Lenape of Oklahoma, Whittle’s cultural teachings guide the work that he does as a storyteller to support his own and all Indigenous communities of life, be they human or more-than-human. The majority of Whittle’s creative practice has been in developing storytelling packages that share Indigenous values, issues, and stories, frequently including how those narratives tie to conservation work. He typically provides both the writing and the photography for the stories he publishes, building the literary and visual story together as one cohesive narrative. Whittle tries to weave his Indigenous teachings of reciprocity into his creative process. Every story shared with him is a gift, and he strives to treat them that way.
Organizations
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Photoville
Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.
In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.
By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation.
Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.
For more information about Photoville visit, www.photoville.com
Kwëtkihëna Lënapehòkink: We Will Return to the Land of the Lenape
Featuring: Joe Whittle
Locations
View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
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The views and opinions expressed in this exhibit are those of the exhibition artists and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Photoville or any other participants and partners of the Photoville Festival.
