Happy Winter Solstice
from Indigenous Peoples’ Day Philly, Inc!
Our 7th annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day was an unforgettable experience! Thank you to all the speakers, performers, volunteers, sponsors, donors, and everyone who showed up to celebrate with us! We’ve had a fantastic year here at IPD Philly and couldn’t do it without your support!
As we reflect on our successes, we also have a ton of stories and resources for you to learn from this Winter Newsletter! In this issue, we are featuring stories about the history of Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrations from Lenapehoking to across Indian Country, the impact of solidarity and monuments creations, who are the federally recognized Lenape or Delaware tribes, and how language revitalization and Indigenous food sovereignty is carried on by tribal citizens.
Here is a sneak peek of the stories we are so excited to share!
We have two IPD Philly articles recapping the performers and speakers who attended our annual celebration on Monday, October 9th at Shackamaxon (Penn Treaty) Park which educated the audience about Indigenous culture and their ongoing presence. A highlight of our event was the amazing speaker, Matthew Putnam (Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Wisconsin), who spoke about the history of Lenape land and its identity. “I want to remind everyone that this is Lenapehoking. This is our original homeland. Even at events like this, erasure is taught. There are organizations that tell you, they are us. We need to educate.” Matthew provided space for education and even answered questions about Indigenous culture from the audience.
Solidarity was also an important theme at the event as Rep. Christopher M. Rabb of the 200th District in Philadelphia County shared a message about promoting justice and legislation for Indigenous communities. “It’s our responsibility to lean into solidarity, not in a performative or virtue signaling way but doing the real work and that work is not always easy.”
Similarly to Rabb’s message of solidarity, we are featuring an article on Dr. James Thomas’s work with the Navajo Nation which helps raise awareness and improve the health conditions of the Navajo people. Thomas’s work exemplifies how acts of solidarity can lead to amazing outcomes.
We are also featuring other articles on monument creation in California and language revitalization efforts made by Indigenous groups to revitalize their culture. Amongst these stories include IPD Philly advisor Eugene Black Crow’s (Oglala Lakota) Lakhota Woglakapo Project which is fiscally sponsored by IPD Philly. Black Crow’s project aims to revitalize the Lakhota language through one-on-one language courses offered to other members of any of the Lakhota tribes, colonially known as Sioux.
Additionally, we share resources to learn about and support Indigenous-owned restaurants such as Wahpepah’s Kitchen, Indian Pueblo Kitchen, and Owamni. They each serve a variety of Indigenous-inspired dishes to promote Indigenous food sovereignty and highlight aspects of Indigenous heritage within the restaurant industry as a form of cultural restoration.
Lastly, we are thrilled to announce that we are among the 24 recipients of the Wingspan grant from the PA Humanities. This grant will help us make our annual event and live broadcast even more fabulous in 2024-2025. Also, we are halfway to reaching our 10K goal this winter to support our overhead expenses! Check out our Giving Season Fundraiser Campaign.
Also, our quarterly newsletter is full of information and resources for all our readers, so be sure to sign up for our future installments or to share with your friends.
Wanìshi, Ahéhee’, Wado, Wopila, Tlazocamati, Añay, Chaltumay…
IPD Philly – Board & Editors
Read Our Current and Past Newsletters:
NOTE: This publication was established in the Lenape-Unami territory known as Lenapehoking | U.S.A on Indigenous Land
