Last year, we celebrated the fourth Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a two-day virtual event on Saturday, October 10 and Monday, October 12. The event included pan-indigenous panels where Native artists and dignitaries shared their unique perspectives on how important it is to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ history and heritage across the nation instead of celebrating the myth of Christopher Columbus. The two-day event concluded with a concert on the evening of October 12, featuring musicians and dancers. The event was recorded and broadcast online, powered by PhillyCam. We will highlight a portion of the event in each quarterly newsletter. Here’s a recap of panels 1 and 2, in case you missed it.
Panel 1 – Welcome Remarks + Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Brief History
Attendees were treated to a welcome remarks by Chief Marc Gould of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation in New Jersey and a brief history lesson from Tribal Chief Justice Rev. Dr. John Norwood as he walked us through a timeline from Colonial contact to the Modern Sovereign Tribal Nations that still reside in the ancestral lands of Lenapehoking. Rev. Norwood focused on the struggle and continued fight Lenape people have endured to stay here and preserve the land for their familial ties living in the diaspora. He also discussed how many Lenape people survived by hiding right in plain sight.
Panel 2 – In Conversation: Lenape Peoples in Diaspora, Then and Now
In this panel we discussed the history of the Lenape peoples in diaspora in a conversation with Lenape tribal historians and members from the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Munsee-Delaware First Nation, Eelūnaapèewi Lahkèewiit (Delaware Nation), and Stockbridge-Munsee. They examined the importance of their ancestral land Lenapehoking, and discussed the infamous Walking Purchase–a historical period where the Lenape peoples experienced a mass genocide, forced migrations, and were displaced about 280 years ago.
View the full list of speakers, events, performers, and performances here.
We hope you enjoyed last year’s virtual celebration and we look forward to having you join us for another monumental event in 2021. Thank you to all of our partners and sponsors for helping make this event a success.
Check out our event coverage on our website and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube @IPDPhilly.
