"Going beyond the story of America as a country "discovered" by a few brave men in the "New World," Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity. The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history"
The indigenous people who inhabited the land that became Philadelphia were the Lenape (also Lenni Lenape; their English moniker was “Delaware”); they were displaced by Quakers and other religious minorities that settled the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the late 17th and 18th centuries.
We have one unwavering purpose – increasing the number of American Indians who hold college degrees. Currently, only 15% of American Indians have a college degree – less than half the national average. Every year, we empower more than 4,000 American Indian students to start and stay in school, complete their degrees and launch careers that benefit us all. We have provided 159,652 scholarships and $283.7 million to support American Indian communities. We intend to double our impact in the next five years.
Kathleen DuVal is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the author, most recently, of “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America.”
Enough With the Land Acknowledgments (pdf)
DownloadAn investigation into the sophisticated civilization established by the Lenape, long before the first colonists ever arrived. Also, life in the 1770s as Americans confronted winter and the Revolutionary War.
In 1644, a combined force of Dutch and English colonists attacked a Native American village in present day Westchester, NY. It was one of the deadliest attacks on the indigenous people on the Atlantic Coast. This is the story of that event, the colony of New Netherland (later New York), and the "River Tribes" of the Hudson River Valley. Produced by Jon Scott Bennett.
We thank The Rivertowns Enterprise editor for permission to reprint this story which originally appeared in the December 2, 2022 edition.
Lenape tribe member delivers history lesson.net (pdf)
DownloadPhilipse Manor Hall State Historic Site provides visitors with a balanced approach to interpreting the lives of Indigenous, European, and African people at PMH to understand the complex relationships that took place at the Manor from the earliest days of the Dutch Colony of New Netherland to the American Revolution and beyond.
Friday April 22 is Earth Day. In the spirit of that event, Dobbs Ferry will be sponsoring a Village Clean Up on Saturday the 23rd. Watch for further information from the Village. There are several unsightly areas in the Village where trash needs to be removed as a citizen effort in the spirit of honoring the environment of our planet.
Friends of Wickers Creek Archaeological Site (FOWCAS) supports this important event. We are a volunteer organization dedicated to educating people to honor the memory of the Lenape people who originally lived throughout the Hudson Valley and who had a major chieftaincy in what is now Dobbs Ferry. Here they had the tribal name Weckquaesgeeks, which is said to be the origin of the name Wickers Creek, our tributary of the Hudson River. The creek starts deep in Dobbs Ferry. There is a north fork that begins as a spring in the Juhring estate and is piped under the Ardsley County Club golf course until it is daylighted west of Broadway down to the mouth of the Hudson. It is joined by a south fork that originates around Springhurst School and likewise passes under Broadway.
Hundreds of years ago, the Lenape harvested oysters and fish from the Hudson and farmed for other foods to sustain themselves. The oral history states that from across the river the glow of their fires burnt very bright in the night sky. A shell midden is what is left behind from their habitation around Wickers Creek. It is considered an important archaeological site. To learn more about the shell midden and the Lenape history in Dobbs Ferry please go to Village Hall . There you can visit an exhibit about an archaeological dig done at the shell midden. It will give you further information about the life of the Lenape here and why Wickers Creek is such a significant site.
To protect and keep the environment clean and healthy is basic to the Lenape culture. So Earth Day is the perfect time for FOWCAS to honor the plan to clean up the environment in Dobbs Ferry. Some of our members will be working to clean up the area around Wickers Creek. To find out more about FOWCAS and Wickers Creek please go to our website fowcas.org.
FOWCAS is pleased to provide a treasure trove of resource materials regarding the indigenous people of this area. We are grateful to Frederick Charles for sharing this.
Sue Galloway's Letter to the Editor
Download PDFA special message from the descendants of the first inhabitants of Wysquaqua (Dobbs Ferry).
We thank The Rivertowns Enterprise and editor Tim Lamorte for their permission to reprint the first two articles. The third article first appeared in The Ferryman, the newsletter of the Dobbs Ferry Historical Society.
New York Times article from October 19, 2017
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