Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Canoeing, popcorn and Mother Earth — celebrating the legacy of the Lenape
What do canoeing, popcorn and love of Mother Earth have in common? All were given to us as part of the legacy of the native people who lived here in Pennsylvania before we immigrants arrived. The West Chester Green Team, the Melton Center and Bondsville Mill Park are offering programming this summer to teach today’s families about this inspiring heritage. The Society of Friends, Quakers, have offered meeting houses in West Chester borough and Birmingham Township and as well as Westtown Lake on the campus of Westtown School as program sites.
The Legendary Lenape series launches on Saturday, June 24 at 10 am at West Chester Friends Meeting House, 425 N. High Street in West Chester. Altogether eight sessions will be offered. Chris Applegate from the Museum of Indian Culture will lead the first session, bringing Lenape clothing, tools, weapons, furs and a cradleboard to display and will introduce the lifestyle of woodland tribes. This event is for people of all ages. Applegate describes the museum’s program saying “Life in our area was very different 500 years ago. The Woodland Life Skills Program presented by the Museum of Indian Culture gives students an introduction to Lenape culture… Through the interactive hands-on presentation, students explore how the Lenape utilized the resources and seasonal changes in the eastern woodlands.”
The summer programming includes water activities, a scavenger hunt and language lesson at Westtown Lake led by former Westtown School teacher and outdoor educator Tim James, and a stream study of Beaver Creek at Bondsville Mill Park by Faith Zerbe from Maya van Rossum’s Delaware Riverkeeper organization. Another session at Bondsville will feature learning about local native animals and plants and is entitled Living with the Land.
The final event of the summer season is a banquet at the Melton Center with clambake style cooking including roasting corn. Menu advice was provided by Kim Stack, Cornell Hotel School trained chef and former owner of the 3 Little Pigs restaurant. Stack took menu suggestions from the Mitsitam cookbook produced by the Smithsonian’s American Indian Museum.
Looking for an educational and entertaining weekend activity this summer that will be fun for the whole family? For a full schedule of Legendary Lenape activities see westchestergreenteam.com.