Organization

Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania

Also known as: LNPA, Lenape Nation

A state-recognized (2009) Lenape (Delaware) nation based in Pennsylvania, with members descended from Lenape families who remained in their original homeland through the post-Revolutionary forced removals that displaced most Lenape to Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario. The Nation is led by Chief Adam DePaul (as of the mid-2020s); cultural-revival, language-preservation, and educational work runs through the *Rising Nation River Journey* (multi-year canoe and walking treks down the Lenapehoking watersheds), the Treaty of Renewed Friendship (a renewable agreement with PA municipalities and institutions), the Lenape Cultural Center in Easton, and ongoing teaching and ceremony programs across the original homeland. The Pocono region is part of the Lenape's ancestral territory.

Background

The Lenape (also called [[harrington-delaware|Delaware]] in colonial English) are the original people of Lenapehoking — a homeland encompassing present-day southeastern [[beacon-ny|New York]], all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and the far north of Maryland. The Pocono region is well within Lenapehoking and was used by Lenape communities for hunting, fishing, ceremony, and seasonal residence for thousands of years before European contact.

Through a sequence of fraudulent treaties (notably the 1737 Walking Purchase in [[poconos|Pennsylvania]]), military pressure, and the post-Revolutionary federal Indian-removal policy, the great majority of Lenape were displaced westward in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, federally-recognized Lenape nations sit in Oklahoma ([[lenape|Delaware Nation]], Delaware Tribe of Indians) and Ontario (Munsee-Delaware Nation, Moravian of the Thames, Delaware of Six Nations). A smaller number of Lenape stayed in or returned to their original homeland; their descendants form the basis of state-recognized Lenape nations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

What the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania does

Treaty of Renewed Friendship — a renewable formal agreement between LNPA and [[poconos|Pennsylvania]] municipalities, schools, and institutions. The treaty is renewed every few years through a public ceremony; over 100 PA towns, counties, and educational institutions have signed.
Rising Nation River Journey — a recurring multi-year cultural revival initiative: long-distance journeys (by canoe, foot, and ceremony) along the [[harrington-delaware|Delaware]], Schuylkill, Susquehanna, and other watersheds within Lenapehoking. Each journey brings together Lenape from PA, OK, NJ, and Ontario for shared ceremony, public education, and reaffirmation of the homeland connection.
Lenape Cultural Center — public-facing cultural-and-education facility in Easton, PA; exhibits, programs, language preservation work, ceremony space.
Language preservation — Munsee-dialect and Unami-dialect Lenape language teaching, in collaboration with Lenape language programs in Ontario and Oklahoma.
Educational outreach — public talks, classroom programs, museum partnerships across PA, NJ, and DE.

Recognition

State recognition by [[poconos|Pennsylvania]] came in 2009 (Resolution HR 154). LNPA is not federally recognized; the political and legal questions surrounding federal recognition for east-coast Lenape communities are complex and tied to the existence of federally-recognized Lenape nations elsewhere. State recognition entitles LNPA to be the contact and cultural partner of state institutions, schools, and many municipalities, but does not include the trust, sovereignty, or service entitlements that federal recognition carries.

Why it matters for the platform

The Pocono bioregion entries acknowledge that [[directory|the directory]]‘s continuity layer for Lenape work is currently thin. LNPA is the primary contemporary institutional contact for Lenape continuity in the bioregion and is the natural starting point for that layer to grow. [[0mn1one|The platform]] commits to:

Surfacing LNPA’s public work (Rising Nation River Journey, Treaty events, Cultural Center programs)
Crediting Lenape inheritance in place names, stream knowledge, plant medicine, and other cultural memory passed through Euro-American records
Listing LNPA partnerships and programs as they verify (third-party reporting, formal institutional documentation)

[[directory|The directory]] does not pretend to speak for or about the Lenape; it surfaces the institutional work that the Lenape Nation is doing for itself and for the relationship between Lenape and the wider population in the bioregion.

Sources

Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania public materials
[[poconos|Pennsylvania]] House Resolution 154 of 2009 (state recognition)
Pocono Record, [[lehigh-valley|Lehigh Valley]] Live, Easton-area press coverage of LNPA programs and Treaty renewals

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