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Researching,
interpreting and telling the story of American Indian presence, past and
present, in Northeast Pennsylvania is the focus of this regional, local
history project.
The Research & Planning Phase will continue through the Fall of 2010.
Implementation portions of this project will begin in 2009.
Academic Partners
| Project Description
| Results | Goals
| Need | Project Model | Summation
Project Funding | Cultural Center | Previous
Funding
Throughout
Pennsylvania's history, American Indians have been written out of existence
since the 1790s, but continued American Indian lineage still survives
today within the commonwealth. American Indians in Pennsylvania hid in
plain sight through assimilation into the non-native dominant society.
Due to fear of removal, federal policies prohibiting land ownership or
public office for Indians, boarding schools for Indian children, or laws
outlawing native religions; they chose to 'become' the ethnicities they
resembled, or were connected to through marriage or other relationships.
Their legacy is written in physical features of their descendants throughout
the region. Their traditions and worldview are still reflected in oral
histories and culture of their descendants' families. As documentation
of their presence expands, their cultural contributions will be better
understood and acknowledged. The continued lack of recognition and misidentification
along with an accepted image of sliding into the dominant culture, at
least on paper, has allowed the creation of the dominant rhetoric that
the legacy of American Indians in the state of Pennsylvania ended in the
1790s.
The
project will start by documenting the genealogies of a select group of
EDN members who claim continued American Indian descent within the state
of Pennsylvania. The project's overall goal is to explore the possibility
of continued presence of American Indians in the state of Pennsylvania
beyond the 1790s and possibly connections to other current Pennsylvania
residents.
Genealogical
research is integral for understanding family lineage and where we came
from as a people. The scholarship of this project will create programs
focused on education through scholarly and public venues. By uncovering
these hidden lineages, EDN will be poised to educate the public and involve
local communities in relearning/expanding the known history of American
Indians in Pennsylvania. Focusing on Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming,
and Susquehanna Counties, the project will utilize primary documents from
these counties, the Pennsylvania State Archives, Moravian Church archives
in Bethlehem PA, and EDN's archives to write a hidden population back
into history. Using the documents of Pennsylvania's past, a new interpretation
of current American Indian descendants' claims will be attested.
In his book
"Native Americans' Pennsylvania," Daniel K. Richter says, "In
recent decades the Lehigh Valley has become a main center for Lenapes
who tried to remain within their ancient territory rather than migrate
westward."
Those
who stayed chose one of two basic strategies. Some gathered in specific
localities forming refugee communities. At least one such settlement existed
near Towanda, PA. In his article "Marginal Groups," Brewton
Berry mentions the "Pool Tribe or Pooles." Tradition traces
this group back to 18th century Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Sir
William Johnson and an Indian woman. Their daughter Elizabeth married
Anthony Vanderpool, scion of a wealthy New York Dutch family. When his
family disowned him they fled to Pennsylvania. Some people connected to
the settlement they founded can still speak the patois developed there.
Racial stereotypes and stigma continue to affect the lives of their descendents.
Other
people chose to 'become' the ethnicities they resembled or were connected
to through marriage or other relationships, due to fear of removal, federal
policies prohibiting land ownership or public office for Indians, boarding
schools for Indian children, or laws outlawing native religions. These
people, in essence, hid in plain sight through assimilation into the non-native
majority.
Their
legacy is written in physical features of their descendants throughout
the region. Their traditions and worldview are still reflected in oral
histories and culture of their descendants' families. As documentation
of their presence expands, their cultural contributions will be better
understood and acknowledged.
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Academic Partners
Dr. Dave Minderhout, Professor of Anthropology, Bloomsburg University.
Author of "The Museum of Indian Culture and Native Identity in Pennsylvania,"
with Andrea T. Frantz. Publication 2008
Dr. Katherine Faull, Director, Program in Comparative Humanities, Professor
of German, Bucknell University. Author of "Moravian Women's Memoirs:
Their Related Lives 1750-1820."
Dr. Amy C. Schutt, Lecturer, Department of History, State University
of New York College at Cortland. Author of "Peoples of the River
Valleys: The Odyssey of the Delaware Indians"
Andrea Frantz, Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Human Evolution
and Social Change, Arizona State University.
Lee Zelewicz, Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Human Evolution
and Social Change, Arizona State University.
Susan M. Taffe, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Cornell University, Ph.
D. program in musicology, focus in ethnomusicology, minor in American
Indian Studies.
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Funding
Initial consultation for the Research and Planning Phase of this regional
history project will be sought through:
Pennsylvania Humanities Council; National Endowment for the Humanities;
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; and Alan F. Pierce Foundation.
Additional funding may be sought from: Institute of Museum and
Library Services; PA Department Community Economic Development - Dept.
of Cultural & Heritage Tourism; PA First Industries Fund; Endless
Mountains Heritage Region; and Route 6 Heritage Region.
The Susquehanna River Greenway Partnership will provide input and
letters of support.
Significant in-kind services will result from the academic partnerships.
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Project Description
EDN Mission Statement: Eastern Delaware Nation seeks to gather
the scattered people of the Delaware tribes, restore traditional cultures
through researching history, heritage and cultural contributions, and
promote cultural awareness through education.
This
project falls within that mission statement and was identified as a project
of interest in Eastern Delaware Nations (EDN) Strategic Plan completed
in 2003. EDN membership includes about 600 families concentrated mainly
in Sullivan, Wyoming and Bradford Counties in Pennsylvania. The group
has been a 501C3 organization since 1993 and was incorporated in 1996.
In
1999 EDN purchased approximately 13 acres of ancestral land straddling
Route 6, two miles north of Wyalusing PA. Included within this holding
is Wyalusing Rocks overlook, an American Indian historical site. EDN is
honored to be caretaker of this place sacred to many tribes throughout
the Northeast.
EDN
has nearly completed the planning phase of a project to build a Cultural
Center on its land, and ground breaking is expected by summer 2008. The
Cultural Center will provide a place where the general public can access
the history of American Indians in Pennsylvania and understand the present-day
culture of their descendants.
EDN
has initiated interpretive programs, provided presenters and speakers,
and produced publicity materials to accomplish this goal, but so far these
events have only reached a small portion of the regional audience. As
this research project develops, new opportunities will arise to share
information with local, regional, and national audiences.
Community
meetings during the consultation phase will use a variety of static, active,
and interactive elements to explore aspects of the story. Audience members
will have the opportunity to contribute and connect with new information
on cognitive and emotional levels. Participants will have an opportunity
for personal reflection and analysis. Continued interaction/dialogue will
be encouraged.
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Results - This project will produce a matrix
of materials
* Research materials archived at EDN's proposed reference library and
genealogical research facility for use by other researchers following
identified threads and/or those revealed within archived materials.
* Listing of support/resource materials archived at other facilities regionally
and statewide.
* A cohesive interpretation of the American Indian presence in Northeastern
Pennsylvania presented to the public at EDN's Cultural Center.
* Support plan for research and possible dig at the site of Friedenshutten,
a Moravian Mission serving Delaware Indians established in 1765 near Wyalusing.
* Multimedia materials supporting and expanding public use of the interpretation.
* A guide to conducting local research on regional American Indian descendants.
* A curriculum for use in grades 4, 6 and 9.
* Educational guides and materials for public use.
* A plan to identify, interpret and conserve lifeways followed by American
Indian descendents in the region.
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Goals
* Identification of existing research on the topic.
* Survey regional and local historical societies
* Conduct research in:
PHMC archives in Harrisburg PA
Moravian Church Archives in Bethlehem PA
* Launch a series of Community Forums open to the public
* Archive and organize EDN's collection of research and genealogical materials
* Contract consultants to work on each project component
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Need
There
is world-wide interest today in American Indian history and culture. Members
of the Moravian Church in Germany know more about the history of Friedenshutten
than Americans living near the site. American Indians and their descendants
have been an invisible minority in Pennsylvania since colonial days, their
presence obscured by a mix of social and political policies, views and
practices.
This
project will explore, reveal and interpret history nearly forgotten in
Pennyslvania. Presentation of that history at EDN's Cultural Center on
Rt. 6 near Wyalusing will provide a more comprehensive understanding of
regional cultural heritage. Heritage, history and academic visitors to
the Cultural Center, as well as those attracted to Wyalusing Rocks' scenic
beauty, will positively impact the region's economy. While the project
promotes regional growth, it also promotes cultural sustainability through
a redefinition against acculturation.
EDN's property is in the center of the Endless Mountains Heritage Region.
It is also within the Rt. 6 Heritage Region, and the Susquehanna River
Greenway.
The
Cultural Center will be less than two miles from the new Endless Mountains
Visitors Center at the Marie Antoinette Overlook on Rt. 6. EDN's facility
is poised to become an anchor visitor destination, interpreting the overall
history of American Indians in Pennsylvania and serving as a hub pointing
visitors toward regional museums and other facilities with specific collections
and archives.
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Project Model
The Center
for Anti-Slavery Studies (CASS) in Montrose successfully
researched and presented the story of another invisible minority in Northeastern
Pennyslvania. Their groundbreaking research revealed Underground Railroad
activity in the region based on oral histories. Their research and interpretation
"A Place I Call Home" will serve as a successful working model
for this project.
CASS research, and oral history of EDN members, indicates some fugitive
slaves were sheltered within local 'refugee' communities of American Indian
descendants. This research thread will interweave stories presented by
CASS and EDN.
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Summation
This local history project reflects experiences common among American
Indian peoples living along the East Coast and west to the Mississippi.
Eastern woodland and southern tribes were among the first impacted by
European exploration and colonization, but scant records of the Indian
experience exist from that time period. Of those that survive, many are
fragile, difficult to read, or require translation into English.
In contrast, information about later interactions in the west involving
Indian peoples and explorers or settlers, or about later government policies,
are more readily available and understood. The stories of western tribes,
while often tragic, are fairly well known as most played out during our
grandparents' lifetimes. But stories of eastern tribes from 200 or more
years ago remain fragmented. Uncovering, exploring and interpreting this
lost regional story will document research methods and reveal previously
untapped resources.
Further and perhaps foremost, this story will validate oral histories
of people in Pennsylvania families whose American Indian ancestors chose
to remain against all odds within the Commonwealth.
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