Native American festival an educational experience
DUNBAR TWP. – Although the weather didn’t cooperate this weekend, the Eastern Woodland Native American Festival and Encampment at the Rivers Edge Campground at Adelaide turned out to be an enlightening affair. Representatives of the Lenape, Shawnee, Cherokee, Choctaw, Seneca and Mingo nations attended the celebration and provided handmade souvenirs such as necklace and earring sets, dream catchers, leather pouches, turkey breastplates and blankets.
American Indians from the Turtle, Wolf, Turkey, Rabbit and other tribes or clans danced around the sacred fire while members of the Woodland Spirit Band of Browns-ville provided drum music and song.
Traditional storytelling highlighted the weekend, and the Redstone Living Historians, under the direction of Carl Garofalo of Brownsville, taught children and adults the origin of the Lenape people and the early settlers.
According to master of ceremonies Shawandasse Nawbi of the Shawnee nation, the festival is a time for American Indians to get together and celebrate their heritage.
“The name by which we call ourselves is Lenape and means ‘the true people,'” said Nawbi. “It is common for many groups of people around the world to use a name that has a similar translation.”
Nawbi said he doesn’t know how long the Lenape name has been in use but believes it has been used for hundreds of years. He also said that related tribes use similar words.
“It has long been known that the name applied to the native people who lived along the Delaware River and was taken from the title of an Englishman,” said Nawbi.
Nawbi said people often ask why the Lenape people don’t seem to have a problem accepting the name given to them by the English.
“The reason is that the Lenape have their own story about the origin of the name,” he said.
According to Nawbi, when the Europeans first arrived in America, one of them asked a Lenape about his tribe of origin, and when he replied, the European could not pronounce the name.
Finally, when the European said it correctly, the Lenape replied, “Nal ne ndeluwen,” which means, “That’s what I said,” Nawbi said.
“The white man heard the Duluwen part and said, ‘Oh, you said Delaware! So you are a Delaware. Now I know what to call you,’ and the name stuck,” Nawbi said.
Nawbi said the Delawares have used the name ever since that time, because they knew that the Europeans just couldn’t say Lenape properly.
These stories and traditions, known to few in the area, were a frequent subject of conversation at Saturday’s festival.
Doris Riverbird Woman of Lancaster County said her ancestors, who were forced from their homeland, lost a number of traditions over the years.
“If you go back far enough, you will find that we are all one nation,” said Woman. “We lost a number of our old traditions throughout the years, such as ways of making things like clay pots to cook and store food in, flint knapping to make arrowheads and flint knives and decorating things with dyed porcupine quills.
“We also lost knowledge of sea creatures that we would have known on the East Coast and some of our songs and dances. But we have also been able to preserve many things, too.”
Woman said all American Indian tribes have certain customs they try to follow as their ancestors did, but since they live in modern society some of these things have faded away.
“That’s one of the reasons we hold pow-wows, which are dances at which we wear the traditional Indian clothing and dance to the sound of a large drum, accompanied by singers,” said Woman. “There used to be many taboos that were followed, things that you were not supposed to do or in some cases were to do if certain things happened.”
Woman said there are no federally recognized American Indian tribes in Pennsylvania.
Carl Garofalo, who is head of the history department for the Redstone Middle School in the Brownsville Area School District and is a living historian, said his encampment started out as an educational project.
“When we began in 1984, I recruited from the seventh and eighth grades,” he said. “Since that time, many students have graduated, gone on to college and returned to help out.”
Garofalo said the Lenape were very friendly during the Patriot Cause in the 1770s, and that’s why he works with them today.
Garofalo said soldiers brought a lot of goods to the Indians, such as iron tools and pots, cloth and blankets.
“We also traded with the Lenape back as far as the great French War,” said Garofalo. “We were the people who brought the supplies to them and the settlers in the area, and that’s what our campsite is all about here today. It’s actually a traveling or flying camp as they called it and a training site.”