| Full Name: | Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania The Lenape Nation Inc. |
| Named After: | Lenape people |
| Formation: | 1996, 2001 |
| Founders: | --> |
| Defunct: | --> |
| Type: | nonprofit organization |
| Tax Id: | EIN 23-3025630 |
| Purpose: | Cultural, Ethnic Awareness (A23) |
| Headquarters: | Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Location City: | Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Membership: | 397 |
| Membership Year: | 2021 |
| Language: | English |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Ann Dapice |
| Publication: | --> |
| Parent Organisation: | --> |
| Revenue: | $72,080 |
| Revenue Year: | 2022 |
| Expenses: | $64,050 |
| Expenses Year: | 2022 |
| Formerly: | Eastern Lenape Nation |
The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania (LNPA) is one of more than a dozen cultural heritage organizations of individuals who identify as descendants of the Lenape people, also known as Lenni-Lenape or Delaware people.[1] They are based in Easton, Pennsylvania.[2]
The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania is an unrecognized tribe. Despite having the word nation in its name, the organization is neither a federally recognized tribe[3] nor a state-recognized tribe.[4] [5] Pennsylvania has no federally recognized or state-recognized tribes.[5]
Bill "Whippoorwill" Thompson founded the group in 1998 as the Eastern Lenape Nation.[6]
LNPA Chief of Education and Tribal Storykeeper[7] Adam "Waterbear" DePaul said, "We were quite successful in that endeavor of hiding, and identifying and passing ourselves off as white."[5] He says the tribe is trying to achieve state recognition, but it does not qualify for federal recognition.[5]
Canadian-American linguist K. David Harrison, who partnered with the LNPA on language classes, writes: “some Lenape stayed behind, hid, blended in, intermarried, or assimilated. Remaining in the traditional homeland of the Delaware Valley, their descendants also claim Lenape bloodlines.”
Journalist Samantha Spengler wrote: "Whether or not Lenape people continued to live covertly in Pennsylvania, it’s undisputed that there was no continuous tribal entity in the region."[6] There are three federally recognized Lenape tribes in the United States and two in Canada.[6]
The organization is actively lobbying the Pennsylvania legislature for state recognition.
In 1996[8] and again in 2001, the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania formed The Lenape Nation, Inc., aka The Lenape Nation of Pa., Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Easton, Pennsylvania.[9]
Its current administration is:
Maurice C. DeMund served as president[9] until April 2022.[8] The group has also been based in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.[10]
In 2021, the Claneil Foundation gave them $10,000; PayPal Giving Fund donated $7,646; and the AmazonSmile Foundation gave them $481.[10]
The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania operates a cultural center in Easton, Pennsylvania.[11] They host an annual powwow at Mauch Chunk Lake Park in present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.[12] Once every four years, they host Rising Nation River Journey along the Delaware River.[5] They also created the Lenape Nation Scholarship Fund.[9]
LNPA member Shelley DePaul and Theodore Fernald launched a Lenape language class at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, beginning in 2009.[13]
The Unitarian Congregation, a church in West Chester, Pennsylvania, decided to pay reparations to the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania.[14]