Lenape Land Partnership
Woodmere’s founder, Charles Knox Smith, found deep spiritual meaning in the beauty and continuous cycles of nature. He acquired large, impressive paintings from the leading landscape artists of his day, known as the Hudson River School, and we count these among the great treasures of Woodmere’s collection. Smith, the artists he collected, and the mainstream of European-American society believed that the vast landscape of the continent was theirs to settle. The art in the Parlor Gallery was made at a time when Native Americans were being forcibly displaced, and they do not appear in these paintings.
Today, Woodmere recognizes the Lenape people as the original inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and we actively support our Lenape sisters and brothers, who continue to live across the region. Together, we seek to be stewards of the land, water, and sky of Lenapehokink, the ancestral homelands of the Lenape people.
May this partnership heal the past, give direction to the present, and brighten the future.
Lenape Treaty of Renewed Friendship
On May 26, 2023, Woodmere signed the Lenape Treaty of Renewed Friendship during a special program hosted by Chief Adam Waterbear DePaul, Storykeeper and Director of Education of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, and Shelly DePaul, Clan Mother and Language Director of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. This non-binding document acknowledges the Lenape Indian tribe as the original inhabitants of Eastern Pennsylvania, the indigenous stewards of their homeland, and the spiritual keepers of the Delaware River.
Woodmere staff, including William R. Valerio, Ph.D., The Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and CEO, along with program participants, gave their support and became signers of the Treaty.
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Lenape Programs
