Land Acknowledgement
I live and work as a composer and music therapist on Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homelands of the Lenape people, including the Canarsie and Munsee-speaking communities who stewarded this land long before it came to be known as Brooklyn, New York. The Canarsie were coastal people, deeply connected to the waterways, forests, and ecosystems that shaped their lives, cultures, and musics.
Colonial invasion forcibly displaced these communities and imposed devastating systems of erasure. Yet, despite generations of violence, the Lenape people and their descendants have maintained enduring ties to this land and its memory. Today, Lenape nations continue to thrive—in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Canada—and work to revitalize their languages, ceremonies, and cultural sovereignty.
I honor the Canarsie and Lenape peoples, their past and present stewardship, and their ongoing contributions to the creative and spiritual life of this land. As someone who works in sound, story, and healing, I recognize the importance of listening to histories that have been silenced, and I commit to supporting Indigenous-led initiatives, amplifying Native voices, and fostering respectful and reciprocal relationships with the original caretakers of this land.
Colonial invasion forcibly displaced these communities and imposed devastating systems of erasure. Yet, despite generations of violence, the Lenape people and their descendants have maintained enduring ties to this land and its memory. Today, Lenape nations continue to thrive—in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Canada—and work to revitalize their languages, ceremonies, and cultural sovereignty.
I honor the Canarsie and Lenape peoples, their past and present stewardship, and their ongoing contributions to the creative and spiritual life of this land. As someone who works in sound, story, and healing, I recognize the importance of listening to histories that have been silenced, and I commit to supporting Indigenous-led initiatives, amplifying Native voices, and fostering respectful and reciprocal relationships with the original caretakers of this land.
Video
consider these organizations:
- Native Americans Return to New York | More in Common
- Full of Life
- Pow-Wow Songs of the Nanticoke Lenape
- Lenni-Lenape Indians perform Butterfly Dance
- Singing, dancing, and drumming by Lenni-Lenape
- The Lenape Talking Dictionary
- Native-american-music - Curtis Library
- Indigenous Recordings and Musicians Databases - American Indigenous Music - Harvard Library
- Native-Land.ca
- Native Governance Center
- https://d309zx38sewmgu.cloudfront.net/2019/03/teacher_guide_2019_final.pdf
consider these organizations:
- Lenape Center: Promoting Lenape culture through community and the arts in Manhattan.
- American Indian Community House: Supporting Native Americans in New York City.
- Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania: Advocating for Lenape culture and traditions.
- Nanticoke-Lenni Lenape Tribal Nation: Promoting Native American welfare in the Delaware Valley.
- Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware: Preserving Lenape heritage in Delaware.
- Delaware Nation: Anadarko, Oklahoma
- Delaware Tribe of Indians: Bartlesville, Oklahoma
- Stockbridge-Munsee Community: Bowler, Wisconsin
- Munsee-Delaware Nation: Near St. Thomas, Ontario
- Moravian of the Thames First Nation: Near Chatham-Kent, Ontario
- Delaware of Six Nations: Two reserves near Brantford, Ontario
- Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware (state-recognized in Delaware)
- Nanticoke-Lenni Lenape Tribal Nation (state-recognized in New Jersey)
- Ramapough Lenape Nation (state-recognized in New Jersey)
- Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania (Easton, Pennsylvania; unrecognized federally)
