Delaware Delegations Visit AMNH

On September 19, 2018, the American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology, welcomed representatives of the Delaware Nation, Oklahoma (Nekole Alligood), the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma (Larry Brooks, Homer Scott, Brice Obermeyer) and the Stockbrridge-Munsee Community, Wisconsin (Bradley Pecore). The Delaware refer to themselves as Lenni-Lenape, and are a network of allied groups: the Unalachtigo, the Unami and the Minisink, later known as the Munsee. Before the arrival of Europeans, they lived across Lenapehoking—an expansive territory that included parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The American Museum of Natural History and all of New York City are on original Lenape territory.

The delegations came to the Museum to view Delaware ethnographic items, tour the Eastern Woodlands Hall and plan for upcoming repatriations under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This visit continues an open and productive dialog between Lenape people and the AMNH.

Brice Obermeyer (Delaware Tribe), Larry Brooks (Delaware Tribe), Nekole Alligood (Delaware Nation), Bradley Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Community), and Homer Scott (Delaware Tribe).
M. Shanley/©AMNH

Larry Brooks, Brice Obermeyer, and Homer Scott examine several pairs of Delaware beaded moccasins. The Museum's ethnographic collection consists of nearly 160 Delaware objects from the United States and Canada.
M. Shanley/©AMNH

Bradley Pecore examines a cotton Delaware dress that was collected in Canada in the early 20th Century and features nine silver brooches.
M. Shanley/©AMNH

Nekole Alligood, Homer Scott and Bradley Pecore examine several pairs of Delaware wool leggings and ears of corn representing multiple species.
M. Shanley/©AMNH

Homer Scott and Larry Brooks join Bradley Pecore in the Museum’s Hall of Eastern Woodlands. The Hall focuses on the traditional cultures of Native Americans living in North America through the early 20^th Century and showcases objects representing a wide range of craftsmanship from the Delaware people.
M. Shanley/©AMNH

Nekole Alligood takes a seat in famed anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead's beloved rocking chair, which now resides in Dr. David Hurst Thomas' (Curator of North American Archaeology) office. Margaret Mead worked in the Museum's Division of Anthropology from 1926 until her death in 1978.
M. Shanley/©AMNH