11/29/2024
Today is Native American Heritage Day, a time to honor the original stewards of the land that is now Ulster County—the Lenape, including the Esopus, Mahican, and Catskill people—and to recognize the importance of preserving and elevating Indigenous culture and histories.
The Lenape lived in harmony with nature, believing everything in the environment—humans, plants, animals, the Earth, and the spirit world—is interconnected. Therefore, it’s essential to treat nature with respect and avoid depleting the Earth’s resources. They built their homes, such as wigwams and longhouses, using local plant materials like saplings, bark, and reed grasses. Food sources, daily activities, and responsibilities in Lenape communities changed with the seasons: in spring, they spent their days along the tributary streams catching spawning fish and harvesting medicinal plants; during the summer, they tended the maize fields and made trips to surrounding habitats where game was plentiful; in autumn, they set brush fires to hunt game in the hills and gathered abundant plant foods; and winter was a time for ice fishing, making baskets and pottery, and storytelling.
Colonization in the 1600s greatly disrupted Lenape societies, resulting in their forced removal from their lands and a dramatic decline in their population. Today, Lenape descendants live among federally recognized Nations in Ontario, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
📷: 1678 Nicolls Treaty Renewal Wampum Belt, presented by the Esopus to the people of Kingston to renew peace after the Esopus Wars. It has been preserved by the Ulster County Clerk's Office since 1683.
Local history provided by Eddie Moran, Ulster County Historian, November 2024. Learn more about Native American Heritage Day at nationaltoday.com/native-american-heritage-day.
