Lenape Voices Project

“Lenape Voices” is a Middle School arts and service project that seeks to honor over 10,000 years of Lenape stewardship of this land. As you walk around campus, you will see 21 different rocks (ahsëna) painted with relevant Lenape words and their English translations. We invite you to reflect on both the absence and presence of the Lenape people in this place. Please connect to The Lenape Talking Dictionary to hear mother tongue Lenape speakers bring these words to life in their ancestral homelands. 

Land Acknowledgement

We are on the ancestral lands of the Lenape people, which they inhabited for thousands upon thousands of years. The Lenape people were pushed off the land by settler-colonialists, and experienced a series of forced relocations. Today, descendents of the original Lenape people belong to five federally recognized nations: the Delaware Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, Delaware Nation of Oklahoma, Stockbridge-Munsee Community of Wisconsin, and in Ontario, Delaware Nation of Moraviantown and Munsee Delaware Nation. As Westtown School engages in the work of discerning a path towards right relationship with the modern-day Lenape, we honor the Lenape who lived on this land in the past and the Lenape today who yearn for connection with this land.

Key

The Lenape Talking Dictionary

1. naxa witkuxkuwàk – three sisters  – Lower School Garden
2. tipasàk – chickens – Lower School Garden
3. chulëns – bird – In the circle in front of the Farmhouse
4. xanikw – squirrel – South Entrance, bottom of the hill by the Granolithic
5. tayaxkun – bridge – Bridge to Tennis Courts
6. mèxkalaniat – red-tailed hawk – Exiting the woods on the South Lawn
7. ansikëmès – maple tree – Tree in front of Admission
8. òtaèsàk – flowers – Bed in front of the Science Center
9. ansikëmès – maple tree – Tree near south entrance to Main Hall
10. ahas – crow – Tree by the Big Chair
11. shkulikaon – schoolhouse – in front of Middle School
12. patamweikaon – worship house – in front of the Meeting House
13. ònàxkwimënshi – oak tree – In front of Guerster House
14. pàkakënèt (mpàkakwënèt) – moose (my moose) – In front of Lower School
15. chahkoli mënëpèkwtët – frog pond – Upstream side past retaining wall on Head of School’s house side
16. sipu – stream/river – By bench/bridge to Outdoor Education shelters
17. òkwës – fox – Base of tree near the Fire Circle
18. tëntay – fire – Fire Circle
19. mpi – water – by the Boathouse
20. namès – fish – on the dock behind the Boathouse
21. samhuwei mënatay – caterpillar island – Middle of island
22. kishux – sun – Left of Bridge on east side of the lake
23. tayaxkun – bridge – Bridge on east side of the lake
24. xalahputis – spider – Past the beach on the east side of the lake where you enter the woods path
25. xinkhòkihakàn – big field – By bench overlooking field
26. shkakw – skunk – By path break-off to Elephant Rock
27. ahtu – deer – At split in path
28. chëmamës – rabbit – At uphill entrance to Upper School x-country trail
29. òpalanie – bald eagle – Near woods path entrance at northwest corner of lake
30. tahkox – turtle – At the triangle where road splits
31. mënëpèkw – lake – With “lake”