In the Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation’s way of thinking, culture is an ongoing process that can only stop with extinction.
This weekend, through its members’ ninth annual Native Festival and Pow Wow, they want to deliver an entertaining and educational reminder that “We are not extinct.”
More than 6,000 visitors, including American Indians from several states, are expected to converge Saturday and Sunday on the festival site near Saltsburg.
Organizers say it will offer a unique look inside the Native culture with activities for all ages, including a hands-on living-history area, American Indian demonstrations, drumming, dancing, singing, children’s experiences, public participation dances, storytelling and more. A festival highlight is the grand entry at noon each day.
American-Indian arts and crafts will be displayed, and American-Indian food will be available.
While there is still work to be done in eliminating the Hollywood stereotypes of American Indians, says Shellie Oros, of Apollo, progress is being made. Events like the festival and powwow are helping.
“The festival is a way of getting a better understanding of who we are, especially for children,” says Oros, who adds that she can trace her bloodline to American Indian heritage, specifically the Cherokee, Cree and Lenni Lenape tribes. She is head female dancer at the festival.
“Some kids are under the impression that we still live in tepees,” she says. “We live normal lives just like everybody else, we have regular jobs like their parents, but our culture and spirituality is still very much alive in our families and our way of life.”
She is heartened when she hears festival-goers say they learned a lot by attending. “A lot of people don’t even realize we are here in this state or this part of the country,” she says. “They automatically think we are all out West and don’t realize native people don’t all live on the reservation.”
Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation is a volunteer-run, nonprofit organization based near Nowrytown in Conemaugh Township, Indiana County. It was formed in 1997 by Lenape descendants and those they adopted into their community.
Festival director Pat Selinger, of Saltsburg, is one of the adoptees. The practice has existed since before the Europeans came to this land and continues today, she says.
“It is as real within the native community as legal adoptions are in the mainstream society,” she explains.
There are three clans or family units within the Lenape: the turtle, wolf and turkey clans. Each clan is headed by a clan mother who is responsible for the care of her clan, almost as a grandmother is to her family. The clan mother also has political responsibilities within the tribe. Selinger has become the “turtle clan mother,” and Oros is the “turkey clan mother.”
“So much of the heritage of the natives in this area has been lost. Recently, there has been a surge of interest as well as information,” Selinger says. “This festival is a great place to begin to connect. So often we hear, ‘I have been told I have a native background, but my family is reluctant to talk about it.’ Or, ‘No one believes me because I do not look like an Indian.’”
The traditional American Indian culture is generous and inclusive, she says. There is respect for honor and tradition. One way that is demonstrated at this festival is with a dance honoring veterans during the grand entry each day.
“Native people have fought in every single war this country has been involved in. Even when they were considered less than normal citizens, they volunteered to serve,” Selinger says. “Even today, many of our men and women, including my sons, are serving.”
American Indians served even in unpopular wars, such as Vietnam, she adds. “The native people always understood the honor and sacrifice of serving, and honored that in the dance,” Selinger says. For many who served in Vietnam, the powwow circle was the first time they were officially welcomed home. But this dance also reaches out to the families, knowing that they are the support for those serving and that they, too, make sacrifices.”
At its heart, what festivals such as Thunder Mountain’s accomplish is to show a pride and a culture that is alive and vibrant, Selinger says.
“This can spark an interest in those who know that they have native ancestry to find out more about that part of their own heritage,” she adds.
By Rex Rutkoski, VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
