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Never Broken: Visualizing Lenape Histories
96 pages, Hardcover
Published January 23, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2026
This is the catalog for the September 2023 to January 2024 show of art and art objects of the Lenape (AKA Delaware) tribe native to the northeastern US.
The exhibit had unique woven baskets with stamps, moccasins, and the shirts used to carry small valuables (like seeds) when migration was forced.
There were some refabricated items such as paintings using Lenape designs and representations of daily life, a film and what I presume was a narrative on preservation of the Lenape language.
“Bloodline” was a stunning wall mounted sculpture depicting 5 generations of family. The figures (made from bronzed cigars) are mounted walking single file on wood pieces.
The book began with paintings by Edward Hicks and Benjamin West that depict the 1682 treaty signed by William Penn and his Quaker colonists, with the Lenape people. (The exhibit had textile, porcelain, and print renderings of these paintings that were very popular at the time.)
No one knows the terms of the treaty (some historians doubt its existence) but it was said that the terms were to be “never broken”. The Hicks and West paintings were created roughly 40 years after the treaty. By then, William Penn was dead and the Lenape had been forced from their land.
This exhibit was called "Never Broken" to emphasize that while their land was taken the spirit and creativity of the Lenape people lived on.
This is a well designed book with beautiful photos and an informative text.
The exhibit had unique woven baskets with stamps, moccasins, and the shirts used to carry small valuables (like seeds) when migration was forced.
There were some refabricated items such as paintings using Lenape designs and representations of daily life, a film and what I presume was a narrative on preservation of the Lenape language.
“Bloodline” was a stunning wall mounted sculpture depicting 5 generations of family. The figures (made from bronzed cigars) are mounted walking single file on wood pieces.
The book began with paintings by Edward Hicks and Benjamin West that depict the 1682 treaty signed by William Penn and his Quaker colonists, with the Lenape people. (The exhibit had textile, porcelain, and print renderings of these paintings that were very popular at the time.)
No one knows the terms of the treaty (some historians doubt its existence) but it was said that the terms were to be “never broken”. The Hicks and West paintings were created roughly 40 years after the treaty. By then, William Penn was dead and the Lenape had been forced from their land.
This exhibit was called "Never Broken" to emphasize that while their land was taken the spirit and creativity of the Lenape people lived on.
This is a well designed book with beautiful photos and an informative text.
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June 26, 2026I have not read this yet, but it's currently linked to the wrong author. Joe Baker of the Lenape people also wrote Lenapehoking.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews