Learning the Lenapes

Indian Fields holds assembly

By: Bill Greenwood
   The library at Indian Fields Elementary School filled up quickly on Monday, as a steady stream of second-grade students crowded around the man standing in front of a white screen by the slide projector.
   He stood tall and proud, wearing a white shirt with elaborate bracelets around his elbows, a necklace and deerskin pants.
   With the click of a button, the projector hummed to life, and the crowd began to immerse itself in the man’s words.
   "Tipis are made out of buffalo skins," the man said. "Did you know that?"
   "Yes!" the assembled students screamed in unison.
   "Have you seen any buffalo around here lately?"
   "No!" came the unanimous reply.
   "So, you see, not all Native Americans live in tipis," the man said before launching into an explanation of wigwams, a wooden, dome-style home preferred by the Lenape Indians.
   The man is John Kraft, an archaeologist, anthropologist, writer, lecturer and expert on the Lenape culture, who has been helping to educate children and adults alike about Native Americans for more than 30 years.
   On Monday, he was on hand to continue an informational program on the Lenape Indians that has been taking place in the Indian Fields school every year for the last four or five, according to fourth-grade teacher Debbie Rosenblum, who coordinated the event. The program is meant to teach second- and fourth-graders at the school about the people who inhabited the region before them.
   The Lenape had their own unique culture, which was influenced by the environment they lived in, which is now "our own backyards," Mr. Kraft said. "So, it’s nice for the children and adults to kind of tie it all together, to realize that people lived here and got what they needed right here in New Jersey."
   To that end, Mr. Kraft brought authentic Lenape tools and clothing and other items, which he laid out over four tables pushed together across from the library’s checkout desk.
   Mr. Kraft explained each item to the crowd, even calling up two volunteers to model traditional female and male Lenape garb. Afterward, the children were permitted to examine and touch the objects.
   "When I grew up, everything in museums was behind glass cases," he said. "You never got a chance to touch objects. So, I like the idea of being out there. (The children) can actually put their hands on rattles and shake them and touch the clothing. It’s a great experience for the kids."
   That experience then carries over into the students’ coursework, according to Melissa Gibson, a second-grade teacher at Indian Fields. She said her class dedicates a unit to the Pueblo Indians at the end of the school year. During the project, the students relate what they learned from the presentation about the Lenape Indians to the Pueblos as well as themselves.
   "It’s nice to compare the differences and similarities between the Native Americans and us, and that’s what we’re trying to do when we learn about the Pueblos," Ms. Gibson said. "We talk about where we live, and how they lived and where they lived, and then we compare and contrast. It’s neat for (the students) to see some of the differences and also some of the similarities between the two."
   In addition, two classes of fourth-graders who attended the presentation will be building a Lenape village outside of their classroom with twigs and twine, Ms. Rosenblum said. She said the village is usually about 3 feet high and will be built in October or November, before the earth gets too hard.
   "We make longhouses like (the Lenape people) did," Ms. Rosenblum said. "We take pictures and sometimes we give tours to the other classes to come see. By the end of the school year, we have to take it down because it withstood wind and snow and rain. It’s really cool."
   Ms. Rosenblum said the experience culminates for fourth-graders, who attended a later, longer presentation separate from the second-graders, with a pow-wow held at the end of November close to Thanksgiving.
   "(The students) learn how to do a friendship dance, which is a basic circle dance," she said. "I have Native American music that is indigenous to this area. It’s a lot of fun."
   As the event began to wind down, Mr. Kraft took some time to answer questions from the students in attendance. Sitting in a rocking chair in the back of the library with a group of second-graders gathered around him, he resembled a Lenape chief sharing stories with the children of his village. As the questions flew, his answers appeared to strike some students as unfamiliar.
   "We’ve all grown up with Indians on TV," Mr. Kraft said. "Problem is, it’s oftentimes the Hollywood version. Tipis, war bonnets and scalping, that kind of stuff." However, he said the real history of the Lenape people is nicer than one would think. "These were a very happy, pleasant people."