Munsee Lenape Sovereignty And Survival From The 17th Century To The Present

Early encounters between Munsee Lenape and Dutch people in the Hudson Valley and Manhattan region often centered on clothing: understanding one another’s culture and diplomatic overtures through what was worn and what was exchanged.  This exchange of clothing, however, became a pathway for disease to enter Indigenous homes, and clothing became a site of conflict over gendered labor, religious conversion, and land use.  Associate Professor Maeve Kane will explore these issues of Munsee Lenape culture and history in the seventeenth century, early encounters with the Dutch, and the long history of Munsee sovereignty and survival into the present.  Munsee, Mahican, and other Indigenous women played an especially important role in how their communities managed these pressures of colonialism through their purchases, caretaking, and labor.