Talk:Munsee-Delaware Nation 1, Ontario

Lenape Descendants Still Near 'Home' today;
Greetings to You, respected Leaders of the Lenni-Lenape People;

I am John W.E. McCorkle, a Lenape descendant who, along with my children, are descendants living not far from the Brandywine River (called the "Fish Kill" river by our people,)itself, some distance north of the Delaware River here in Pennsylvania. Our line of descent can be traced as beginning here in 1681 in Chester County our first ancestor, the daughter of Tammend or skilichy', who's name was "Spotted Fawn": and is documented here in our archives for the county. Tammemd's sons and their children did indeed move westward along with the main exodus of our people, but Spotted Fawn's son remained here in the Brandywine River valley, and generations of his family have been born and died here for more than 300 years now since--and for thousnads of years before. Despite our settler links, we as a family have always been fully mindful of our native blood--perhaps the more-so because we are also descended of several other tribes as well; to include the Nanticoke and Wampanoag here, as well as Oglala Lakota, Brule, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Assiniboine, Two-Kettles, Wind-River Shoshone and Kiowa-Commanche: according to my Grandmother--and this taught her by her Great-Grandmother, we are of both the Unami and Munsee peoples, and are of both the Turtle and Wolf clans. we are not certain of whether we have Turkey clan relations or not. We are, and have always been, proud to be of the Lenni-Lenape people; as are all of the other peoples I have met here of Lenape mix and descent: and of which our state census shows there are more than 13,000 of us still within the state here--I am unsure yet of the numbers for New Jersey, New York and Delaware, yet it is recorded that there are quite a few within those states as well. Unfortuneately, we have seen no sign in all of this time that others of our peoples either acknowledge our existance or accept us as a part of the Lenape people. Even though our state lists us as descendants in their census records each time, they still do not recognize those tribes which once knew pennsylvania as there homeland as being native to the state, and my communications to and with the tribal site in Oklahoma have not been responded to--and so the main tribal organization not only appears unwilling to accept and recognize our existance: they wont even speak with us out of common courtesy. It is a sad fact then that more than 13,000 of us here, who have not forgotten where we came from or who our relations are and ancestors were, have no hope in return of being known by our own people as being Lenape. And if you of the Turtle clan will also not respond--people of my respected ancestor's own clan and blood, what hope then have we of ever seeing ourselves as other than a lost people who's blood is denied by all sides? Who's children can never identify this as meaning something important rather than sorrowful, and who must live shamed because we cannot tell them with proven conviction that we Leanpe are still one people and have remembered our ties and ways? This because we remained here in the lands we have always called home and would not and cannot bear leaving? Are We then truly the last of the Brandywine Indians? I pray to the creator that we are Not the last, that we are Not alone, and that we Are known of and recognized by our Brothers and Sisters elsewhere: even as we know of and recognize them.

With Deepest Respect,

John W.E. McCorkle('Wolf's-Song'.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.224.31.236 (talk) 08:06, 29 June 2008 (UTC)