Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware is Nov. 9 program topic

The Milford Museum will continue its American History Series at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9, at Milford Public Library, 11 S.E. Front St., Milford.

Representing the First People of the First State, the guest speaker will be Dennis J. Coker, principal chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware. Located in northern Kent County in and around the town of Cheswold, the ethnically distinct Lenape people have been known historically as the Delaware Moors. For hundreds of years, the Cheswold Lenape community members coexisted with neighbors of European and African descent largely through attending separate churches and schools. As a result of Delaware’s desegregation efforts, the separate schools closed in the mid-1960s.

During the early 1990s, in response to a resurgence of Native Americans’ cultural awareness and pressures from the outside, elders of the Cheswold Lenape community decided to celebrate their unique history and formed the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed legislation Aug. 3, 2016, officially recognizing the Lenape Community in Cheswold as a sovereign indigenous nation.

A lifelong resident of Kent County, Coker has been honored to serve as elected principal chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware since 1996. During his term, Coker has established successful collaborations with Delaware’s State Historic Preservation Office and the Federal Census Bureau. Through his efforts, the tribe was awarded a Census Designation Area, allowing tribal members to include their ethnicity as Lenape on the 2010 Census for the first time in history. His membership in the National Congress of the American Indian and founding membership in the Alliance of Colonial Era Tribes has brought recognition, furthered understandings and developed collaborations for the betterment of Delaware’s indigenous population.

Sponsored by the Milford Museum, these monthly programs focus on a variety of topics concerning local, state and national history.

For more information, contact the museum at 302-424-1080 or info@milforddemuseum.org. Programs are offered through a generous grant from the Delaware Heritage Commission.