Commonwealth Speakers:Native American Life and History


Carla Messinger's presentations explore the Native American experience as seen through the eyes of a native woman.

The roles and histories of the indigenous peoples of Pennsylvania often are misunderstood or romanticized. The talks offer clear insights into different aspects of native culture and history.

Lenape Lifeways
At the time of Columbus, as many as 10 million Native Americans lived in North America. Many thousands lived in the vast homeland of the Lenni Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of eastern Pennsylvania. Respected by William Penn, the Lenape were later forced from their villages by Penn's grandsons and the infamous Walking Purchase. Carla and Allan Messinger will provide an interactive introduction to the Lenape. They will compare and contrast their social customs, religion, family life, agriculture, healing practices and crafts with those of the Europeans and colonial Americans. This program can be family or adult oriented.

Carla and Allan Messinger, Allentown
Native American Educators & Consultants

The Story of Wampum
Beads made from sea shells always have been important objects in the activities of Native American tribes in the northeast. Around 1615, a small, cylindrical shell bead type called wampum began to be made in large numbers. The uniform size and shape of these beads stimulated their production as a commodity. How wampum developed, and how the Lenape and their Iroquois neighbors used wampum, will be explored. This lecture will examine wampum's spread among native peoples and the important role that Dutch traders played in spreading wampum to the Puritans and other colonists.

Marshall Joseph Becker, West Chester
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, West Chester University

Lenape Foodways
Susan Plaisted's PowerPoint® presentation will discuss the living quarters and implements of a Lenape village to explore the foods and food technologies of the Lenape within the context of their culture. Plaisted will intertwine ethnobotanical research, European narratives and archaeological information with images of hominy processing, drying racks and the roasting of fish and fowl. Reproductions, artifacts and pelts also will be on hand.

Susan McLellan Plaisted, Morrisville
Dietitian. Member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals

The Role of Women in Native Society: Then and Now
The role of Native American women in native life and their contributions have been greatly underestimated. Early European writers often did not accept women in roles other than the ones allowed in their own culture. Reservation life forced men to abandon their traditional roles as hunters and warriors and to conform to European customs, leading them to usurp female roles. In contemporary Native American life, women's accomplishments often are distorted or ignored. This presentation will explore the achievements of native women through the eyes of a native woman and a historian. Adult oriented.

Carla and Allan Messinger, Allentown
Native American Educators & Consultants

The Indians of Pennsylvania
The Lenape is the best known Native American culture of Pennsylvania. Three other major Native American groups once occupied other parts of the Commonwealth: the Susquehannock, the Erie and the Monongahela. Each native peoples reacted to the arrival of Europeans in different ways. The culture and history of each group was very different, but all were inter-related in interesting ways. By focusing on the story of the Lenape, we can see changes in the lives of one culture during the early colonial period and how the Lenape, and perhaps the Monongahela, survive to the present. The Lenape's adaptation to change will be the focus of this illustrated lecture.

Marshall Joseph Becker, West Chester
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, West Chester University

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