Following dinner, VP David Johnson introduced our officers and trustees in attendance in addition to offering a few words of wisdom.
Trustee Fred Assmus then introduced several visiting dignitaries and the evening's speaker: Dr. David Oestreicher.
Dr. Oestreicher related his fascinating history as how he became involved in the study of the Lenape, who inhabited our region at the time the modern European explorers reached the East Coast.
Pictured here, dedicating a reconstructed Lenape village in Pound Ridge, NY, is "Touching Leaves Woman," among the last fluent speakers of the Umami dialect to have been raised in the traditions and practices of her ancestors. Dr. Oestreicher had the privilege of studying with her as he learned the Lenape language and traditional cultures in the 1970's.
Dr. Oestreicher closed with a very touching "Touching Leaves Woman" quote from "The Lenape-Delaware Indian Heritage" by Herb Kraft.
Many thanks to Chuck Tudor and Sharon Assmus for organizing such an excellent evening!
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