The continuing past

For weeks now we have been looking at this structure in Inwood Hill Park and I finally asked the ranger what it was.

It's a Lenape wigwam. He said it was built by Lenape people from New Jersey who still maintain it. The frame is White Pine and it's clad with slabs of Tulipwood (which is anti-fungal) and Beech, which are all native to the area. The Park is gradually weeding out the Norwegian Maple which was planted here in previous generations.

I was interested that there are Lenape people still in New Jersey, though during Removal they 'went' as far as Nebraska and Montreal (and stayed). And it's nice to know that the traditional crafts are still alive.

This reminds me of the wiltjas I saw at Pipalyatjara in northern South Australia (100 miles south of Uluru) back in 1976. When I went out to a similarly remote area three years later, the wiltjas were made of corrugated iron and hessian bags, although that doesn't mean that the knowledge of the craft is no longer alive.