Lenape Day at Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center
Celebrate the Lenape Culture and History with Music, Dance, and Hands-On Fun
On Saturday, October 12, from 12 noon to 4 p.m., spend the afternoon at the Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center in Chatham Township celebrating the original inhabitants of New Jersey, the Ramapough Lenape People, at Lenape Day. Meet tribe members, enjoy a traditional drum circle, dancers in regalia, historic tools and artifacts, and much more.
For thousands of years, before European settlers arrived, the Lenape Indians lived in New Jersey forests, hunting for deer and bears, living in handmade wigwams, fashioning dugout canoes from tulip poplar trees, and carving their tools out of rock and bone. They lived close to the land, existing in balance with nature.
The Lenape are not a thing of the past, but rather an important part of New Jersey’s heritage today. Enjoy an authentic experience with fun, hands-on activities, such as making a fire without matches, molding a clay pot, and playing games Lenape children played.
Take a guided walk on the wooded trails to discover how the Lenape used local plants to meet their needs, and explore the interior of the wigwam, set up as it would have been hundreds of years ago.
Admission is $5 per person age 3 and up, and the event will be held rain or shine. For more information and directions to the Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center in Chatham Township, visit morrisparks.net or call 973.635.6629.
The Morris County Park Commission features one of the region’s best park systems in the state of New Jersey. It currently protects and maintains 19,653 acres at 38 distinct sites plus offers a year-round calendar of events and activities for all to enjoy!
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