Press Release: Lenape Culture Takes Center Stage Across New York City
Lenape Culture Takes Center Stage Across New York City
Prospect Park Alliance, the Museum of the City of New York, the Éenda-Lŭnaapeewáhkiing Collective, and American Indian Community House invite New Yorkers to celebrate the living cultures of the city's original people
NEW YORK, NY (October 1, 2026) — The Third United Lenape/Lunáapeew Nations Pow Wow returns to the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park on Saturday, October 3, from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sunday, October 4, from 10 am to 4 pm. The free weekend brings Lenape and allied Indigenous dancers, drummers, artists, and craft and food makers from across the continent back to their ancestral homelands. Across the city, the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) has opened Halumii Ktapihna: Lenape Legacies and Futures. The exhibition was developed with the Éenda-Lŭnaapeewáhkiing Collective (EL Collective) and Lenape/Lunáapeew community advisors. It is now on view in MCNY's new Puffin Foundation Center for New York City Activism.
Together, the two events center Lenape/Lunáapeew people as a living presence in New York City. Lenape/Lunáapeew means "human beings," or more specifically "the ones who came from thought." It names the Indigenous peoples whose homelands, Lenapehoking/Lunaapeewáhkiing, encompass the land now known as New York City and the surrounding region.
The Pow Wow
Prospect Park hosted intertribal Pow Wows from 1916 to 1972. EL Collective Co-founder George Stonefish organized the First United Lenape/Lunáapeew Nations Pow Wow at the Park Avenue Armory in 2018. In 2025, Prospect Park Alliance hosted a full Pow Wow at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, following a 2024 culture fair with American Indian Community House and EL Collective.
This year's Pow Wow emphasizes the role of younger generations in preserving cultural heritage. A Youth Spotlight features performers ages 6 to 17. Two young adults serve as Pow Wow Coordinators, mentored by their elders: Emma Hannah K. Stonefish (Eelūnaapèewii Lahkèewiit) and Javid Ridgeway (Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation).
The Pow Wow is part of the Alliance's ReImagine Lefferts initiative. The initiative is transforming the park's Lefferts Historic House to explore two histories: the Indigenous people of Lenapehoking, and the Africans the Lefferts family enslaved. On view at Lefferts in conjunction with the Pow Wow is Eelunaapéewi Ehaptoonáakanal: Voices of Lunáapeew/Lenape. This exhibit features video interviews with Lunáapeew/Lenape knowledge-keepers and culture bearers.
The Pow Wow is free. RSVP at prospectpark.org/powwow. Support comes from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the Mellon Foundation.
The Exhibition
Halumii Ktapihna brings together work by more than 30 artists alongside objects, archival materials, videos and interactive listening stations. The exhibition opens with living Lunáapeew people rather than the 1600s. It invites visitors to encounter the enduring presence and contemporary cultures of the Lenape/Lunáapeew.
"Too often, New Yorkers learn about the Lenape only in the past tense," said Dr. Monxo Lopez, Curator of Community Histories at the Museum of the City of New York. "Halumii Ktapihna starts in the present, with the artists, knowledge-keepers and families who carry Lenape culture forward today. Seeing the Pow Wow in Prospect Park and the exhibition at the Museum in the same season makes that clear: the Lenape never left this story, and they are shaping its future."
"This Pow Wow serves as an educational message to the broader community, and a social and cultural message for us, the Lenape people," said Brent Stonefish, Co-founder of EL Collective. "We want all to leave the Pow Wow with a deeper understanding about why we as contemporary Native Americans still follow our culture, practice our dances and share our songs today."
"Reviving the Pow Wow tradition in Prospect Park provides the Lenape/Lunáapeew who were forced to relocate across the continent back to their ancestral homelands to reunite and celebrate, and offers Brooklynites of all backgrounds the chance to immerse themselves in the cultures of the original stewards of this land," said Morgan Monaco, President of Prospect Park Alliance.
Halumii Ktapihna: Lenape Legacies and Futures is made possible with leading support from The Puffin Foundation and Valerie and John W. Rowe. This exhibition is funded, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and New York State Council on the Arts. Support for curatorial and collections work on this exhibition is provided by the Mellon Foundation and the Laura and Ray Johnson Fund.
Visitor Information
Third United Lenape/Lunáapeew Nations Pow Wow
LeFrak Center at Lakeside, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Saturday, October 3, 10 am–7 pm; Sunday, October 4, 10 am–4 pm
Free; RSVP at prospectpark.org/powwow
Halumii Ktapihna: Lenape Legacies and Futures
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, Manhattan
Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
About the Museum of the City of New York
The Museum of the City of New York explores the people, places, and ideas that shape New York’s iconic character. We invite New Yorkers and visitors alike to discover their place in the city’s evolving story.
The Museum is located at 1220 Fifth Avenue. Public hours are Monday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Learn more at mcny.org.
About the Prospect Park Alliance
Prospect Park Alliance is the non-profit organization that sustains, restores and advances Prospect Park, Brooklyn's Backyard, in partnership with the City of New York. The Alliance provides critical staff and resources that keep the park green and vibrant for the diverse communities that call Brooklyn home. Learn more at www.prospectpark.org.
Media Contacts
Chris Gorman – cgorman@mcny.org | Vahni Kurra — vkurra@prospectpark.org
Featured image: Untitled, June Lee Van Dunk, 2023, Gift of June Lee Van Dunk, 2026 (2026.29.2)
