New Lenape Mural in Downtown Scranton
A mural, located at 130 N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton, shown, was designed and created by Lenape artist Ben Scott Miller, an enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, together with renowned Spanish artist Miguel Angel Belinchón, known professionally as BELIN. (Photo courtesy Robert Vercoe /Scranton Tomorrow)The University of Scranton is a proud sponsor and partner with the Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department, Scranton Tomorrow and the mural artists who spearheaded the mural project, "Remembrance and Continuance: The Lenape Story in Scranton," which was dedicated on Friday, Aug. 1. The mural grew, in part, out of the University’s Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story initiative, which brought attention to the Indigenous history and heritage of the city amid other under-told local stories. The Lenape are among the original inhabitants of the City of Scranton and Lackawanna County and the modern-day descendants of the Indigenous people of Lenapehoking, which comprises eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and parts of New York and Delaware.
The mural, located at 130 N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton, was designed and created by Lenape artist Ben Scott Miller, an enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, together with renowned Spanish artist Miguel Angel Belinchón, known professionally as BELIN.
The mural dedication included speakers and representatives from the county, city, Scranton Tomorrow, the Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau, and The University of Scranton, as well as artist Ben Miller, Delaware Tribe of Indians Chief Brad KillsCrow, and co-founder of the Lenape Center and Delaware Tribe member Curtis Zunigha. Traditional Lenape songs and dances were performed. Altogether, members from four tribes were present for the dedication: the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Anadarko, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation at Moravian Town, Ontario, Canada; and Munsee-Delaware Nation, Ontario, Canada.
More About the Mural and Lenape History
For more background on Lenape history, watch the 2022 keynote lecture of Curtis Zunigha, ”Forced Removal of the Lenape People: History and Homecoming.”
For more background on the mural, including the story it shares and the symbolism it includes, visit the Scranton Tomorrow website.
Watch a brief video narrated by Curtis Zunigha providing an overview of the mural’s story on the Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau website.
