[title]
Stalks of corn stand tall among the towering skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan as part of a new exhibition at The Morgan Library & Museum which pays tribute to Indigenous culture.
The exhibit, called "Nora Thompson Dean: Lenape Teacher and Herbalist," focuses on the life of Nora Thompson Dean (1907–1984), who worked to preserve Lenape culture. Featuring letters, photographs and a Three Sisters garden, the show's on view now through September 17.
RECOMMENDED: A new exhibit at Brooklyn Botanic Garden showcases the power of trees
The museum itself, like all of Manhattan and New Jersey plus parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut, sits on what was once called Lenapehoking, the ancestral lands of the Lenape. Beginning in the early 1600s, European settlers forced the Lenape people from these lands. There are now federally recognized Lenape nations in Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Canada, places where displaced Lenape people live.
About Nora Thompson Dean
Dean was born in Oklahoma and she was determined to preserve her culture's language, spiritual beliefs and knowledge of the natural world. As part of that work, she visited Lenapehoking many times, including a visit to New York City, The Morgan's assistant curator Sal Robinson told Time Out New York. During the visit, Dean was scheduled to meet then-Mayor Ed Koch, but he never showed up for the appointment, instead sending an aide to meet her with an NYC souvenir.
At last, Dean is getting the spotlight in New York City with an exhibit that recognizes her deeply important work. To create the exhibition, the Morgan worked with the Lenape Center and Hudson Valley Farm Hub.
Inside the exhibition
Inside the museum's stunning rotunda, you'll see photos of Dean visiting Lenapehoking while wearing a deerskin dress she'd made. Also on display are papers showing Dean's work with language and craft classes. Her language lessons formed the foundation for the Lenape Talking Dictionary, a free online resource on which her voice can be found today. Dean was one of the last fluent speakers of Lenape.
In a letter on display, Dean writes to a historian, kindly correcting a rumor about Lenape spiritualism.
“Her patience and seriousness is very inspiring,” Robinson says.
Another display case features a musical composition written about Dean by Brent Michael Davids.
Inside the garden
This is the first time The Morgan has featured an installation in the garden, which opened in 2022, Robinson said. Corn, squash and beans grow, making up what’s called a Three Sisters garden. Ruby red amaranth grows alongside the crops. The seeds used in the exhibition actually trace back to Dean’s family.
“These corn plants are here because Nora’s mother and grandmother kept them,” Robinson says.
After harvest time, she added, the museum will return the seeds.
“These plants were grown here by Lenape people not that long ago,” Robinson says. “To return it is really exciting in midtown Manhattan … where the natural past seems to have been completely erased.”