Lenapehoking : the country of Lenape people (Sakura Park, general Butterfield)
Lenapehoking : the country of Lenape people, Battery park
ALÀPA is a series of photos, drawings, a narrative and a performance about the Lenape - sometimes also called "Delaware people"- i.e. the Native Americans living on the east coast of the United States before colonization. The Lenape "country" (Lenapehoking) stretched from present-day Philadelphia to central New York State. I'm interested in the stratifications of time in the landscape: in the United States, time is fundamentally "Indian territory", the land having been shaped by native peoples over the centuries.
To venture down this path, I was interested not only in the history of the Lenape people, but also in their languages: Unami, which was spoken south of Lenapehoking, and Munsee, which was spoken to the north and in the New York area. Before the arrival of Europeans, the Manhattan area was already international: not only Munsee, but Mohican, Cherokee and Micmac were also spoken.
Over the past few months I've been inscribing words into the New York landscape, mainly Munsee and Unami (1). This performative work, aimed at reinscribing the language in the very place where it was spoken for centuries, leads me to chance encounters during my urban wanderings. Most of the New Yorkers I meet don't know who the Lenape are. This lack of knowledge is not widespread, however, and institutions regularly take care to remind us of the history of the land in this part of the United States (see the last image in the slideshow and the plaque laid by Columbia University). I present above a first glimpse of the photographic series. It will develop over the coming year, as will the project as a whole (which first series Bedrock started in 2018).
Lenapehoking: Lenape country (on Wall Street, in Sakura park with General Butterfield, in Battery Park)
Élixia: my language (Unami) in Central Park North
Alàpa: tomorrow (Unami) in Central Park South
Lënapehokàn: a soul (Unami and Munsee) in Brooklyn
Chiskulkus: an American robin (Unami and Munsee) in Morningside Park
Mahicanituk: The Hudson River (Mohican) in Manhattan Midtown
Mhukw: blood (Unami and Munsee) in Riverside Park
Kamink: across the river (Unami)
Wëlamìtai: believe me (Unami)...
The desire to be immersed by this particular history can also be historicized: from the outset, native Americans have fascinated artists and intellectuals, including French ones. I felt it necessary to put my actions into perspective within this other history, which is not always glorious: it is strewn with charlatans and mystifiers who have often sought to speak in the name of the Indians. The story Alàpa, which tackles the question of the presence - or rather absence - of Lenape signs in the New York landscape, also tells of this awakening.
New York, September 2023
(1) For the choice of vocabulary, I make particular use of two documents: John O'Meara's Delaware-English dictionary (University of Toronto Press) and the formidable Lenape Talking Dictionary edited by James Rementer.
A first public presentation of Alàpa took place in August 2023 at the Maison de l'Acadie in France (La Chaussée, Vienne) thanks to the invitation of the Azimut association and the support of the Collectif Acte (Poitiers), the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Ministère de la Culture as part of the Été Culturel 2023 program. The event gave rise to a performance: a slideshow reading of the story (duration 45mn) and a series of artistic practice workshops. Thanks to our supporters Sylvie Perrot Clémot, Stéphanie Tézière and Benoît de Cornulier.
- 5 Photos
- 9 Exhibition : "Debris", Italian Academy, New York
- 10 See also: Pierres et langages