Image of TSHUSICK AN OJIBWAY WOMAN by Alfred M Hoffy

Self-Guided Walks

Still Sacred Ground: Lenapehoking 1625-2025

When

October 11 – October 31, 2025 All Day

Where

Wave Hill House, Mark Twain Room

Price

Free

with admission to the grounds

Have you ever considered how streets or cities got their names or who lived here before European settlers arrived 400 years ago? This multi-museum installation provides that greater context for understanding the landscape and community life of the place previously known as Lenapehoking and known today as New York City.

Through regional Indigenous maps created by Evan Pritchard that document the original inhabitants of New York and the SaunkSquas: Lenape Lady Chieftains Audio Guide, discover their significant contributions to Lenapehoking and beyond.

Still Sacred Ground at Wave Hill is one of a four-part exhibition on view at cultural organizations across New York City. Each participating organization features their own different map installation providing specific details about the area they now call home.

Other participating organizations include:

Bartow Pell Mansion Museum
South Street Seaport Museum
Historic Richmond Town

Visit at least three of the four participating organizations to receive a gift when presenting proof of visit before October 25, while supplies last.

Wave Hill House and the Mark Twain Room are wheelchair-accessible. There is an accessible, ground-level entrance at the front of the building with a power-assist door. The restroom on the ground level is all-gender and ADA-compliant. Additional ADA-compliant restrooms are available on the lower level, which can be accessed by elevator.

Evan Pritchard

Evan Pritchard

Evan Pritchard, of Mi’kmaq descent, has been doing field interviews with Native American elders since 1990 and has been the director of the Center for Algonquin Culture for the last 27 years. A lecturer on Native Studies at Vassar, Pace, Marist, Columbia, SUNY, John Jay, the University of Ontario, UMass, and Ramapo State, Evan has also presented at Gracie Mansion, AMNH, Smithsonian, and online. He recently presented a retrospective of his mapping work at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries (Clarkson University). He has written over fifty books on native culture, history, language, and spirituality, including Native New Yorkers: Henry Hudson and the Algonquins (Chicago Review Press); Bird Medicine (Inner Traditions/Simon and Schuster); Native American Stories of the Sacred (Turner Books); No Word For Time (Millichap); Red Head Band (Resonance Books), a collection of multi-lingual (English and various Algonquian languages) poetry, and Greetings from Mawenawasic (Foothills Publishing).
Oleana Whispering Dove

Oleana Whispering Dove

Oleana has worked as a museum professional for over 20 years and now curates Native American programs, spotlighting Traditional and Contemporary Indigenous Artists. Oleana is Smithsonian Museum-trained in Lenape Indigenous history and fulfills public speaking engagements on the topics of traditional herbalism and Historic Native American Women Chiefs, which reflects her Indigenous heritage as a Tsalagi-Algonquian Native American descendant.
Undeterred by social injustice during a global pandemic, Oleana accepted the role as an Associate Producer of the short film titled "Silent Tribute," produced by Rainy Film & Media that memorializes George Floyd and the Murdered, Missing Indigenous Women and Girls on Native American Reservations. Her ongoing and ardent contribution of Indigenous cultural programming and as an annual United Nations Indigenous Forum participant broadens her ability to engage and interface with corporate and cultural institutions.