Thanksgiving is two weeks away and is commonly a time to gather with blood relatives or chosen family and feast on potluck or home-cooked meals. However, the month of November ought to also tell the story of the original inhabitants of the land that we eat, sleep and study on today.

The Lenni-Lenape people inhabited Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and southern New York for over 10,000 years. Three main clans aggregated the people, each clan with independent communities within the Munsee (Wolf Clan), the Unami (Turtle Clan) and the Unalachtigo (Turkey Clan). They are acknowledged as the mediators and the “‘ancient ones” by “many other tribes,” according to the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation website. The Lenni-Lenape united with the Nanticoke (Tidewater People) in the 1800s after their migration led them to settle along the Delaware River. One hundred and three years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, 92 years after the adoption of the Constitution and 88 years after the ratification of the Bill of Rights, Indigenous people were recognized by the Federal Courts as “persons within the meaning of the law.”

English 321: Early American Literature is the singular course offered by St. Joe’s that explicitly highlights the inclusion of Indigenous peoples’ stories in its course catalog biography. At an institution of higher education whose values include “engaged citizenship” and “magis,” understanding the history of the land that we live on and the people that came before us ought to be paramount in our education, alongside religious difference courses, non-western overlays and ethics courses.