Philadelphia is Lenape territory: it is Lenapehoking. Simply acknowledging this fact is not enough. We must be proactive in seeing the futures of our city as intertwined with the futures of Lenape people. The Lenape nation continues to teach us that the mutual aid projects that lead us to more responsible futures start with understanding our history and how it continues to play out in the structures of our communities and neighborhoods today. We need programs that uplift Lenape voices throughout Lenape territory and broaden our views of the world: we need to reach across the river. As Chief Mark Quiet Hawk Gould of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape said during the 2020 Philly Indigenous People’s Day, “[The Lenape] have always been on both sides of the [Delaware] river. . . . We stayed and survived.” As capitalism forces us to compete with one another for resources, mutual aid is the path toward survival. In this view, Lenapehoking has survived because of the power of our care for our communities and the preservation of our history and culture.

Continuing to live in our unceded territory means the Lenape have weathered many a storm that seeks to destroy our homes. We are seeing the routine displacement of communities caused by eff orts by outside groups to redevelop our neighborhoods for profit. However, the continued resistance by the Lenape reflects a knowledge that our relationship to our land is also our relationship to each other, and that relationship cannot be undone by capitalism. Together we can build programs that center the history of Lenape people not just as a moment but as the foundation. We all have much to learn from including Lenape and other Indigenous voices in imagining and planning for the future city. Educational programs, for example, can shape not only future generations but the landscape—the monuments, the plaques, the statues, and the names of our public sites. Such programs provide opportunities to move a step closer to living in a more beautiful and ethical place. The 1982 Philadelphia Tricentennial got something right: the future of the city demands the involvement of the Map of Traditional Lands of the Lenape known as Lenapehoking. Lenape not simply in name but in practice.

For more resources about mutual aid projects, check out Philly We Rise, which has created a directory of mutual aid eff orts and resource guides that list a variety of funds, resources, and opportunities. For more information see www.phillywerise.com/mutualaid-resources/.