Trail of Hope

Almost three years ago, an idea came to me from the depths of my heart. After being involved with the Lenape Indians, Penn Treaty Park and the Penn Treaty Park Museum, I felt a certain connection, uniting my present associations with an understanding in my past.  Growing up, I was always inspired by William Penn’s Treaty of Amity and Friendship. I too, wanted to spread the values of love, peace and amity to all walks of life I encountered. 

When the idea for the Trail of Hope came to me, I felt that the decision to walk 2,000 miles tracing the migration path of the Lenni-Lenape Indians was already decided for me. My heart showed me a destination and it was up to me to figure out how to get there. I spent two and a half years planning the Trail. I studied maps, learned important Lenape history, and prepared physically and mentally to undertake this journey of a lifetime. Then the day I had been waiting for finally came.

On March 23^rd, in the midst of a light drizzle, I began my journey after a special sendoff under the comforting branches of the Great Elm. I happily walked in the rain, 11 miles to Haverford, the home of the oldest and closest living descendent of the Great Elm Tree.

From there I walked westward though Pennsylvania. Almost immediately I encountered snow. My terrain went from rolling hills to intense mountains. The snow gave way to a consistent rain. I began to face the challenging elements that the Lenape also faced on their journey. Despite the elements, I enjoyed visiting various historical sites, forts and battlefields throughout Pennsylvania.

In April I crossed into Ohio where I encountered several “interesting” motels, was nearly killed by an angry man at a bar, and had to walk in the rain almost every day. I spent some time paying my respects at the site of the Gnadenhutten Massacre in Newcomerstown. I explored many small towns and villages along the way. By early May, I had grown a rather wild beard and continued to trek through intense thunderstorms and unrelenting rain.

When I reached Indiana in mid-May, I received a surprise of a lifetime. While walking down a road surrounded by fields, I came face to face with a wolf. At first I feared he might attack me, but gradually my mind and body felt as if a blanket of peace and safety had washed over me. This beast and I gazed into each others eyes until he let out a long mournful howl and we set off in opposite directions. My unique encounter with this beast surprises me to this day.

Near the end of May, I reached the 1,000 mile point. My buddy John Connors flew out to Indiana to share that special milestone with me. Shortly after this milestone, I wasn’t sure if I’d reach another one. As I was heading to Layfayette, Indiana, I got caught in a horrendous storm. The wind could literally lift me off of the ground. I clung to a tree for dear life until a Good Samaritan invited me into his home until the storm had passed.

May rolled into June, I crossed into Indiana and the heat started to rise. Little did I know just how hot the weather could get once I reached the last legs of the Trail. Before I headed to St. Louis Missouri, I was privileged to have another visitor.  My daughter, Violet, flew out to walk with me to St. Louis and explore the city for a few days. She helped me get rid of my beard, which was becoming a nuisance in the heat. Her visit came at a great time, for her presence was able to renew my spirit and refresh my soul.

As I walked through the heat in Missouri, I felt called to spread hope in a different way. After some phone calls, I got connected with a church in Joplin, Missouri and was able to spend a week assisting the clean up and recovery process after a devastating tornado leveled the area. The week I spent in Joplin was one of the most fruitful weeks on the Trail. I met so many wonderful people and despite the fact the temperature exceeded 100 degrees almost everyday, I loved every minute I spent there. I found it hard to leave and continue on my way but was grateful and humbled that I was able to lend a small hand in restoring hope in a ravaged community.          

The final month and a half on the Trail proved to be the hardest. The sun shone down brightly each and every day, bringing crippling heat and humidity.  I would set out at 6am and by 10am my water was as hot as tea. My mind stopped working, my legs didn’t want to move forward, and at times I’d walk 30 miles in these conditions just to reach my motel for the night. The terrain was made up of endless stretches of land and fields with little civilization in between.

By the end of July I had crossed into Kansas. I visited the Shawnee Indian Mission and the Haskell Indian Nations University. My walks began at 3am and ended mid to late in the day. It was all I could do to survive the dangerously hot conditions.

Now I am within days of walking to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Four and a half months and 2,000 miles later, the Trail of Hope is coming to a close. I’m honored that this idea came to me and I could pay tribute to the Lenape Indians. I am grateful that I could share the Trail with everyone I met along the way and spread hope to all different walks of life. I hope that today, different cultures can live in peace together and that my Trail has lit a flame of hope in the hearts of those I encountered.

            OKLAHOMA

         Ignoring the service of Delaware and Shawnee to the Union, the Kansas legislature in 1863 called for the removal of all Indians from Kansas.
 On July 4th, 1866 the Delaware signed their final treaty with the United States which allowed the Secretary of the Interior to sell their remaining Kansas lands to the Missouri River Railroad Company.
 Individual Delaware, if they wished, could keep their 80 acre allotments and become American citizens, but in a situation reminiscent of the burnings in the Wyoming Valley in 1763, the Delaware Council House mysteriously burned afterwards. Most Delaware took the “hint,” and of the 1,160 Delaware in Kansas, 985 of them decided to move to Oklahoma.

            The main body of Lenape arrived in the northeast region of Oklahoma in the 1860s. Along the way many smaller groups left, or were told to stay where they were. Consequently today, from New Jersey to Wisconsin to southwest Oklahoma, there are groups who retain a sense of connection with ancestors who lived in the Delaware Valley in the 17th century and with cousins in the Lenape diaspora.
The two largest groups are the Delaware Nation (Anadarko, Oklahoma), and the Delaware Tribe of Indians (Bartlesville, Oklahoma), the only two federally recognized Lenape (Delaware) tribes in the United States.
 The Oklahoma branches were established in 1867.
 The Delaware were required to purchase land from the reservation of the Cherokee Nation; they made two payments totaling $438,000.
 A court dispute followed over whether the sale included rights for the Delaware as citizens within the Cherokee Nation.

While the dispute was unsettled, the Curtis Act of 1898 dissolved tribal governments and ordered the allotment of tribal lands to individual members of tribes. After the lands were allotted in 160-acre (650,000 m²) lots to tribal members in 1907, the government sold “surplus” land to non-Indians. It soon became obvious that the land was not suitable for subsistence farming on such small plots.

In 1979, the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs revoked the tribal status of the Delaware living among Cherokee in Oklahoma. 
They began to count the Delaware as Cherokee. The Delaware had this decision overturned in 1996, when they were recognized by the federal government as a separate tribal nation.

The Cherokee Nation filed suit to overturn the recognition of the Delaware. The tribe lost federal recognition in a 2004 court ruling in favor of the Cherokee Nation, but regained it on 28 July 2009. 
After recognition, the tribe reorganized under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act. Members approved a constitution and bylaws in a May 26, 2009 vote. 

Purpose of Life

​At the end of our lives there are only two things that will matter: the actions we took while alive and the difference that we made in the world. During our lifetime we are obsessed and fascinated without thoughts, dreams, and aspirations. Sometimes we even spend our whole life dreaming without acting upon these powerful ambitions. For in the end, the only thing that will matter is the dreams where were accomplished, not the dreams which were thought about.

​During life, we are offended and we offend other people. We want to prove we are right and that others are wrong. We sometimes hurt others and we have most certainly been hurt as well. Many of us keep pretending that our existence is a never ending game. Especially when we are younger, we don’t consider the fact that life will come to an end. We believe we have ample time and ample chances to become the person we hope to be.

​We make goals,  we plan to do great things, we dream of extraordinary and even imaginary things and we live and breathe the thought that one day, some day we’ll do these things. But for most of us, that day will never come. We spend our lives planning to perfect ourselves and our existence yet we do not take time to put the plans into action. We tend to be content with plans and goals, knowing we will always have something to strive towards, even if we never take the first steps to do so.

​The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to. If you are passionate about this task, than most of the time it will benefit humankind. You will change a heart, spread a message, inspire a soul or create a destiny. We can own our lives instead of pretending that our lives belong to fate. The only way to take ownership over our very beings is to combine motivation, willpower and aspiration to become what we were meant to be and live life hard and fully.

​When that day comes and we leave this world, we will be at peace knowing that we lived everyday as if it were our last and we kindled every passionate fire that life has to offer.

Over the next few days I’ll be taking the final steps of my journey. The Trail of Hope will come to a close and I’ll return to Fishtown in Philadelphia with great stories and memories to share. I still can not believe how fast the time has gone by, even though the Trail at the same time seems to have been quite long.

I would like to thank all of those who have supported me on this journey. Thank you to everyone who commented on my blog, “liked” my posts and pictures on Facebook, e-mailed me words of encouragement and followed me along the way. It was your consistent support which reminded me that throughout the journey I was never alone and we were on this Trail together. I am humbled by your constant support.

I’d like to extend thanks to all the people I met along the way. Our fruitful conversations will forever linger in my memory. I am grateful for everyone who offered me a delicious meal “on the house” or a bottle of cold water as they passed by me on the road. It was great to see humanity in action when offered a ride, even though I couldn’t accept the generous gestures. I’d also like to thank those hotels and motels which offered me, the weary traveler, a discounted stay.

There are two people who were able to fly out and meet me while walking the Trail and their visits served many purposes. I’m thankful that my buddy John Connors and my daughter Violet were able to visit and spend time with me. Your physical presence served as a special element of strength for my spirit. The joy from our time together carried me through the Trail long after you returned home.

I couldn’t have been nearing the completion of this Trail without the support and love from all of you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

Today’s Life
 
​Today’s life is hectic, fast paced and at times, even impersonal. When the cashier at the coffee shop asks how you are doing, your typical response is “good and you?” Does the cashier care about how you feel? Do you care about how the cashier is feeling? We pitter patter about like cordial robots, doing day to day things to support ourselves and our families, rarely stopping to do something out of the ordinary.
​The priorities of life get pushed aside by worldly demands. These priorities are ones such as dreaming, learning, and growing. The simple joy of wonderment seems out of reach each day. We often are overwhelmed with the many roles we play throughout the day. We’re mothers and fathers, bosses and line staff, friends and siblings, neighbors and community leaders. We’re so busy with the daily grind that we lose eight of the purpose of life.
​People who know what they really want in this life are clear and focused with activities which are relevant to them. Writers will write, photographers take pictures, missionaries travel to far and distant countries to help the less fortunate.  This clear and focused attitude will open the doors to abundant choices and opportunities.  The clarity empowers the ability to believe in what is being done and what actions are being taken. Each journey is a series of small steps and tasks and with successful completion of each, more paths will become evident and open up to more unraveled roads.
​When it comes down to it, all we want it today’s life is to love, be loved and be secure. If we take the time to step outside of our busy lives and examine the society surrounding us, we might make new discoveries about our world and even ourselves. The key is to take time out for yourself, allow yourself to be in awe of something greater than yourself whether it be human potential, nature, art, music, or humanity.

Yesterday I took the day off after my 40 mile walk from the day before. It was nice to rest in my very inexpensive hotel. Over the past few days I have been in contact with the Lenape Indians in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I explained to them about my Trail and told them I’d be arriving in Bartlesville on August 12^th. They seemed very excited about the Trail and were eager to be a part of it.

The assistant Lenape Chief called me and told me that he wanted to walk alongside me on my last day. I was deeply moved to hear that he wanted to help me complete the Trail. We’re planning on camping together and then early in the morning we’ll start walking towards Bartlesville. It will only be a 17 mile journey but it will be the perfect way to end the Trail.

The Lenape in Bartlesville are very committed to being a part of the Trail. They are planning on welcoming me and the Chief when we arrive in Bartlesville. This friendship and kinship reminds me of the precedent set by William Penn and Chief Tamanend under the Great Elm Tree.  It is an honor and a special thing that I know I can consider the Lenape Indians as my fellow friends. Having walked this Trail and endured all types of challenges, some of which the Lenape faced during their plight, I can sense a connection with them despite cultural divides.

I am looking forward to closing out the Trail in such a meaningful way. In the meantime I will continue to battle the heat and walk in the darkness of early morning until I reach that momentous day when the Trail of Hope will come to completion.

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Yesterday I was ready to start walking at 3am, however when I opened the door it was pouring down rain and thunderstorms were rolling through the area. It was bright outside from the lightening continually illuminating the whole sky. I didn’t start walking because of the danger and instead waited until 6am to start my walk.

At 6am it was still raining but the thunderstorms had passed. It was such a refreshing feeling, walking in the cool air under the shade of the clouds. It was the first time in awhile where I was able to really enjoy the walk and not be beaten down by the harsh heat.

There were no places to stop along the way. I was walking on a very straight road surrounded by vast open spaces. Once again I would see cattle grazing in the fields from time to time. They would stop what they were doing to look at me and I’d look right back at them.

The whole walk for the day totaled 40 miles. This was the longest distance I have ever walked while on the Trail. The sun eventually came out and the temperature rose to a mild 101 degrees. It was much better than the 112 degree heat that I had become somewhat accustomed to.

Throughout the day I was excited. I arrived at my motel at 8pm. I’m glad the weather kept my spirits high since I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch. By the time I reached the motel I was exhausted and hungry. Yet I was also happy that I reached the only motel in the area as well. Today I am resting from that nice long walk.

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Yesterday as I was walking, my mind began to think about the very ground I was stepping on. Almost 200 years ago, the Lenape Indians, after they were removed from the Kansas territory, were walking on the same ground that I was walking on.

When I walk in the night, a sort of weary feeling passes over me. There isn’t a lot of traffic on the road. As I walk alone occasionally a little light from a house pops out from the side of the land or a lonesome car drives down the road, shedding light on the trees with its headlights. From time to time the wind blows and the moon illuminates the dancing shadows of the trees on the ground. As the shadows dance, it reminds me of ghosts floating all around.

From the moment that Penn’s Treaty of Amity and Friendship took place on the banks of the Delaware River to the final resting place in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, the Lenape Indians carried out an incredible journey. Treaty after treaty was signed, and still the Lenape were forced to pack up and move after settling on the current land.

When the shadows of the trees dance on the ground, my mind goes back to the Great Elm tree and the very beginning of the Lenape’s plight. The Great Elm marked the beginning of their journey and the beginning of my journey as well.

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Yesterday, I took another day of rest since the temperature was over 112 degrees. I stayed in my hotel room most of the day. While I was resting I began thinking about my whole trail so far. I thought about all the people that I met along the way as well as all the people who supported me. I just cannot believe that the time has flown by so quickly! It has been a long Trail but time sure flies.

I thought about all the places that I was able to explore along the way. There were places that brought me joy and places that brought me a little disappointment. I remembered walking through the pouring rain, the falling snow, the intense thunderstorms and now the bright and crippling heat.

My mind was traveling at the speed of light as I recalled the past few months. It was like a slide show of memories.

I have already reached my hotel since I started walking at about 3am. The weather was much better today than yesterday. It was nice to take a rest and then walk in less than 112 degree weather.

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My days are starting at 3am now. It is the only way I can get done a lot of walking before the heat settles in for the day. The distances between my lodging sites are quite long and lonely. They are lonely since there are few opportunities along the way for food, water, or rest. I spend the early morning hours navigating the rolling hills in the darkness.

As the sun comes up I see rolling hill and occasionally farmland with cattle roaming the area. It is almost pointless to bring my water with me during the day since it heats up so quickly and burns my mouth when I try to drink it. Occasionally people driving by pull over and offer me some water. I am grateful when this happens, but I can not expect it to happy every day.

Putting thoughts together is very difficult. When I first laid out the plans for the Trail of Hope, I never imagined that the last leg of my journey would be this hard. I know I talk about the heat a lot, but it makes it hard to think, move and at times even breathe. I want to move forward as quickly as I can to find the next shady area, but it feels like I’m moving in slow motion.

Today I am taking the day off to rest and recuperate before tackling the weather tomorrow.  With each heavy step I get closer and closer to completing the Trail. It is thoughts like these that I must use to power myself through the long and hot days.

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