Trail of Hope

To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals – this alone is worth the struggle.  Wm. Penn

The legacy of Penn Treaty Park is over 330 years old.  And from the early years it was always a Sacred Ground.

It took over 2 centuries to make it a public Park. Many individuals cherished and tended this place, committing their own believes and hopes on the importance of preservation. Finally, after years of efforts Penn Treaty Park was recognized and registered by Philadelphia Historical Commission.

To Celebrate this important milestone, Penn Treaty Museum organized a ceremony on May 12, 2012 in Penn Treaty Park. Many neighbors and supporters gathered to commemorate this important step in preserving Penn Treaty Park as a Historic Landmark.  This place is much more than just a park. It’s more than just “where it all began”.  It is a Place of Peace and Harmony, a place of Spirit that lives among us.  

Penn Treaty Museum leading the Celebration of the registration of Penn Treaty Park as a Historic Landmark.

Many supporters at the May 12th. Celebration

Behold, my brothers, the spring has come; the earth has received the embraces of the sun and we shall soon see the results of that love! Every seed has awakened and so has all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land.   -   Tatanka Yotanka (Sitting Bull), Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux

Many have tried before, but I guess it takes special charisma to fulfill the task. For decades many more very committed people persisted on recognizing Penn Treaty Park as a historic place. And for decades nothing happened.

There are times when we discover that life’s circumstances are not always what we might wish them to be. There are moments in our lives when things do not go as planned. Yet we cannot allow those unpredictable obstacles hold us back from putting our efforts into choosing a path to work towards direction of our goals.

And this Saturday, we’ll have a chance to meet some of those amazing people, a very special individuals.

Thanks to them, and their persistence and countless efforts at last, Pent Treaty Park has been recognized by Philadelphia Historical Commission and placed on the Registrar of Philadelphia Historic Places.

At Last - Recognition of Penn Treaty Park

Penn Treaty Museum is proud to host a Celebration to recognize the listing of Penn Treaty Park on  the Registrar of Philadelphia Historic Places.

Saturday, May 12, 2012  @ 12 Noon at Penn Treaty Park -Delaware and Columbia Ave.

Music -Kensington Creative and Performing Arts(CAPA) High School-Drum Line

Presentations:

• New Kensington CDC
• Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia
• Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
• Barbara Morehead, Friends of Penn Treaty Park

The collection of the Penn Treaty Museum will be open to the public 1-3 PM immediately after the ceremony.

At Tamanend Statue, May 1, 2012

Through generations Tamanend has been adored and highly regarded for his virtues of integrity, ethics, honor, value, justice, as well as equality for the common individual.

 Why May 1st.?

The earliest May Day activities came out in pre-Christian times, along with the celebrations, get togethers, customs or other activities around that period. The actual day has been a traditional summer time festive in numerous pre-Christian European civilizations.      February 1 was the very first day of Spring, May 1 was the very first day associated with summer season; therefore, the summer solstice about June 25 ended up being Midsummer.                                                                                                                                                                                               The term solstice originates from Latin sol – sun, and sistere – to stand still.   May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 244 days left over till the conclusion of the year.

Throughout the world, presentation of the occasion has varied between civilizations, but the majorities have kept a sign of acknowledgement around that period.

May Day had also been commemorated by early European settlers of the American nation.  

And it all started here in Philadelphia because of its governmental importance through the beginning of the United States of America. Tammany quickly grew to become a nationwide symbolic representation throughout most of the freshly shaped nation. 

TAMANEND, has been Native American chief of the Delawares, (Lenape Indians), and has been variously named Temane, Tamenand, Taminent, Tameny, as well as Tammany. It was Tamanend and William Penn that cleared a way of establishing in a peaceful way a new Pennsylvania colony.

Commemorating Tamanend Day in Philadelphia

Throughout the subsequent century, many tales surrounded Tamanend and his awesome reputation deemed legendary proportions amongst the people of Philadelphia, who started to call him “King Tammany,” “Saint Tammany,” and the “Patron Saint of North America”.

People of Philadelphia furthermore organized Tammany society and a yearly Tammany festivity. All these practices quickly spread out throughout America. Because of Philadelphia’s importance during the actual founding of the United States of America, Tammany soon grew to become a nation’s icon throughout most of the newly created nation. Fraternal Tammany Societies endured throughout the eastern states.

In the eighteenth century, numerous stories surrounded Tamanend and his fame assumed mythical proportions among the people of Philadelphia. His recognition as a noble Indian native increased even though the Lenape had been pressed farther West.

Few Historical Facts:

* In 1810, President James Madison announced the Territory of Western Florida to become a portion of the Louisiana Purchase, and in 1811, William C. C. Claiborne, the 1st American territorial Governor of Louisiana, named the area north of Lake Pontchartrain as ‘‘St. Tammany Parish’’ in recognition of the Saint Tamanend.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    In 2003, the Parish Council approved a resolution assigning May 1, 2003, as St. Tammany Day, and advocating the restoration of May 1st as a nationwide day of acknowledgement for Tamanend.

 In the United States Congress, a concurrent resolution was proposed in the House and passed by the Senate agreed “That Congress supports the goals and ideals of St. Tammany Day as a national day of acknowledgement for Tamanend and the values he represented.”

* USS Delaware wooden war ship – constructed in Norfolk, Virginia, and launched in 1820. Its figurehead was a bust of Tamanend. USS Delaware was sunk in 1861, but for some reason the figurehead has been recovered. It was taken to Annapolis, Maryland to the Naval Academy. Midshipmen began using the statue as a good luck charm. Eventually the wooden figure started to decay and disintegrate. In 1906 the classmates of 1891 had the figurine meticulously forged in bronze. The bronze statue was presented in 1930. It stands today at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

* The Schuylkill Fishing Company, founded in 1732, originated its privileges from a grant created by Tammany. May 1, the beginning of the actual fishing season, was “King Tammany’s Day”. Their motto, “Kawania ehe Keekeru”, has been Delaware for “This is my right, I will defend it”. In 1888, Daniel Garrison Brinton and Horatio Hale uncovered it was really Iroquoian for “I am master wherever I am”.

At the Tamanend Statue, celebrating May 1

Saint Tamanend Day Celebration