BRANCH OF KNOWLEDGE
The Branch of Knowledge is the branch of Catalyst dedicated specifically to working with Lenape people and supporting Lenapeyok pathways home to Lenapehoking. Catalyst primarily lives and works in Lenapehoking and strives to be in good relation with land. This means working in good relations with the people whose homelands this is.
The Branch of Knowledge is invested in supporting Lenape diaspora via movement of resources, education, research, and organizing; the intention is to act as a bridge between Lenape individuals and resources, community, and land in Lenapehoking.The Branch of Knowledge is led by community organizer River Whittle, an artist, organizer, and youth mentor who is an enrolled member of the Caddo Nation and a descendant of the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma.
The Branch of Knowledge is in collaboration with individuals from Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, Munsee-Delaware Nation, Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma, and Delaware Nation of Oklahoma.
The Branch of Knowledge is not a council, not an advisory, not a group who gives or doesn't give permissions. It is a group coming together in creative conversation with Emily Johnson and Catalyst. Catalyst works accordingly, to the self determined needs of the group. The first voiced need - to come back to their homelands.
In October 2022 a collective of matriarchs from these communities made their first return as a group to Lenapehoking in collaboration with Catalyst. We celebrated, visited sites, held feast and fire with other local community members, harvested tobacco and corn growing in community gardens in New York City, shared the stage during Catalyst's presentation of Being Future Being at New York Live Arts, and held strategic organizational meetings to ensure future returns.
After this trip, the group organized as Lenni Lenapexkewyok, a collective of individual Lenape matriarchs who are working to increase Lenape presence in their homelands, immediately and long term.
The Branch of Knowledge is in collaboration with Lenni Lenapexkweyok. The goal of the Branch of Knowledge is to listen to the needs of Lenni Lenapexkweyok and organize in support. This is something every institution and in large part, individuals in Lenapehoking - the traditional territory of the Lenape, can do in multiple ways. Lenape people need their land back, and those with access to the land can gather resources to right ongoing wrongs.
The Branch of Knowledge does not represent any Lenape or Delaware nation, and neither do their collaborators or the individuals within Lenni Lenapexkweyok. The Branch of Knowledge works with Lenape individuals who are invested in the freedom of their communities.