ESU Holds Tammany Day Celebration

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) and the Delaware Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma will host the University’s Inaugural Tammany Day Celebration on Friday, April 30, 2021. The ceremony will be held via Zoom at 10 a.m.

The program will include a welcome by Dr. Brice Obermeyer, director, Delaware Tribe Historic Preservation Office; a prayer by Amanda Browne, secretary, ESU counseling and psychological services; remarks by Curtis Zunigha, cultural director for the Delaware Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; a Landmark acknowledgment by ESU Interim President, Kenneth Long; a scholarship announcement by ESU Vice President for Enrollment Management, Karen Lucas; and closing remarks by Susan Bachor, Delaware Tribe Historic Preservation Office and ESU instructor of history and geography.

“The purpose of Native American Scholarship is to assist Native American students in completing their higher education,” said Lucas. “Scholarship recipients will have half the cost of their tuition waived for four years.”

In 2003, the U.S. Congress ratified May 1 as a day of recognition to honor Tammany (Tamanend or Tammamend), the “affable” (c. 1628–c. 1698). Tammany was a chief of one of the Lenape clans in the Delaware Valley at the time Philadelphia was established. He is known as a lover of peace, proponent of friendship, fairness, justice, and equality. Tammany participated in a meeting between the leaders of the Lenape and the leaders of the Pennsylvania colony reputedly held under a large elm tree at Shakamaxon (Fishtown, Philadelphia) in the early 1680s. His above-named attributes placed him in a pivotal role to help establish peaceful relations among the Native American tribes and the English settlers led by William Penn.

ESU announced a formal partnership with the Delaware Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma in September 2018. Through this partnership, The Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma moved its Eastern Tribal Historic Preservation Office to the campus of ESU. This partnership enables collaboration between the tribe and the University’s students, faculty and staff to work with archeologists, historians and government agencies. It helps others learn from the long and proud legacy of Indian tribes in the region in way that supports existing programs and will lead to the development of new, interdisciplinary programs. The partnership also provides opportunities for undergraduate research and distance learning as well as the chance to share grant funding and provide student scholarships.

The Inaugural Tammany Day Celebration may be accessed on April 30 via Zoom, https://esu-online.zoom.us/j/98999636157. For more information, contact Lyesha Fleming, director of the Center of Multicultural Affairs and Inclusive Education, by calling 570-422-3896 or email lfleming@esu.edu.

To learn more about the ESU Native American Scholarship contact ESU’s office of financial aid at fa@esu.edu or call 570-422-2800.

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