Messenger - Vol. 1, No. 3, Page 8 Spring 1992 A living eulogy to the Lenape Five hundred years ago while Columbus was preparing to depart for the New World, tribes of Lenni Lenape were hunting squirrels, deer and rabbit from their winter camps in the woodlands of the Delaware Valley. As the weather warmed and Columbus set sail, the Lenape, which means "the common people," began their yearly migration to their coastal summer camps. There, they fished and perhaps farmed a little until the weather grew cold again. Recreating the annual migration of the Lenape from the piedmont to the coastal plain, a group of University horticulture students designed an 18-foot by 18-foot landscape display for the Philadelphia Flower Show held in March. Titled "Eulogy for the Lenni Lenape," the display uses only plants native to the mid-Atlantic region to create an entrance to a nature center. The 15 students, members of the University's Horticulture Club, incorporated a 10-foot by 4-foot pond and a cliff face in their display. Ferns, grasses, reeds, azaleas and three full-size trees, including an American Holly, were included in the modern landscape that pays tribute to the past. The students spent hours collecting gumballs, leaf litter, seed heads, logs and stones to make their display as realistic as possible. After consulting the University's Department of Anthropology, they decided to include appropriate artifacts such as animal horns and stone chips from spearheads. The display also included signs explaining the seasonal migration of the Lenape. "The display allowed the students to recreate a native ecosystem while expressing their concern about the displacement of an indigenous culture," says Gary Smith, landscape design professor. Smith and Susan Barton, Cooperative Extension horticulture specialist, served as faculty advisers. -Claire McCabe, Delaware '85 M