Remembrance

"Remembrance" honors Xinkwikaoan (Big House), the principal religion of the Lenape (Delaware). This annual ceremony was noted in the 1600s and 1700s by the Dutch, English, and Swedish and was practiced by the majority of Lenape in the so-called Indian Territory between 1867 and 1924. Situated in the center of the gallery, the installation is shown in proximity to contemporary paintings and sculpture, thus expanding and countering historical narratives of cultural hierarchies. The post featuring a hatchet-carved face (the channel to the creator) investigates the spatial, sensorial, and temporal dimensions of ceremonial space. Radical in its emphasis on form, the installation is a call to action. Not only was the Big House an annual ceremony of thanksgiving, but it was also necessary to counter the chaos of environmental forces, as the quote below describes:

“The meeting house was used to keep anything down that was injurious to the people, such as floods, earthquakes, or anything injurious to people, etc. So long as they kept it up we would raise good crops and everything else that was beneficial to the people. So that guidepost in the center is what protects the people on the earth. So long as that stands up the earth will stand.” - Charlie Elkhair (1854 -1935), last ceremonial chief of the Delaware