Erika Bowser

Land

The young couple moved to the house on the hill in early April before, unbeknownst to them, the small plot of land would light up with spring flowers-dogwoods, azaleas, daffodils. This land was Lenape land (i.e., stolen land), though you wouldn’t know it from the Zillow listing or any of the local histories written about the small mountain town. These narratives, written by (surely) well meaning white folks, painted the forced and at times brutal removal of the Native Americans from their ancient homeland as progress or, in one convoluted tale, as of their own free will. It read, “The Indians that had occupied our area were of the Lenni-Lenape tribe. They must have certainly regretted leaving the lush valleys, forests, and rolling hills...” Reading such tales made their bodies contort.