Anderson’s name carries a history much deeper than most realize. Long before streets and factories, before schools and churches, this land was home to the Miami people.
In the early 1800s the Lenape, also known as the Delaware Indians, settled here through agreement with the Miami. Chief Kikthawenund, remembered to us as Chief Anderson, established a Lenape village on the White River. That settlement, called Wapeminskink or the “Place of the Chestnut Trees,” became an important stop in the Lenape journey west.
The Lenape homeland, known as Lenapehoking, stretched across present-day New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, southern New York and northern Delaware. By the time they reached Indiana, the Lenape had already endured displacement from their original territory.
Their presence here was not part of their ancient homeland, but it was a significant chapter in their long migration that eventually carried them to Kansas and Oklahoma.
This story is not a footnote to our past, it is the beginning of it. Too often the Indigenous roots of our community are glossed over or reduced to a few sentences in a history book. The Lenape were hunters, farmers and spiritual leaders whose culture shaped the very landscape they lived upon.
Their forced removal through the Treaty of St. Mary’s in 1818 represents not just a historical event but a profound loss of people, tradition and language that deserves recognition.
In September, Anderson Community Schools was honored to host Jeremy Johnson, director of cultural education for the Delaware Tribe of Indians, for the second time. His visit is part of an effort to bring authentic Lenape history and culture back into the public conversation.
Johnson is more than a cultural representative, he is an educator who provides living connections to the traditions of his people. He met with students and staff, shared stories and history, and reminded us that the Lenape story is not one of the past alone but of resilience in the present.
Our hope is that this becomes an annual visit. Anderson should be known not only for its factories and basketball but also for its Indigenous heritage. Each year that we welcome the Delaware Tribe back to the place their ancestors once passed through, we take a step toward honoring the people who gave Anderson its name.
History does not belong only to the past, it belongs to those willing to tell it with accuracy and respect. The Lenape deserve that, and Anderson is stronger when we remember.
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.