Sarah Meitzler, Lower Macungie Library’s adult programming manager, introduced Native American storyteller Darius Puff to an intimate audience at an event held outdoors at the Lock Ridge Park Pavilion Aug. 2.

Puff, who has Lenape ancestors, shared his heritage with “Tales from Spirit Wind.” He began with a narrative of migration from Asia to North America over a small strip of land “surrounded by dark and angry water” of the Bering Strait. These “immigrants” continued east, crossing over another “dark and angry water” before settling in what is now Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Lenape is loosely translated: “The People.”

“We don’t date anything, no need,” Puff said as he explained how the Lenape marked time by the daily movement of the sun and phases of the moon. “Our way of telling history is by speaking and listening,” said Puff. Stories are passed down through the generations.

While attired in Lenape regalia, including a white linen shirt, deerskin leggings and moccasins, and with artifacts and reproduction tools, Puff explained how men and women were given roles defined by tradition. The men hunted and fished, the women, children and elders butchered what was brought back and prepared the food as well as tanned the hides.

“All life comes from the mother,” was a firmly held belief, so the women planted, reaped and gathered produce, and raised the children. They also were the ones making baskets, clothing, beadwork and pottery. The women also owned the bark lodges and when a couple got divorced, it was the man who had to move out.

Elder males, known as “Uncles” would educate the youngsters in various survival skills such as flint knapping and hunting. Although not necessarily related, the villagers all pitched in with the education of the children.

Puff informed and entertained attendees with tales of how porcupine quills were acquired and used for decorative work, mixing kinnikinnick and staghorn sumac with tobacco for personal and ceremonial use, and how European settlers came to call the Lenape the “Delaware.” They were named for a river that had been named for Lord de la Warr, the governor of Jamestown, Virginia.

He explained the nation was divided into three clans: Wolf, Turtle, and Turkey. “You may not marry within your clan,” Puff added.

Clan Mothers wielded an abundance of political power. They were the ones to pick the sachem (chief).

Puff also spoke about how Native American culture, especially dance, had been suppressed by fearful Whites in the late nineteenth century. Although the trance-inducing Ghost Dance was done to summon the return of their ancestors, the buffalo and for Whites to disappear, the ceremony was not a call to arms, explained Puff. Efforts to stop it resulted in the massacre at Wounded Knee by the Seventh Cavalry.

A renaissance of Native American culture came back sometime around the 1920s with the modern powwow which features traditional dance, music and provides opportunities for First Nations people to gather and honor their heritage.

Even before retiring from the Boyertown Police Department, Puff has made it his mission to learn and teach about the history and culture of the Lenape people. Puff is of mixed ancestry with “Silver Wolf” as his indigenous name. “I’m a descendant, not a tribal member,” he said.

In keeping with their mission statement of striving to “inform, enrich and empower our community,” the Lower Macungie Library, 3450 Brookside Rd., Macungie, is more than a book and recording repository, they also offer ongoing programming for children and adults.

Information: www.lowermaclib.org