Release:
Native American Darius Puff (Silver Wolf) will speak on the history and culture of the Lenni Lenape at the Thomas Paine Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (TPUUF), Collegeville, PA, Sunday, January 22, at 10:30 a.m.
Most Americans are more familiar with Native American tribes of the Plains and the Southwest than with those originally inhabiting eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and other territory along the Delaware watershed—the Delawara or Lenni Lenape. Puff seeks to increase awareness of the Lenape as real people with personal stories. Incorporating artifacts (originals and reproductions), furs, and traditional storytelling, his programs teach others about the Lenape and the changes their society went through in the Eighteenth Century.
Puff is a retired Berks County law enforcement officer, having served the Boyertown Police Department for thirty-two years, the last twenty as Chief of Police. He is a graduate of Penn State with an Associate Degree in Community Service and a BS in Criminal Justice. A few years prior to his retirement, he began giving talks about his Native American heritage, adding a deeper knowledge of the Lenape people and their culture to his life-long love of history. He has done presentations for scouting groups, civic and historical societies, and schools. He has presented programs at state and county parks and historic sites, among them Ricketts Glen State Park, Francis Slocum State Park, Peter Wentz Farmstead, Morgan Log Home, Conrad Weiser Homestead, Daniel Boone Homestead, and Pottsgrove Manor. He has also presented programs at several Penn State campuses, Millersville University, Kutztown University, Rutgers University, and Reading Area Community College.
TPUUF (tpuuf.org), is celebrating its Fiftieth Anniversary as a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person and promotes spiritual, ethnic, racial and cultural diversity in its congregations and throughout the world.
Contact: Jerry Lazzaro, [email protected]