RuthAnn Purchase James is a linguist turned sociologist of Lenape-Welsh descent, whose studies have taken her across nearly every continent, seeking those universal truths that guide us to live together well with All Our Relations. Her greatest honor is working toward Lenape language restoration and restoring dignity for her mother’s mother’s people, who experienced the forced removal from Egg Harbor, NJ to Meniolagomeka, a safe “Indian Town” founded by Moravians in the Lehigh Valley.
Learning to honor her mother’s mother’s people, RuthAnn is a Water Protector immersed in Unami dialect of Lenape Language, supporting cultural restoration and sustainable development through the arts, with honor for Lenape Everywhere.
Founder of Leipsic River Watershed Association, GreenBridge Community Development Corporation, “Friends of Lenape Everywhere”, RuthAnn lives and works in the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware Federal Census District as Cultural Mapping Project Manager and with Native American House Alliance in Philadelphia as Outreach Coordinator.
RuthAnn is indeed Friends of Lenape Everywhere, reuniting cousins across the Lenape diaspora.
FriendsofLenapeEverywhere@gmail.com
302.399.1235
RuthAnn in the media
- May 23, 2018 – PA Fracking Health Impacts – Governor Wolf, Will you help us? – 2:57 video
- Sep 21, 2016 – StateImpact PA – Dakota Access pipeline controversy hits home for Pa.
Page last updated: Feb 8, 2022
Lenape Union Land Trust 