In 2022, I came out with the Welcome to Lenapehoking/Delaware River Watershed map. Over the past two years, I've had thousands of conversations about this map, often shedding light on the creation process. Today I wanted to do a deep dive into the background, process, and reception of this beautiful project so the information can be found all in one place.
BACKGROUND AND CONTRIBUTORS
In the fall of 2021, I got one of those phone calls from a friend that artists often get. The kind where the friend has a genuinely awesome idea for a big art piece the artist could make but not a great source of funding. If I can, I try to take on these projects in between my regular paid gigs because I love working with my friends to realize their visions and sometimes they have an idea so great that I would have never guessed how far it will reach.
This idea came from my friend Jen Brown, who, like me, cares a whole lot for the land, water, and living beings we live with on Earth. Jen runs a community garden 10 minutes from me, does land stewardship education work, has intentionally sustainable practices built into their own art making process, and, in 2021, was doing a deep dive into how to better care for the Delaware River Watershed. During this infamous friend phonecall, they stated the baffling fact that there isn’t a great map of the watershed available for purchase out there already. There are the technical GIS maps that are not very pretty, Google Maps, and some very old, beautiful, but inaccurate maps. But nothing that either of us would hang on our wall in a proud “this is our complete watershed and this is where I live within it” kind of way. So that was the request- to create a map of the Delaware River Watershed and include information about Lenapehoking (more on that below), an insert to show Philly’s historic streams vs. current above-ground waterways, a few landmarks, basic topography, and local flora and fauna. I loved the idea even if I was a little daunted by the task. Jen offered a small amount of money to get the project started and the freedom for me to sell the map to the general public once it was complete- something that most people who commission art aren’t willing to do. But Jen had the correct hunch that this project would do well in the end. With this as our agreement, I took on the project. Most of my illustration work in the past 5-10 years has focused on local nature, waterways, plants, and animals, so it was a perfect fit. I’d never done a map quite like this before, but I was ready for it.
I had just gotten done with a 2-year long project illustrating the card game Aqua Marooned! It is a game to be played while exploring local green spaces and parks. Our team included Cultural Consultant Trinity Norwood from the Nanticoke Lenape Nation just over the bridge in New Jersey. She generously offered a deep well of knowledge around the Lenape’s past, current and future relationship with our non-human relatives in this region and spoke truthfully and eloquently about colonialism, Native erasure, and the need to consistently elevate Indigenous voices through a variety of projects, especially if the project focuses on Lenapehoking- the area that the Lenape Nation has occupied for thousands of years. If you look at a map of Lenapehoking and a map of the Delaware River Watershed, it is a very similar area. This is their land and has been stewarded by them for much longer (and better) than what has happened in the past few hundred years. I asked Trinity to consult on this map project and I am lucky she said yes.
As I was gathering all the information that I wanted to include in the map, I was grateful that years ago I attended a presentation by Adam Levine, the main historian with the Philadelphia Water Department. Through Adam’s research, I learned how the land that Philadelphia is built on was “obliterated” (an old term for razing the land and leveling it out for human development). This included covering over or filling in lots and lots of streams and creeks, turning a bunch of them into mixed sewer systems (sorry fish!), and leaving a select few water ways open to the air as they weave through our city. This research is what informed the circular highlight on the bottom left of my map, which I will refer to as the Philly insert. Adam has written about my map on his blog HERE and has done a separate interview blog with Trinity HERE. Honestly, his entire blog is one to fall down a rabbit hole with. I encourage it.
In order to draw all the waterways within the Delaware River Watershed, I collected as many maps of the full watershed as I could find and referenced them all as I developed this map. This included maps from the Delaware River Basin Commission, Eyes Habit, old maps signed by P.S. Johst, Edward Cacchione and Bernard Lion, numerous maps developed by the Philadelphia Water Department, the William Penn Foundation, Google Maps, and a couple others that I wasn’t able to find credits for.
All the maps are slightly different since they were created to share specific information and use various ways to measure and note things. It is up to the map maker to figure out what to include. My map is drawn through my eyes and although it is generally pretty accurate, it was never intended to be a technically accurate GIS map and since my focus was unique, I had to edit a LOT of information out of my final map. The Delaware River Watershed includes over 2,000 tributaries and if I were to include all of them, it would cover the paper with so many black squiggly lines that it would make it unreadable. Even my favorite childhood stream, Naylor’s Run, didn’t make the cut. I’ve had people show me a map they got from me months ago that is now covered in red sticker stars to note their favorite trails, special annotations, highlighted names, and fully colored animals. This map can truly turn into whatever you want it to be.
I often get asked how I chose which plants and animals to include. 75% of them were chosen simply because they are my favorite local species. About 5% of them were chosen because when I was doing research, I was blown away that they actually live nearby. I’m looking at you, bull shark and harbor seal! And about 20% of them were specially requested by Trinity because they hold significance to the Lenape people. For more on that, check out the bottom of the species list.
I chose the raccoon, pigeon and opossum to be included in the Philly insert because… well, if you’ve ever walked around Philly, you probably know why. They are common sightings. All the plants in the Philly insert produce nuts or berries and I wanted the food-producing plants to surround our very populated city. Fun fact: I think the raccoon passed out from eating too many blackberries is my favorite animal in the whole piece!
Trinity also requested that I include specific locations that are also Lenape words. This included:
• Lenapewihittuk which is the Northern Munsee dialect’s name for the river we often call the Delaware River
• Manayunk ‘rushing waters’ (a lot of people say this translates to ‘place where we drink’ but Trinity thinks that’s more of a marketing ploy- more language scholars believe the ‘rushing waters’ translation is truer)
• Wissahickon ‘catfish stream’
• Cinnaminson ‘sweet water’ (it is also believed to be translated to ‘rocky place of fish,’ but many people now believe this is a mistranslation. Note: the town in NJ still uses this translation)
• Tulpehocken ‘land of turtles’
• Alloway- used as a term to compare, one ‘more’ than the other
• Hackensack ‘place where the ground is sharp or rough’
• Hoboken ‘pipe for smoking’
• Manahawkin ‘where the land slopes’ (Trinity has also heard this translated to ‘area one can drink’)
PROCESS
My process for creating a larger complex illustration that includes lots of information starts off with gathering all the information in lists. I organize, organize, organize. I’m a bit of an analytical illustrator, so if I have a color-coded spreadsheet, things go a lot smoother.
For my paper, I used 19”x24” Borden & Riley Layout Bond. It has a bit more tooth than vellum paper but serves the same purpose and is a studio staple for me. My original drawing is 16.5”x20.5”. Once I laid out the size of my intended drawing, I grabbed my adorably small sticky notes and wrote a species that I wanted to include in the map on each one of them. For each species, I collected a folder of photographic references and pulled inspiration from those to create my illustration. Slowly but surely, I drew each one and pulled off each sticky note. This initial pencil drawing process (including revising the drawing as per Jen and Trinity’s requests) took approximately 2 months because I was doing it in between projects and over the holiday break.
Inking is one of my favorite activities to do in life. At the point where I’m ready to ink, I’ve already planned out what my illustration is going to look like with my pencils, and that is really the hardest part. When I lay that second sheet of layout bond on top of the original drawing, I just get to make it look pretty with my pens. I put on my favorite podcast and get to it. I use Micron pens and brushes for all my inking. Pulling a felt tipped pen across a sheet of paper, slowing pressing it into the paper more or slightly lifting it up to get a beautifully varied line weight feels like dancing. There is a rhythm to it- places to be more dramatic, punctuate, glide, stretch, and places to leave empty space, trusting that your viewer will fill in the gaps with their own imaginations. Inking this map took about 30 hours and I savored the whole time.
Fun fact: I actually forgot a couple of animals in my final inked piece! I had to draw them on separate pieces of layout bond and photoshop them into the final print file. If you can figure out which animals they were, you get solid bragging rights.
So, yes. I scanned the final piece(s) into Photoshop at about 2400 DPI and just about broke my 2017 laptop while trying to complete this project because the file was just so big. I knew I wanted to print the final map as a larger product like a banner or a blanket, which is what it became, so I needed the resolution to be very high.
The background of the map is a parchment paper that I purchased from a local paper maker whose name I forget but will add when I remember it! In Photoshop, I added the green coloring around the watershed, the brown shadows and white highlights using my Wacom tablet and stylus. I also added most of the text digitally.
The printing of the paper map is done using offset printing at Fireball Printing here in Philly. The printing of the soft fleece blanket is done in Phoenix, AZ.
RECEPTION
When the map was finally printed, I was surprised and excited about the amount of interest that erupted around it. Trinity and I decided that 15% of proceeds will go to We Are The Seeds, a local nonprofit that celebrates and educates about contemporary Indigenous arts and cultures, creates expansive and holistic opportunities for Indigenous artists, and provides positive and accurate representation of Indigenous peoples. To date, I’ve been able to donate over $4,300. Buyers who identify as Lenape can purchase blankets and maps at wholesale prices.
As I’ve furthered my conversations with various Lenape folks, a couple of them have pointed out that they call the Delaware River simply Mother River, or Hakesena Sipu. And the area that is now called Philadelphia is named Lenapehokink. These are two examples of the many Lenape words in the various dialects that could be added to the map. Some Lenape tribes have used the blankets as gifts to their chiefs during their chiefdom ceremony.
As the hubbub has spread around the map, Jen, Trinity and I have been given opportunities to speak at schools, libraries, and community events covering topics such as Lenape culture, map making, land use, the importance of lifting up the voices of folks who are often silenced or ignored, cultural sensitivity, and more. I have been excited about how thirsty people are for information about local Indigenous culture and encourage people to continue looking for opportunities to learn and support.
In 2023, the Philadelphia Free Library translated the entire map into braille! It is available in their Map Collections at the Main Branch on 19th and Vine Street.
Keep a look out for more maps coming out of my studio in the future. They are in the pipeline!
This map can be purchased from me personally at various art markets, and via my online shop, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vix Emporium, Nice Things Homemade, and House Finch Suburban Nature Store.
If you are interested in commissioning a map, please reach out to me via my contact form show final inked piece.
Thank you for all this work. The map is mezmerizing.
I created a power point presentation for philadelphia mural arts called "Welcome to Lenapehokink."
I would like to commission a map in Unami dialect of Lenape to compliment that presentation, in the dialect that was spoken by the local people in the philadelphia region and by William Penn, himself.
I've always been curious why you chose to use the Munsee dialect in this past map and the water game.
I'm wondering how difficult it would be to adjust so we could have a map with Unami place names. This is very important for correcting misinformation and erasure, as well as promoting language restoration in our region. Thanks for reading thi…
Meg, I received this as a gift today, and greatly appreciate your post. Thank you!
Meg! Thank you for taking the time to write this blog post. I am gifting your map this afternoon and I know the recipient will appreciate this information. As did I! I love reading about the process you took to create this map, which I think is exquisite in so many ways.