Ale dirèk nan kontni prensipal la
Foto pa Visit Philadelphia
Attraction

Tamanend: A Monument to the Lenape

A public art statue honoring a revered chief of the Lenape — Philly’s original people …

Foto pa Visit Philadelphia

For centuries before settler William Penn arrived, native peoples lived and cared for Lenapehoking, the land we now call Philadelphia.

Penn greeted the Lenape — whose name translates to “original people” — and their leader Chief Tamanend in friendship, attempting but ultimately failing to form a sustainable equality with the Indigenous people.

The City of Philadelphia commissioned Tamanend in 1994 to honor the Lenape people and their chief, known as “the Affable One.” Indigenous artist Raymond Sandoval answered a newspaper call for proposals, with his design for the Tamanend statue rising to the top of 3,000 applications.

Tamanend stands tall at Front and Market streets, positioned to face toward Philadelphia’s City Hall and Alexander Milne Calder’s William Penn statue, which stands watch over the city.

Read on to learn more about this monument to the Lenape people.

Kote & Kontak:
2 N. Front Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Gade tout enfòmasyon yo

What can I expect to see at the Tamanend statue?

Raymond Sandoval crafted Tamanend from bronze and local Wissahickon schist, rising a commanding 21 feet high from a 16-foot base.

Standing atop a turtle representing Earth, Tamanend stretches out one hand in a gesture of peace, with an eagle perched on his shoulder clutching a wampum belt, a symbol of the treaty between the Indigenous people and Penn.

The bronze statue of Chief Tamanend stands atop a stone pedestal with an eagle perched above his head, reaching outward beneath a bright blue sky with scattered clouds. The bronze statue of Chief Tamanend stands atop a stone pedestal with an eagle perched above his head, reaching outward beneath a bright blue sky with scattered clouds.

  — Foto pa Visit Philadelphia

Patwone
Patwone

Tell me more about Chief Tamanend.

Penn’s treaty with Tamanend probably didn’t look like the apocryphal scene that’s portrayed in Benjamin West’s 1771 painting, but legend says that Penn met the Lenape and their leader in Shackamaxon (today’s Fishtown neighborhood) and signed a treaty under a great elm (in today’s Penn Treaty Park).

Penn returned to England in 1701, the same year that Tamanend is believed to have died. While Penn strived for peace with and respect for the local Lenape nation, his sons did not follow suit after his death in 1718.

Patwone
Patwone

What else do I need to know?

As a work of public art, Tamanend is free to visit at any time of day.

Read more about the statue on the Association for Public Art’s official website by clicking the button below.

Vini pou Philadelphia. Rete (plis pase) pou Philly.

Ap eksplore kote pou rete nan Philly epi w ap chèche yon kontra san pwoblèm?

Pote vwayaj ou nan Philadelphia nan yon lòt nivo ak Visit Philly Overnight Package, k ap ofri w pakin otèl gratis pou yon oswa de nuit rete nan prèske 40 otèl k ap patisipe.

Sa ka vo jiska $140 pou yon sejou de nwit nan Center City Philadelphia. Poukisa peye plis?

Rezève kounye a
Rezève sejou w nan Philadelphia, PA
Kote pou rete

Rezève sejou w la

Bilten

Nou eskize nou, gen yon erè sou bò nou. Tanpri eseye ankò pita.
Mwen ta renmen resevwa:
Lè w klike sou Abòne, ou dakò pou resevwa kominikasyon pa imèl nan men visitphilly.com epi ou dakò ak Visit Philadelphia's Règleman sou konfidansyalite.