DAMASCUS, PA — The Farm Arts Collective, a newly formed organization based on Willow Wisp Organic Farm, attended the Mid-Winter Ceremony of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania on Sunday. January 27 in Brodheadsville. 

The Farm Arts Collective ensemble performed a short play entitled TREES, a performance based on the book, “The Hidden Life of Trees,” by Peter Wohlleben, which describes how trees are deeply connected. Chief Gentle Moon of the Lenape Nation invited artistic director, Tannis Kowalchuk of Farm Arts Collective and Greg Swartz of Willow Wisp Organic Farm to the ceremony after last summer’s signing of a Friendship Treaty between The Lenape Nation and Willow Wisp Organic Farm (Swartz and Kowalchuk).

In July, the first nation contingent was on a two-week journey down the Delaware River in canoes and kayaks that started in Hancock, NY and ended in Cape May. Along the way, the group stopped at Willow Wisp Organic Farm for a lunch and tour, where they struck up a friendship.

Chief Gentle Moon and an elder gave Farm Arts Collective the Lenape name, Hituk Manitowak, or Tree Spirits during the ceremony Sunday.

“We will use our name with great honor and respect for the Lenape people, their history, and our future collaborations,” said artistic director Tannis Kowalchuk.