Friday, November 27, 2009 (the day after Thanksgiving), marked the first Native American Heritage Day, as signed into law in June by President Obama. On that day, members of the many bands of the Lenape family of Indians, from as far away as Canada, came to lower Manhattan to participate in an historic healing ceremony with members of the Collegiate Church of New York, the oldest surviving institution of the 17th-century Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. The event was planned and organized by Intersections, in partnership with representatives of the Lenape people.
