Dean, Nora Thompson, 1907-1984

Nora Thompson Dean (July 3, 1907 – November 29, 1984), also known as Weenjipahkihelexkwe (modern Unami orthography: Weènchipahkihëlèxkwe[1]), which translates as "Touching Leaves Woman" in Unami,[2] was a member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians. As a Lenape traditionalist and one of the last fluent speakers of the southern Unami dialect of the Lenape language, she was an influential mentor to younger tribal members and is widely cited in scholarship on Lenape culture.

Early life and education
Thompson was born in roughly ten miles east of Bartlesville, Oklahoma in Glen Oak, Oklahoma, on July 3, 1907, to James H. and Sarah (Wilson) Thompson, both full-blood Delawares. She received her education in Oklahoma's public schools. She graduated from Midway School in 1921, as salutatorian, and from Dewey High School in Dewey, Oklahoma, in 1925. Thompson also had some nursing training and several university credits.

In 1941, she married Charley Dean, who was also born and raised in northeastern Oklahoma.[3]

Cultural revitalization efforts
Dean was raised in the traditional ways of her people, and she dedicated herself to keeping these alive. Throughout her adult life, she taught about the Lenape religious ceremonies, social functions, dances, craftwork, herbal medicines, and language. She was consulted by tribal members and numerous academic specialists, including anthropologists, linguists, historians, botanists, and ethnomusicologists.

In 1967, Dean founded a mail-order business, Touching Leaves Indian Crafts, through which she sold the traditional clothing of the Lenape and other items. Dean received awards for her craftwork, and in recognition of her work to promote the traditional ways of her Lenape people. These included commendations from the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Governors of Oklahoma, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, and a Fellowship Award from the Archaeological Society of New Jersey.[4]

In 1972, Dean participated in the Delaware Indian Symposium, which brought together scholars and tribal members from Oklahoma and Canada. She also presented at another Delaware cultural gathering in 1981.[5]

In the later part of her life, Dean divided her time between artwork, working with students who came to her home to study, lecturing at universities, working at museums demonstrating Lenape artwork, working at different universities as a resource person, and preparing educational material for sale through her business.

Oklahoma governor George Nigh declared Dean an Oklahoma Ambassador of Good Will.[6]

The year after her death, Dean's husband donated seeds of Lenape Blue Corn to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a variety of corn cultivated by the Lenape that was brought west by Dean's mother.[7]

Dean created material including four Lenape Language Lessons; these sound recordings, as well as others made with Dean and other Lenape elders during the twentieth century, have been digitized to provide the voices of the Lenape Talking Dictionary, a project funded by the National Science Foundation.[8] Dean's brother Edward Leonard Thompson (1904–2002) was the last living native speaker of Unami in the United States.[5]

Death
Dean died on November 29, 1984[5] and is buried in the Delaware Indian Cemetery in Dewey, Oklahoma.