Janice M. West

I Am Lenape Janice M. West

Welsit is a 12 year old girl like almost any other you might know except she is a member of an important yet relatively small historically important group of people in America. Welsit shares an exciting Saturday with the readers by telling them about the activities she looks forward to at the anxiously anticipated annual Lenape Pow Wow. Welsit's mother is a vendor at the yearly event and she takes great pride in helping her mother to present her goods at their booth. Welsit more than anything looks forward to the Butterfly Dance which she knows she will see at the pow wow. She has worn her "awesome" butterfly shirt in honor of the dance she knows she will get to see that day. The pow wow helps to fortify cultural pride within Welsit's heart and other tribe members. The author encourages every child who reads this story to investigate who they are in order to understand what they might be able to contribute to the balance of their own souls as well as the fabric of our American nation.