Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Placed directly across from the museum’s entryway, “Welcome to Territory” pays homage to the Lenape people as the original and rightful stewards of Lenapehoking, the land on which Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum stands. Accounts written by European explorers in the 16th and 17th centuries described the Lenape wearing intricately constructed feather capes. Joe Baker, co-founder of the Lenape Center, has created contemporary interpretations of these turkey-feather capes that suspend from the ceiling. Here, Baker discusses a definition of “home” that deeply resonated with him.
Experience “Welcome to Territory,” part of “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial,” through August 2025 at Cooper Hewitt.
Placed directly across from the museum’s entryway, “Welcome to Territory” pays homage to the Lenape people as the original and rightful stewards of Lenapehoking, the land on which Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum stands. Accounts written by European explorers in the 16th and 17th centuries described the Lenape wearing intricately constructed feather capes. Joe Baker, co-founder of the Lenape Center, has created contemporary interpretations of these turkey-feather capes that suspend from the ceiling. Here, Baker discusses a definition of “home” that deeply resonated with him.
Experience “Welcome to Territory,” part of “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial,” through August 2025 at Cooper Hewitt.
