Call Her By Her Name: Lenape Sippu, an Earth Day clean-up festival will be the first event in an ongoing Earth Day festivals with Propelled Animals, a collective of artists, dancers, scholars, and musicians who create thought-provoking, site responsive performances to encourage radical tenderness and action in our relationship to ourselves and communities. This first event was conceived by Esther Baker-Tarpaga, Propelled Animals Co-Founder. This performance will feature new performances by her and other artists living and working in occupied Lenapehoking.

This free all-ages event took place on the Delaware River Trail in April 2022, next to the entrance to Washington Avenue Green. The festival opened with a storytelling performance from Tchin, followed by a dance performance and procession by dancers Esther Baker-Tarpaga, Crux, Kaolack, Qiwen Yuan, singer Damala LaVette, costume creator Maisie O'Brien, and rapper Dread Skeezo. After the performance, the audience was offered supplies and guided down the trail by performers and staff to participate in a trash pick-up.

The audience was offered refreshments, participation in a kite-making workshop hosted by Fleisher Art Memorial, an invitation to decorate the Delaware River Trail sidewalks with chalk, and learn more about how to support environmental justice organizations working in the region at information tables. As an act of radical self-care, complimentary chair massages were offered at the wellness station.

Collaborators: Esther Baker-Tarpaga, Tchin, Cruz, Kaolack, Qiwen Yuan, Damala LaVette, Dread Skeezo, Maisie Oh
Videography: Taj
Photographer: Maura B. McConnell
Soundscape: Boubacar Djiga
Partners: Philadelphia Contemporary (Kerry Bickford), Philadelphia School of Massage and Bodywork, Fleisher Memorial, Delaware River Waterfront.

This project was made possible by the generous support of Philadelphia Contemporary.