Nora Thompson Dean

Nora Thompson Dean (1907-1984), also known as Weènchipahkihëlèxkwe or "Touching Leaves Woman" in Unami, was one of the last fluent speakers of the southern Unami dialect of the Lenape language. She was born and lived Dewey, Oklahoma (near Bartlesville, on the Delaware Tribe of Indians (Lenni Lenape) reservation). She was raised in a traditionalist household, speaking the Unami Lenape language at home and practicing the Xingwikaon (Big House) ceremonies. She was generous in sharing her vast knowledge of Lenape language, religious ceremonies, social functions, dances, craftwork, herbal medicines, and other traditions. She taught classes, was consulted by academics, and established a business in 1967 that offered mail-order booklets and audiocassettes under the name Touching Leaves Indian Crafts.