Visitors to Laurel, Delaware, will find a new playground in Tidewater Park showcasing some of the history and folklore of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe thanks to a joint project from the University of Delaware, Delaware Sea Grant (DESG) and the Town of Laurel.

The Nanticoke are the original inhabitants of the areas around Laurel. In Algonquian, the language prominently used by American Indian tribes of the Northeastern United States, Nanticoke means the tidewater people or the people of the tidewater. Because of this, the playground on Tidewater Park will honor the people of the tidewater and help to tell their stories to a new generation.

The playground will have play features in four sections highlighting Nanticoke stories, using symbols such as the rainbow crow, the beaver, the squirrel, and the giant turtle, seen in a toddler sandlot. Each feature will be accompanied by a plaque telling the story that it represents along with QR codes that allow curious visitors to learn more about the stories from a traditional storyteller using their smartphones.

Oh man, How cool is that? The tail looks like a slide! I want a beaver park! I wish it was BIGGER! And there should be a stand of monkey bars that look like chewed willow of different heights.  And little swings that are all the different wildlife beavers bring to the pond. I Love this idea.

Ed Lewandowski, who is the community development specialist for DESG and coordinator of UD’s Sustainable Coastal Communities Initiative, spearheaded the project for DESG. He said that the playground is one more element to the larger Laurel waterfront redevelopment plan, known as the Ramble, which started in 2014.

Jules Bruck, professor in UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the director of UD’s landscape architecture program, came up with the initial design for the playground and said that as she dug into the history of Laurel, it became important for her to design the playground with the Nanticoke in mind.

“The Tidewater people, the Nanticoke, were the first inhabitants of this land,” said Bruck. “A historical marker in town shares information about the location of a wading place along the river that the Nanticoke people used. So I thought, ‘Let me honor these indigenous people who treated the land so carefully.’ ”

A traditional blessing ceremony was held for Tidewater Park on Thursday, Oct. 21, led by members of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe, as the section of the playground featuring the beaver and the giant turtle in a toddler sandlot have now been installed.

We could have an Ohlone inspired park with beaver climbing structures. I love the idea that parents and children can use their smart phones to hear creation stories represented by their  park structure of choice. I hope they have really great story narratives. Maybe retold by native children’s voices.

The four different sections of the playground tells its own unique story and is geared toward children of a certain age group. There are sections designed for children 4 and under, 4 to 8 years of age, 5 to 12 years of age and a section for all ages.

Each section will explain the folklore and the significance of the featured animals to the Nanticoke. For instance, in the section of the playground that features the beaver, not only can children and visitors play on a big beaver and an adjacent log scramble, but they can also learn the Nanticoke story of how the beaver got his tail.

How DID he get his tail? I would be listening to that all the time. I’m going to go look it up right now. Do you know? What a great park.