Hadrien Coumans

Hadrien Coumans’ work is grounded in lifelong responsibility and enduring commitments to communities. He is a traditionally adopted member of the Lenape WhiteTurkey–Fugate family and co-founder of Lenape Center in New York.

Hadrien also bears the responsibility of Қара бақсы (Qara Baqsy*) within Tengrist tradition, bestowed upon him by Kazakh Baqsy Arman Nurmukhanbetov, within a Turkic ancestral legacy. He has studied under the auspices of Baqsy Nurmukhanbetov for eight years. 

Hadrien’s foundations were shaped through twelve formative years of study with the late Lakota Holy Man, Chief Phillip CrazyBull, who was a Medicine Man, Heyoka and SunDance Chief. As his student, Hadrien was deeply committed to supporting Chief CrazyBull and his work throughout this period.

Lenape Center has the mission of continuing Lenapehoking and has been restoring Lenape presence, history, and knowledge in Lenapehoking (the New York City region) through the arts, culture, education, and institutional partnerships for close to twenty years. Lenape Center applies traditional peacemaking principles to institutional culture, public narrative, and policy.

Hadrien’s work extends these commitments: he is co-editor of “Lenapehoking: An Anthology “ and has served as Associate Faculty at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where he supported adjunct professor Joe Baker in teaching the first Lenape public health course.

His publications include a chapter in “Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development“ and the co-authored article “Wëlamàlsewakàn: Reimagining the Right to Health through Lenape Epistemologies” in Harvard’s Health and Human Rights Journal. His legal scholarship includes a co-authored chapter, “Les lois de la nature selon l’approche croisée des peuples Lenape et Kogis,” in “Éthique environnementale pour juristes.” 

*Qara Baqsy refers to a traditional black healer within Tengrist tradition. It denotes a ceremonial responsibility and practice of healing, mediation, addressing difficult or disruptive forces of the Lower World that affect personal and communal life to restore balance—work at the root level.

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