BLUE VESSEL
BLUE VESSEL
ABOUT US
Joe Baker
Founding Lenape Elder
Joe Baker is a founding member of Blue Vessel and a founding member and Executive Director of Lenape Center in Manhattan. An enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, he is a widely respected artist, curator, educator, and cultural leader who has spent more than three decades advancing the continuance, visibility, and authority of Lenape arts, culture, and presence. His work has been featured at leading institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Museum of Arts and Design, Brooklyn Museum, Pace School of Law, and Brooklyn Public Library, where it has helped shift how New York and the wider public understand Lenape homelands and history.
At Lenape Center, Baker has led landmark initiatives such as
Lenapehoking,the first Lenape‑curated exhibition in New York City, along with public art, design, and seed rematriation projects that actively return Lenape language, foodways, and memory to Lenapehoking. For Blue Vessel, he brings decisive leadership rooted in living Lenape culture, rigorous artistic practice, and profound intergenerational responsibility, driving the return of Indigenous presence, the protection of cultural continuity, and the renewal of accountable relationships among communities, institutions, and homelands.
Hadrien Coumans
Founding Member, Executive Director
Hadrien Coumans is a traditionally adopted member of the Lenape White Turkey–Fugate family.
Within the Kazakh tradition of Tengrism, he carries the responsibility of Qara Baqsy through ceremonial lineage under the auspices of Arman Nurmukhanbetov.
His foundations in healing were forged early in life through twelve formative years of study alongside the late Lakota Holy Man, Chief Phil CrazyBull. Before his passing, Chief CrazyBull entrusted Hadrien to continue this work in service to the people, a responsibility he has carried for over twenty‑five years.
As Co‑Founder and Deputy Director of the Lenape Center in New York, Coumans is dedicated to restoring Lenape presence, history, and knowledge across Lenapehoking. Through the arts, education, and strategic institutional partnerships, the Lenape Center’s initiatives actively apply Lenape peacemaking principles to transform institutional culture, public narratives, and policy. His editorial and scholarly work vigorously extends these commitments. Coumans is the Co‑Editor of Lenapehoking: An Anthology, which convenes Lenape voices in critical dialogue with educators, cultural institutions, and policymakers. He served as Associate Faculty at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where he supported the creation of the institution’s first Indigenous course in Public Health. His publications include a chapter in Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development and the co‑authored article “Wëlamàlsëwakàn (Good Health): Reimagining the Right to Health through Lenape Epistemologies,” published in Harvard’s Health and Human Rights Journal. He consults for Nations and major institutions, including museums and performing arts centers, to advance historical accountability, meaningful community engagement, and cultural continuity.
Rachel Bullock
Founding Member, Co-Director
Rachel Bullock was given the name Ngawang Lhakyi - Powerful Speech of Happy Goddess by His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin. She is a respected artist deeply committed to fostering connection between humanity and Earth. Her exhibitions in galleries in New York and London have received acclaim, and her artwork is celebrated in collections throughout the United States and Europe. Rachel finds deep joy in cultural collaboration and community building, encouraging harmony among individuals and diverse traditions. Her global engagements include working with the Bankhar Dog Project in Inner Mongolia and supporting educational programs in Hakun Quico, Peru, through the Pneuma Organization, demonstrating her dedication to cross-cultural awareness and ecological stewardship. Her studies in transpersonal psychology and world traditions underscore her commitment to holistic understanding and community wellbeing.
Pamela Coumans
Director of Communication
Pamela Coumans is an architect, designer, and cultural advocate of Filipino and Chinese descent with formal training in architecture from the University of New Mexico. With over 27 years of experience creating meaningful interior spaces, she has dedicated her career to preserving and promoting Asian artistic traditions and cultural heritage.
As founder and director of the Mula Project, Pamela documents and celebrates Filipino culture, and artistic legacies. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Fluid Gold Journal, a publication exploring human experience through the voices and perspectives of diverse Asian cultural creatives in the arts, design, and humanities.
Her collaborative work includes partnerships with Indigenous weavers in the Philippines, supporting the continuation of traditional textile arts. She has provided educational sponsorship to the Ati community, ensuring access to learning opportunities that strengthen cultural continuity. She brings deep expertise in creating spaces—both physical and relational—that honor artistic traditions and foster cross-cultural creative dialogue.
Arman Nurmukhanbetov
Lead Advisor
Arman Nurmukhanbetov is the leading voice in Kazakhstan’s Tengrian renaissance and a respected Baqsï (Kazakh shaman) with decades of dedicated practice. Born in Almaty to an archaeologist father who co-discovered the legendary Golden Man, Nurmukhanbetov has devoted his life to preserving and revitalizing the sacred traditions of the Great Steppe.
As founder of one of Kazakhstan’s first shamanic schools and author of the groundbreaking work Kasiet—the first scholarly publication dedicated to the sacred magical gift of Kazakh shamanism—Nurmukhanbetov has developed innovative methods for revealing and developing shamanic gifts that have drawn students from across the region.
For over 25 years, Nurmukhanbetov has championed the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the Great Steppe’s nomadic peoples through scholarly articles, poetry, songs, documentary films, and television programs. His work illuminates Kazakhstan’s pre-Islamic spiritual heritage for contemporary audiences, ensuring that the wisdom of the ancestors continues to guide future generations.