Chief Coker has been the elected Principal Chief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware since 1996. Because of his collaboration with the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office and the Federal Census Bureau, his tribe was awarded as a Census Designation Area allowing tribal citizens to include their ethnicity on the 2010 Census for the first time in history. At Chief Coker’s urging, on August 4, 2016, Delaware’s Governor, Jack Markell, signed legislation officially recognizing the long and continued history of the Lenape Community in the state of Delaware.
Chief Coker has served as a past Chairman of the Confederation of Sovereign Tribes of the Delaware Bay which has allowed him to effect progress towards recognition of the Indigenous human rights of all tribes within the region. His representation within the National Congress of the American Indian (NCIA) and founding membership in the Alliance of Colonial Era Tribes (ACET) has brought recognition, furthered understandings, and developed collaborations for the betterment of Delmarva’s tribal communities. Chief Coker’s leadership has resulted in the Delaware’s General Assembly proclamation that all residents celebrate November as Native American Heritage Month and learn to honor the Indigenous people of the Delmarva region.
Dennis Coker is a 2022 grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Community Research for Health Equity program, managed by AcademyHealth.