Hep save Bethel Indian Town

[lenapeindian]

NEW FINDINGS IN THE BETHEL INDIAN TOWN SITE:
RALLY STILL SCHEDULED FOR SEPT. 8th @ 11:00am
for mor info email me @ [email protected]


MONROE: �" Archaeologists have uncovered clusters of 18th-century
artifacts in three underground pits at Thompson Park, lending
credibility to claims that the historic American Indian settlement
known was Bethel was located where the district's new high school is
to be built, experts familiar with the excavation said.

If the finds convince state officials that Bethel was there, the
Department of Environmental Protection's Historic Preservation Office
could ban construction at the site, forcing Monroe to look for a new
place to erect the school.

Among the artifacts discovered are an "unusual" tobacco pipe and a
large agricultural tool used for weeding called an iron (A tool with a
flat blade attached approximately at a right angle to a long handle,
used for weeding, said Richard Veit, vice president of the
Archeological Society of New Jersey and a professor of anthropology at
Monmouth University.

Richard Walling, a historian who visited the site independently, said
workers there confirmed a rumored finding of a cache of turtle
remains. Turtles would have been a staple in the diet of that
civilization, and the remains may have been part of a garbage pile,
Walling said.

But Ilene Grossman-Bailey, lead researcher for Richard Grubb and
Associates, the archaeological firm doing the excavation on behalf of
the township, declined to discuss the artifacts.

"I'd really rather not confirm anything," Grossman-Bailey said. "What
I can tell you is that we've completed our Phase Two archaeological
field work, and I'm analyzing the artifacts and material that's come
out of it. I can't comment further. We have to put together a report
for the (DEP), and that's going to take some time."

Darlene Yuhas, spokesperson for the DEP, also declined to comment on
the findings.

"All we can say right now is we're awaiting the results of the
archaeological testing, and then we'll review that report. I don't
have a timeframe on that," Yuhas said.

Experts say the three underground pits themselves may be remnants of
structures built by the Bethel community.

"The features reflect the fact that some sort of activity was there.
Something was going on. It's not that common to find intact
18th-century deposits," said Veit, who visited Thompson Park earlier
this month. "I don't know that it's a smoking gun, but it seems like a
good circumstantial case at this point. It needs more work to say for
sure. I'm not convinced that it isn't there."

He added, "The thing that I think is intriguing is that there are
several mid-18th-century artifacts that are from the right time period
and are close to the purported location of Bethel."

Another expert who has first-hand familiarity with the study but asked
not to be named confirmed the finds, saying: "I think it's Bethel.
Everything fits."

Township Attorney Peg Schaeffer and School District Business
Administrator Wayne Holliday could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Walling is actively pushing to get the Thompson Park site
entered onto state and national historic registers, but said he has
been stalled by DEP officials who want to wait for the results of the
Grubb study before making any decisions.

"As I've said from the very beginning of this ordeal, the site is
what's important, not whether or not there are artifacts there,"
Walling said.

For example, Walling said, the state has declared Edison's Oak Tree
Pond, the location of a Revolutionary War skirmish, eligible for the
registers regardless of physical artifacts.

"I'm not going to guess as to what the motivation is, but this is a
highly political matter, and the Historic Preservation Office is
getting pressure from all sides," Walling added.

[Kiwehnzii]

Where's Bethel?

[lenapeindian]

central New jersey

[lenapeindian]

Rally at Bethel Indian Town, NJ

By REBECCA LERNER
STAFF WRITER
rlerner@thnt. com
MONROE - Four American Indian men sat in a small circle striking an
animal-skin drum, chanting, as a crowd of about 40 people stood
beneath the
trees at Thompson Park on Saturday and looked on.

"Every indigenous (culture) believed that we're all related," said
Brett Pepomahemen, a drummer and Lenape Indian from Pennsylvania. "We need
to stand up as human beings to protect what's left of the Lenape
homeland."

Pepomahemen spoke to a group of sympathetic faces, including Lenapes,
environmentalists and history buffs who gathered to honor those who
lived in
the 18th century American Indian village called Bethel Mission. Some
prominent archaeologists and local historians insist it was located here,
though the township contests those claims.

The 35-acre tract, currently owned by Middlesex County and protected
as open space in the Green Acres program, is slated to become a new high
school in the township's overcrowded district.

A state-mandated dig by the township's archaeological firm, Richard
Grubb and Associates, turned up a bevy of 18th-century artifacts on 3.6
acres here, including a tobacco pipe, a cache of turtle shells and an iron
hoe. Grubb called the finds "insufficient" to prove Bethel's existence.

Etaoqua, a Mahican woman of the Muhheakannuck nation, said she doesn't
need any excavations to tell her the land is sacred.

"There was a village here. I can feel it. It is a knowing," Etaoqua
said, standing in a depression on the field that historian Richard Walling
claims was once the headwaters of Wigwam Brook, the site of Bethel.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is reviewing the
study. The agency could ban construction at the site, or do the opposite,
lifting the Green Acres restrictions and paving the way for the school.

Carmen Dolson, a councilor from the Munsee Delaware Nation in Ontario,
Canada, said digging into the land would be an insult. Building on top of
the land without digging, however, would be less offensive, Dolson said,
adding that she would like to see a monument to Bethel on the grounds.

"This is our land," Dolson said.

Cathy "Starfire Woman" Chadwick-Ciccone, a Lenape from the Six Nations
Reserve in Ontario, Canada, performed a ceremony to give thanks to "the
Creator" Saturday. She burned sage and gave a short speech about the
importance of preserving sites historic to American-Indian culture.

"What brings me here is that this is Lenape hoking (land). In this
tri-state area, so much has been tarred and paved over. In our culture, we
honor our ancestors and those who came before us," Chadwick-Ciccone said.
"We're doing this for the Lenape children yet to come, letting them know
that we're still here, we still honor our land."

Jane Tousman, a member of the executive board of the state Sierra
Club, said she joined the informal protest because she opposes any
effort by
the state to lift Green Acres protection for fear it will set a harmful
precedent.

"We've got to make sure this land stays open space and nothing else,"
Tousman said.

The township reached an agreement with the county to get the 35-acre
Thompson Park tract in exchange for swapping 172 acres of its own existing
open space, plus a $1,127,000 payment, but needs the DEP's green light to
move forward.

William Liebeknecht, president of the Archaeological Society of New
Jersey, told the Home News Tribune in July that he is convinced Bethel was
at Thompson Park.

Walling, a local historian who organized the rally, said deeds and
other archival records provide evidence of the village's existence at
Thompson Park. Walling has applied to get the site onto the state and
national historic registers. He wants the site protected from
construction,
he said.

Township officials have said Thompson Park is the only suitable place
to build the school in Monroe, a claim that others have publicly
questioned.