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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.
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.
