RAMAPO — The Ramapo Lenape Tribal Council says longtime Chief Dwaine Perry has been temporarily suspended as tribal leader pending a review into financial improprieties, potential fraud, and other accusations.
“This suspension did not come from politics; it came from the repeated calls of our Elders, many of whom have been raising concerns for years,” said a statement from the council.
Perry, 77, the chief for 33 years, denied the accusations, countering that he’s a victim of an attempted coup by members of the council’s executive committee.
Perry said the accusations came after he suggested a nationwide “pow-wow” in New York City’s Central Park to honor the Lenape tribe and provide $100,000 in proceeds to the tribal council and $10,000 each to two churches, one in Hillburn and the other in Mahwah, New Jersey. The two communities are the core of the tribe in the Ramapough Mountains.
Perry said he also suggested that he and the council members reveal their finances.
Chief Dwaine Perry of the Ramapo Munsee Nation speaks during the Veterans Day ceremony at Mount Moor Cemetery in West Nyack Nov. 11, 2024.
Chief Dwaine Perry calls accusations a ‘coup’ attempt by council members
“Some of the people want to get me out,” Perry told The Journal News/lohud on June 11, calling the accusations part of an attempted “coup.”
“They told me I was threatening people,” Perry said. “How, when I offered a plan to give them money? I am the baddest guy on Earth.”
Perry said the pow-wow has been cancelled. Instead, he’s looking for an attorney.
He said an election for principal chief is scheduled for Sept. 27, adding that he has not been contested at the ballot…
 
		 
		 
		 Goodgirl Bi IT was in full control at the end of her Pennsylvania All-Stars division Monday at Pocono. Curtis Salonick photo.
Goodgirl Bi IT was in full control at the end of her Pennsylvania All-Stars division Monday at Pocono. Curtis Salonick photo.   
		 
  
		 
		 
		
