Category: Lenni Lenape

Ford Motor Company is being sued by New Jersey state officials for contaminating hundreds of acres of land, with a large population of Ramapough Lenape people, that the company used for the waste disposal for its largest assembly plant that was built in 1955.

The lawsuit accuses the automobile company of contaminating the water, soil, groundwater, vegetation, and the air in the area in Ringwood, New Jersey, as well as selling part of the land to the state without disclosing to them the damage that they had caused there.

The lawsuit is pursuing action on eight counts, including negligence and trespassing.

According to the lawsuit, in 1965, Ford purchased 400 acres of Ringwood Mines for the purpose of disposing of its waste from the automobile plant built a decade previously.

The Ringwood Mines area has nearly 50 residential units and about 200 residents.

Starting 1967, for seven years the company used the space to throw away “tons of toxic paint sludge and drummed waste and other non-liquid hazardous waste”.

Meanwhile, around 1970, the company sold off parts of the land to numerous entities including a non-profit and other government institutions, without disclosing the full extent of the damage they had caused on the land.

“Bottom line is that Ford demonstrated little to no regard for the environment,” said the acting attorney general, Matt Platkin, when announcing the lawsuit on Thursday.

“They turned a blind eye to the risks that their actions have imposed on the lives of 200 residents who live here, which includes Native Americans who are historically and disproportionately exposed to environmental harms,” he said, according to a video of the announcement shared on Facebook.

Vincent Mann, chief of the Ramapough Lenape Nation’s Turtle Clan, and New Jersey’s commissioner of environmental protection, Shawn M LaTourette, were also present at the announcement.

“Today is one…

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Three New Jersey governmental agencies/officials filed suit against the Ford Motor Company (Ford) in the Superior Court of New Jersey-Bergen County on Thursday claiming that Ford is liable under New Jersey environmental statues and common law for pollution at its 500-acre site known as Ringwood Mines that Ford used to dump waste from its Mahwah, New Jersey, assembly plant from 1967 to 1974.

The three plaintiffs are: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); The Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; and The Administrator of the New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund (Administrator). As noted in the complaint, Ford Motor Company is sued “individually and as successor” to other Ford-related entities, all defined as “Ford.”

According to the complaint, the Ringwood Mines site is “encompassed by the historic homeland of the Ramapough Lenape Nation (the ‘Tribe’) Turtle Clan, a Native American tribe recognized by the State of New Jersey.” The plaintiffs state that many of the approximately 200 residents living within the Ringwood Mines are members of the Tribe. The plaintiffs note that the “cultural and spiritual traditions of the Ramampough Lenape Nation are inextricably interconnected with the land” and members of the Tribe rely on the land for food and medicine.

As a result of the purported pollution, harmful substances like arsenic and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found at the site affecting the environment including the “groundwater and surface water, sediments, wetlands, soils, air, and biota.”

The plaintiffs allege a long history of state and federal regulatory action and remediation efforts relating to the site. In particular, the plaintiffs note that the site was placed on the CERCLA “National Priorities List” in 1983, but removed in 1994 “based on Ford’s representation that Ringwood Mines had been adequately remediated.” Notwithstanding that, the plaintiffs further allege…

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NJAC-National

First team: Dante Marinello, Morristown Beard sr.; Jacob Michalski, Morristown sr.; Ian Plott, Morristown sr.; Adam Wood, Sparta sr.; Ryan Rossi, Sparta sr.; David Votapek, Morristown sr.; Tim Larosa, Mendham jr.; Jack Lavere, Lenape Valley sr.; Tristan Aitkenhead, Mendham sr.; Jack Wadley, Mendham sr.; Joe Buono, Sparta jr

Second team: Will McDonald, Morristown Beard jr.; Charlie Guida, Morristown Beard jr.; Gavin Timoney, Mendham jr.; Greg Peters, Sparta so.; Jack Suchanek, Mendham jr.; Eric Perez, Lenape Valley jr.; Troy Brennan, Lenape Valley jr.; John Holtz, Mendham jr.; Sean Duthaler, Sparta sr.; Paul Gennat, Sparta sr.; Liam Kelly, Lenape Valley jr.

Honorable mention: Luke Fehnel, Mendham sr.; Chase Geer, Sparta sr.; Andrew Down, Morristown sr.; Charlie Gibbs, Morristown Beard jr.; Braden Coles, Lenape Valley jr.

Division champion: Mendham

Sportsmanship award: Lenape Valley

NJAC-United

First team: Ryan Beller, Morris Knolls jr.; Anthony Skawinski, Roxbury so.; Caedon Jones, Kittatinny jr.; Adam DeCristofaro, Mount Olive so.; Max Morosoff, Vernon sr.; Jayson Horowitz, Montville sr.; Luke Denison, Madison sr.; Anthony Moscatello, Mount Olive jr.; Thomas Gioioso, Morris Knolls sr.; Jeremiah Carfello, Vernon sr.; Chris Kolaritsch, Montville jr. 

Second team: Gianni Graziano, Montville jr.; Nick Reda, Mount Olive sr.; Andrew Knutelsky, Kittatinny jr.; Will Clifford, Madison jr.; Nick Forgione, Morris Knolls jr.; Sean Biakowski, Morris Knolls sr.; Tyler Hoste, Kittatinny sr.; Cooper Anderson, Mount Olive sr.; Owen Lally, Vernon so.; Michael Murphy, Roxbury sr.; Nick Gomez, Montville sr.

Honorable mention: Joseph Bubay, Morris Knolls sr.; Aiden Toupet, Roxbury sr.; Max Machado, Mount Olive sr.; Mike Colaiacovo, Montville fr.; Aiden Van Wingerden, Kittatinny sr.; Joseph Carfano, Madison sr.; Jacob Mann, Vernon sr.

Division champion: Mount Olive

Sportsmanship award: Morris Knolls

NJAC-American

First team: Joe Leone, Delbarton sr.; Nick Faccone, Delbarton jr.; Stefan Swedlund, Randolph jr.; Ryan Boyd, Chatham sr.; Connor Herraiz, Pope John sr.; Jack Sakowski, Pope John jr.; Caz Kotsen, Mountain Lakes sr.; Gavin Ananian, Mountain Lakes jr.; Matt Sentowski, Mountain Lakes jr.; Ryan McLaughlin, Mountain Lakes sr.; David Link,…

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Written by RuthAnn Purchase

One huge change that has come to our region recently is the increasing desire to honor ancient ways of living together well. Land acknowledgements are one of many ways to do this and improve our relationships with all living things, including plants, animals, and people, a group that some, like the Lenape, call “All Our Relations.  

Indigenous protocol on every continent requires the acknowledgement of one another’s ancestors, their ancestral rivers, and their sacred lands.

This protocol sounds a lot like equity or equal rights. We need trees to breathe; we relate to trees even if we forget to thank them; therefore, trees are our relations and deserve our respect.  If trees are our relations, do local Indigenous trees have the right to live?  Do local rivers have the right to thrive?  If humans need trees and clean water for Life on Earth, humans must re-learn honor for “All Our Relations.” 

Naming is part of that honor.  If I call you by a name that insults you, you might not want to live with me.  So it is for our relations.  The term “Delaware” comes from De La Warre, a military title given to General Thomas West from the British Army, who decimated the lands and peoples he was sent to colonize.  

Before Thomas West named them after himself, the Tribes were not called “Delaware Indians”.   They were Lenape, grouped in three Tribes: Wolf, Turkey and Turtle, each with their own dialect.  

In the Philadelphia region, Unami was the prevalent dialect.  In Unami dialect of Lenape, this river valley we live in is called Hakesena Sipu Pahseyunk – the Mother River Valley. And Wawa was not a store on a highway, but the name of the geese who sang many songs as they migrated together. 

Philadelphia…

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The sculpture acts as a sort of land acknowledgement wrought in steel: the Parasaurolophus is in the Hadrosaurus family of dinosaurs, which once roamed this region. The beadwork represents the people who traditionally occupied the land.

“I believe that time is not linear,” said artist Marianela Fuentes. “These beings were living in the same lands that we are now. So all the beadwork represents this time, and the dinosaur represents ancient times.” Artist Marianela Fuentes grew up in the state of Coahuila in northeast Mexico, an area rich in dinosaur fossils. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

The beadwork, resembling very floral tattoos, represent symbols and creation myths of the Lenni Lenape people, who worked with Fuentes to create the patterns by hand.

Fuentes is based in Mexico City and grew up in the state of Coahuila in northeast Mexico, where Parasaurolophus were plentiful. In prehistoric geological eras that region was part of an ocean. Now, as a risen seabed, it is one of the richest places in the world for dinosaur fossils. The sculpture, created by Mexican artist Marianela Fuentes, is covered in tiny beads depicting Native American themes. The designs on the head represent the universe. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

Prehistoric beasts have fascinated Fuentes since childhood, when her parents would take her to fossil sites. They have become a recurring influence in her sculptural work.

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The bones of “Alpha Sacred Beings” are made from real archaeological casts at the Museum del Desierto, which has the largest collection of dinosaur bones in Mexico.

“I wanted to be an archeologist,” said Fuentes. “But I ended up doing sculpture.”

Every summer for the last…

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Julianne Brennan, the head coach for the Lenape Valley High School softball program, both rightfully and with great pride remembers some of the Patriots’ finest moments from this recently concluded season.

“Looking back on our 2022 season, we had a few key wins that made us optimistic for the years to come and truly showed our growth as a team,’’ Brennan said. “First, we played Pope John in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament and lost 5-1; we played them again two weeks later and beat them 2-0 by having a clean game in the field and a few monster hits.

“We played Jefferson in our second-to-last game of the season and our bats came out hot in the first inning to take the lead, 4-0. This was the game where these girls came together, everyone played their game, the energy in the dugout was unmatched and we won as a team. Everyone had an important role in this huge win for us as a program and those are the games you remember. Our last win stands out as a true turning point for us when we beat High Point, 12-2, with a walk-off three-run homerun to end the season. It allowed us as a program to thrive in our last moments of the 2022 season and set the tone for next year.’’

Proper leadership was ever present for Lenape Valley this spring.

“Graduating seven seniors last year, there was plenty of opportunity for our athletes to step up and become leaders for the 2022 season,’’ Brennan said. “Junior shortstop Laney Kenny and junior third baseman Alyssa Canfield stepped up as true leaders of the team by, not only their energy, but also the way that they carry themselves.

“When we asked them to help us change the culture of the team, they…

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Visitors to Perkasie’s Lenape Park will have noticed the town’s new amphitheater taking shape, and can look forward to twice as many free summer concerts this year.

“We are excited to bring Perkasie’s popular, free Summer Concert Series to the new Lenape Park amphitheater,” said Aaron Clark, councilman and chair of the borough’s parks and recreation committee. “We’re running a lot more concerts this year, and we’re looking forward to expanded parks and recreation programming, including exercise classes and performances.”

All concerts begin at 7 p.m. at the new amphitheater on Constitution Avenue opposite the Perkasie Square shopping center. The season opens with face painters, a henna artist, outdoor games, balloon twisting, ice cream, popcorn and community fun when Perkasie Borough Council hosts “The Nerds” at the amphitheater’s Grand Opening event on June 15.

The lineup for the rest of the season is as follows: June 22, The Large Flowerheads; June 29, The House of Hamill; July 6, All Revv’d Up; July 13, Rave On; July 15, Moss Henry and the Bryophytes; July 20, The Other Brothers; July 22, Quarter To Five Jazz Quartet; July 27, The Quakertown Band; July 29, Rootsetters; Aug. 3, Gypsy Funk Squad; and Aug. 10, Fuse Box. The Borough reserves Aug. 17 and Aug. 24 as rain date reschedules for inclement weather.

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Parking is available at Lenape Park and in the shopping center across the street, although…

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Seneca 5, Princeton 4: Liam Trzaskawka struck out six in 4 2/3 innings and Brayden Davis had a two-run single as Seneca (9-15, 6-6) defeated visiting Princeton (11-13, 3-4) in a nonleague game May 26.

Chase Ruppel had two hits, including a double, knocked in a run and scored a run as the Golden Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak and handed Princeton its fourth straight loss.

Nonleague

May 26, Tabernacle

Seneca 5, Princeton 4

Princeton – 001 120 0 – 4 6 2

Seneca – 101 300 X – 5 6 2

WP: Liam Trzaskawka; 2B: P-Alex Winters, Jaxon Petrone; S-Chase Ruppel.

Cherokee 7, Washington Township 5: Dylan Cruice and Jeremy Cheeseman belted two- and three-run home runs, respectively, as No. 6 seed Cherokee (19-7, 7-3) defeated visiting No. 11 Washington Township (11-13, 4-6) in a NJSIAA South Group 4 first-round playoff game June 1.

Winning pitcher Shane Sax, Danny Torres and Cheeseman combined to strike out 11 for the Chiefs, while Dom Patrizi had two hits, knocked in a run and scored a run to help the offense.

NJSIAA South Group 4 – First Round

June 1, Marlton

Cherokee 7, Washington Township 5

Township – 004 010 0 – 5 6 0

Cherokee – 160 000 0 – 7 8 0

WP: Shane Sax; LP: Sam Kaschak; 2B: C-Evan Brown; HR: WT-Jack Fitzpatrick, Jared Dziergowski; C-Dylan Cruice, Jeremy Cheeseman.

Millville 9, Lenape 1: David Rodriguez (3-for-3, run) and Connor Lacy (2-for-4) both knocked in three runs as No. 14 seed Millville (12-13, 6-6) upset No. 3 Lenape (18-6, 7-3) in a NJSIAA South Group 4 first-round playoff game June 1.

Andrew Shank’s RBI single scored Justin Figueroa in the fifth inning for the Indians’ only run.

Lenape, which beat the Thunderbolts, 6-4, on the road in the second game…

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Written by RuthAnn Purchase and Simon Purchase James

The Lenape Forest Garden at the Village of Fork Branch in Dover, Delaware is regeneration, reconnection, and decolonization in action. 

In the Lenape Forest Garden, we are learning how to remove invasive species and reintroduce native species that provide food, medicine, and materials for traditional lifeways, creating networks of reciprocal relationships, known to some as guilds or companion plantings. 

Last fall, John Heinz’s MobilizeGreen crew, the Appoquinimink High School Environmental Club and NPS Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance staff, and other volunteers joined us there for a work day. 

The day began with the Haudenausee tradition of Ohenton Karihwatehkwen, known in English as Greetings to the Natural World, Words Before All Other Words, or Thanks Giving Address, during which everyone present honored the inhabitants of Mother Earth as teachers and elder relatives.  

After a morning of work, the group settled down at the Sacred Story Circle, a space designed with Tribal Leaders to allow the stories of the 4 Directions to guide and rebalance our relationships.  Storytelling is usually reserved for the “Season of the Clacking Stones” when everyone in hibernation is striking stone against stone, making tools and baskets while waiting for the long nights and cold weather to pass.  That fall day, Chief White Otter Coker’s stories inspired the crew members to ask deeply thoughtful questions and commit themselves to planting native species everywhere they work.

Each plant guild around the Sacred Story Circle tells the stories of each direction.  White Flat Cedar greets us at the Eastern entrance, representing cleansing and new life; Evergreen Holly and Elderberry of the Northern guilds celebrate eternal life, wisdom, and healing. Designing the Lenape Forest Garden based on plants who grow together naturally helps us humans honor the families of plants who…

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Ramapough receive 285-year-old deed from descendants of Sloat family

Sloat family descendants return land use deed to Ramapough on Saturday, June 4, 2022 at Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ.

Marsha A. Stoltz, NorthJersey.com

MAHWAH — A 285-year-old deed granting land use to members of the Sloat family was returned by its descendants to the Ramapough tribe in a symbolic ceremony at Ramapo College on Saturday.

Chief Dwaine Perry supervised the transfer of the deed between seventh generations before an audience of Ramapough and Sloat family members.

“We are grateful to the Rev. Jack Zamboni and his family for restoring our faith in the goodness of the American people as we received this unprecedented blessing of the original deed,” Perry said.  

The deed was returned by Zamboni, a maternal descendant of the Sloat family who is an Episcopal priest living in Dunellen.  His son, Jonathan, transferred the deed to seventh generation Ramapough member D.J. Defreese.

“This return does not cure the atrocities of genocide, land theft and slavery that indigenous people of this land experienced, which can never be made right,” Zamboni said. “However, repair work can be done so that settler and indigenous nations may start to live freely together here and now.”

Drums and chants preceded a brief tobacco ceremony blessing the transfer. Members gathered briefly afterward for pictures…

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