By Cindy Kunnas
On Friday, Aug. 12, representatives from the Delaware River Greenway Partnership and Lower Delaware Wild & Scenic joined the Rising Nation River Journey. With Sarah Bursky of the National Park Service Wild and Scenic Rivers Program they paddled from Milford, N.J., to Frenchtown, N.J. to speak and sign the treaty.
Richard Dodds, Lower Delaware steering committee chair, and Marion Kyde, steering committee vice chair, joined later in the day and spoke about the Wild and Scenic River program. Dr. Kyde, one of the authors of the “Delaware River Scenic Byway,” presented a signed copy to Lenape Chief of Education and Language Shelley DePaul and Tribal Council Member Adam Waterbear DePaul.
Bursky said of the event, “The Rising Nation River Journey was a powerful experience, an opportunity to support the Lenape on their ancestral lands and waters at their own event, to recognize the pain of past histories but move together in a positive way. It was a personal chance to experience their music and traditions, and a great step forward in improving relationships as we work together on this Wild and Scenic River.”
The journey began in Hancock, N.Y., on July 30 and ended on Aug. 20 in Cape May, N.J. The journey includes a partial paddling of the Delaware River and the signing of the Treaty of Renewed Friendship between the Lenape and individuals and organizations along the…