Category: Munsee

Ben Steelman  |  StarNews Correspondent

We know pathetically little about the Cape Fear Indians, who inhabited the Wilmington area until the early 1700s. We’re not sure what they called themselves (possibly “Daw-Hee”) or what they spoke (probably a Siouan language, similar to the Plains Indians). 

A fair idea of how they lived, however, can be gleaned from “Manteo’s World: Native American Life in Carolina’s Sound Country Before and After the Lost Colony” by retired Old Dominion University anthropologist Helen C. Rountree.

Rountree writes about the Croatoans, the Roanokes and the other Algonquian-speaking peoples whom Sir Walter Raleigh’s expeditions encountered in and around Roanoke Island beginning in 1584.

We know rather more about them thanks to the accounts of explorers such as Thomas Hariot, John Lawson (who came along later, in the early 1700s) and particularly the many drawings by John White, the governor of what would come to be known as “the Lost Colony.”

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Manteo, for those who forgot, was the young Croatoan man who traveled back to England with the first explorers and later became an interpreter and diplomat for the English settlers.

These first Americans lived a Stone Age existence. They had only small amounts of copper, acquired by trade, which they used mainly for jewelry. Nevertheless, they had a self-sufficient, mostly comfortable existence.

It wasn’t Eden. Women — who were expected to farm corn, beans and squash; root for tubers in the marshes; cook; tan hides; make baskets and perform other chores — often developed arthritis as early as their 30s.

Men hunted and fished. It was exhausting work, chasing wounded deer for miles, then lugging the carcasses for miles back to the village or camp. English visitors often saw men lying around between hunts — which, Rountree thinks, led…

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CLARION – On Jan. 4, for the first time in almost 40 years, Rex Munsee will not be carrying a badge. When Sheriff-elect Shawn Zerfoss is sworn in, Munsee will be a civilian.

“I guess I got my love of law enforcement from my great-grandfather. Back in the 1930s, he was a special deputy for Erie County,” Munsee said.

That love of the law continues with Munsee’s children – his daughter is a Clarion attorney and his son followed in his father’s footsteps as a Pennsylvania State Police trooper.

Munsee began his career in law enforcement as a state trooper and rose to the rank of corporal. He served one year at the Punxsutawney barracks, and the balance of his 27-year state police career in Shippenville.

“As a trooper I couldn’t be political, but the day after I retired I announced that I was a candidate for Clarion County sheriff,” he said. It’s a post in which he has served three terms.

“It’s time to go,” he said. “I accomplished all that I wanted to do. It is time for someone else to step in. I am not regretting my decision not to run.”

Munsee said his greatest accomplishment was to “re-invigorate” the employees.

“It seemed the office had shrunk,” he said. “We were only doing court security and prisoner transports. Now we do more public relations things. We do speeches, public programs and we do security at various events. We also support the PSP at some events.

“We aren’t the lead agency, but perform a supporting role. We also serve warrants for the magistrates. I think more people are aware of the department now.”

One of the changes Munsee has seen over the years is the lack of applicants for the position of deputy.

“The pool of potential deputies has shriveled up,” he said. “When I…

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HYANNISPORT — For centuries, the lush, green spit of Hyannisport marshland has been locally called Squaw Island, with legends surrounding a “squaw,” or a Wampanoag woman, who waited on the island for her husband to return from war.

But U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland recently designated the word “squaw” a racial slur and has moved to ban the word from federal lands. Haaland, an enrolled citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna Native American tribe in New Mexico, is the first Native American to hold a Cabinet post.

Along with Haaland’s designation is the creation of a task force that will evaluate 650 locations and rename streams, valleys, lakes, creeks, street signs and parks across the country that contain the word “squaw,” including Squaw Island in Hyannisport. 

But Camille Madison, of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project in Mashpee, said the designation is a call to “look back on history,” and “reconnect to the origins of the Algonquian language.”

“Squaw is a word or what’s called a morpheme — a meaningful morphological unit of a language. It refers to the female character of a woman and it’s used to create words that mean woman, or little girl, or good girl,” said Madison, who is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). “I want to respect that people feel offended by the use of that word. Western tribal people didn’t know that this is a morpheme in our language. But what does that say to us as Algonquian people? This (Haaland’s designation) contributes and perpetuates our erasure. That’s a part of my sacred language. That’s who I am.”

‘This news is so welcome’: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe can retain reservation land

About 12 tribal nations throughout the Eastern Woodlands territory of the indigenous people of North America use the sound or morpheme “squaw” as part of the Algonquian language family, according to Madison.

In a…

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The mayhem of the holiday season is here: bumper to bumper traffic, surges of COVID-19, last minute shopping, and — for Santa — the final touches before he makes his annual journey around the world.

With all of the old and new traditions compounding on each other, the holiday season can be a lot.

But there is one place where I find all of those stresses disappear, at least for a little while.

Hidden along Grover Street in Beverly, the 62-acre Alt Reservation hosts a few miles of trails to get wonderfully lost in or catch your breath after a marathon of cookie decorating.

While now surrounded by the epitome of suburbia, the reservation holds onto a history of the Algonquian-speaking people known as the Naumkeag.

According to Essex County Greenbelt, the ponds and swamps in the reservation were important to these people.

“To the Algonquians, cedar was and is one of the four sacred plants used in ceremonies and cures,” the Greenbelt wrote on its website, ecga.org. “The other sacred plants are sage, sweetgrass, and tobacco. The people gathered blueberries here and caught turtles in the pond. Turtle shells were used as bowls or fashioned into rattles used in curing ceremonies. Beaver Pond marks the headwaters of the Miles River, an Ipswich River tributary.”

This oasis has great trails that bring any explorer into a wooded expanse that is perfect for any lunch break, brisk walk, or a post present-opening respite.

Where is your sacred hiding place this holiday season? Mine is the woods.

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On Jan. 4, for the first time in almost 40 years, Rex Munsee will not be carrying a badge. When Sheriff-elect Shawn Zerfoss is sworn in, Munsee will be a civilian.

“I guess I got my love of law enforcement from my great-grandfather. Back in the 1930s, he was a special deputy for Erie County,” Munsee said.

That love of the law continues with Munsee’s children — his daughter is a Clarion attorney and his son followed in his father’s footsteps as a Pennsylvania State Police trooper.

Munsee began his career in law enforcement as a state trooper and rose to the rank of corporal. He served one year at the Punxsutawney barracks, and the balance of his 27-year state police career in Shippenville.

“As a trooper I couldn’t be political, but the day after I retired I announced that I was a candidate for Clarion County sheriff,” he said. It’s a post in which he has served three terms.

“It’s time to go,” he said. “I accomplished all that I wanted to do. It is time for someone else to step in. I am not regretting my decision not to run.”

Munsee said his greatest accomplishment was to “re-invigorate” the employees.

“It seemed the office had shrunk,” he said. “We were only doing court security and prisoner transports. Now we do more public relations things. We do speeches, public programs and we do security at various events. We also support the PSP at some events.

“We aren’t the lead agency, but perform a supporting role. We also serve warrants for the magistrates. I think more people are aware of the department now.”

‘Lack of manpower’

One of the changes Munsee has seen over the years is the lack of applicants for the position of deputy.

“The pool of potential deputies has shriveled up,” he said. “When I…

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Residents of Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, as well as Munsee-Delaware Nation, are being asked to boil their water after it was deemed unsafe to drink.

A precautionary boil water advisory was issued at 4 p.m. Wednesday and officials are also asking residents to conserve their water usage while the advisory is in effect.

Read more: Iqaluit drinking water deemed safe again after 60-day do-not-consume order

“Any water being used for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth, making beverages, washing babies, and washing fruit and vegetables should be boiled for one minute and cooled before use,” the advisory stated.

“If anyone in your household drinks the water and becomes ill — seek medical care as soon as possible.”

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Officials are planning to begin distributing water through door-to-door delivery to affected households in Chippewas of the Thames and Munsee-Delaware on Wednesday.

It’s unclear why the water is considered unsafe to drink as well as how long the advisory is expected to last.

— with files from Global News’ Natalie Lovie.

Effective December 14, 2021 at 4:00 PM, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation is under a Boil Water Advisory. This also applies to the residents of Munsee-Delaware Nation. The community water is NOT safe to drink – you MUST boil the water from your…

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CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Clarion County Sheriff Rex Munsee always wanted to be a private detective, and he’ll get his wish in January when he leaves his post after three four-year terms as sheriff and becomes a private citizen.

As a young boy, Munsee built a lifelong appreciation for comic books, but his Number One hero was Batman, “the world’s greatest detective.” The deductive reasoning employed by Bruce Wayne’s alter ego and the adventures of Sherlock Holmes stuck with Munsee throughout his career.

The experiences he gained as a 27-year state police trooper and another 12 years as sheriff did not lessen his desire to be a detective, but they were good years for him.

“The second-best job I’ve ever had is Clarion County Sheriff, and the best job I’ve ever had is with the Pennsylvania State Police,” Munsee said.

A graduate of the state police academy in 1981, he was assigned to the Shippenville barracks of the PSP. As a native of Erie County, the assignment was a surprise, and he wasn’t quite sure where Shippenville was located. Twenty-seven years later, and he knew it was home.

Rex is also opening his new detective office in his daughter’s Munsee Law Office building on the corner of Liberty Street and Fifth Avenue in the shadow of the Clarion County Courthouse.

Cassandra started her own practice, Munsee Law LLC, and specializes in Family Law. She also practices Criminal Law and Personal Injury.

Asked if he encouraged his daughter to become a lawyer, Rex offered an enthusiastic “yes.”

“She always wanted to argue all the time,” Rex said. “There’s no sense that she was arguing for free. If you’re going to argue as much with me, you might as well become an attorney and get paid to do it. So she took me…

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CLARION – With the new year comes a new phase of life for outgoing Clarion County Sheriff Rex Munsee.

After 12 years in office, Munsee decided earlier this year not to seek reelection to a fourth term.

“I always wanted three terms,” Munsee said of his time in public service. “I accomplished what I wanted to do, and I think it’s a good time to be done.”

A native of Erie County, Munsee came to the area in December 1981 after graduating from the state police academy and being assigned to the Shippenville-based station.

“I had never heard of Shippenville before,” he laughed last week, noting that, although he liked the station, his initial plan was to stay in Clarion three years before returning to his hometown. In the meantime, Munsee met his wife, Cindi, and the rest is history. “Forty years later, I’m still here.”

Munsee served as a state police trooper in Clarion — with a one-year stint in Punxsutawney — for more than 27 years before retiring from the force as a corporal in February 2009 to run for sheriff.

“You can’t run for political office and be in the state police,” he said, pointing out that he announced his candidacy the day after his retirement. “I was looking to do something a little different, and I thought sheriff would be a good fit for me.”

Going into his first term, Munsee said that his goal was to make his office and deputies more visible in Clarion County, a task that he believes he has accomplished over the years.

“I think people would say that we have a higher visibility now than we had before,” he said, adding that his department’s responsibilities now include securing events such as Autumn Leaf Festival, the Peanut Butter Festival and Horsethief Days, and hosting justification and ladies’ self defense…

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Jake Gamble  |  Special to The Star Press

Cold December skies darken the woodland trails around you. Heading back to your car, you note how dark it’s getting by only 4 p.m. The cloudy day and setting sun seem to only emphasize the slumber of winter’s nature. Gone are the months of vibrance and color, making way for gray and brown. Nearly to your car, now you spot something… green?

Yes, it is! Something green cuts through the woods and grabs your attention with an intensity you thought only spring could bring. As you move to inspect, the image becomes clear. Bright green leaves protrude directly from the earth, a living oasis among dormancy. Singular smooth leaves accented white and olive by parallel veins running from the soil to the tip. A curious find for sure, so grabbing your field guide, fingers flip through pages as your eyes examine the pictures.

Finally, you find the image that matches, but the answer to the plant’s identity surprises you: an orchid?

Orchids are everywhere, indigenous to six continents and nearly every country in the world. Indiana alone hosts more than 40 species. Though often more discreet than their tropical counterparts, native Indiana orchids can showcase some of the most interesting flowers and beautiful leaves you can find in the woods. There are several species, in fact, that produce brilliant foliage over winter and have none during the summer.

The puttyroot orchid (Aplectrum hymale) happens to be one of these species. Leafing out during September through October and persisting through spring, these common native orchids decorate the forest floor with large oval leaves throughout winter. The small brown flowers of this species can be found in May through June and are pollinated by bees. The name “puttyroot” refers to the sticky substance produced by crushing the pseudobulb. Historically, this…

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Calvi Leon  •  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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Nov 29, 2021  •  9 hours ago  •  3 minute read Kyleigh Alexander (left), Tania McCormick (middle) and Fatima Taylor are the three women behind the foster care program, called Alternative Care, at Mnaasged Child and Family Services in Munsee-Delaware First Nation, southwest of London. The Indigenous child wellbeing agency is now recruiting Indigenous and non-Indigenous foster parents across Southwestern Ontario to apply. (CALVI LEON, The London Free Press)

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MUNSEE-DELAWARE NATION — A foster parent to two kids, Tania McCormick’s only regret is not becoming one sooner. But after caring for Indigenous children in need of support, both at home and at work, she felt compelled to help others do the same.

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“Once I started getting my first foster kids, I realized that I couldn’t bring all of the foster kids home with me,” said McCormick, whose spirit name is Biidaankwat (Stormy Clouds are Coming). “The next best thing was to help all of the foster kids find homes like mine.”

McCormick, who’s from Serpent River First Nation, is one of three women leading the Alternative Care foster care program at Mnaasged Family and Childcare Services at Munsee Delaware Nation, about 30 minutes southwest of…

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